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Title details for Ammonites and Leaping Fish by Penelope Lively - Wait list

Ammonites and Leaping Fish

by Penelope Lively
ebook
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A memoir that addresses ageing, memory, time and a life in the 20th century, by one of our greatest writers, Penelope Lively.
'This is not quite a memoir. Rather, it is the view from old age. And a view of old age itself, this place at which we arrive with a certain surprise - ambushed, or so it can seem. One of the few advantages of age is that you can report on it with a certain authority; you are a native now, and know what goes on here.'
In this charming but powerful memoir, Penelope Lively reports from beyond the horizon of old age. She describes what old age feels like for those who have arrived there and considers the implications of this new demographic. She looks at the context of a life and times, the history and archaeology that is actually being made as we live out our lives in real time, in her case World War II; post war penny-pinching Britain; the Suez crisis; the Cold War and up to the present day. She examines the tricks and truths of memory. She looks back over a lifetime of reading and writing. And finally she looks at her identifying cargo of possessions - two ammonites, a cat, a pair of American ducks and a leaping fish sherd, amongst others. This is an elegant, moving and deeply enjoyable memoir by one of our most loved writers.

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Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9780241966990
  • Release date: October 10, 2013

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9780241966990
  • File size: 623 KB
  • Release date: October 10, 2013

Formats

OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

Biography & Autobiography Self-Improvement Nonfiction

Languages

English

A memoir that addresses ageing, memory, time and a life in the 20th century, by one of our greatest writers, Penelope Lively.
'This is not quite a memoir. Rather, it is the view from old age. And a view of old age itself, this place at which we arrive with a certain surprise - ambushed, or so it can seem. One of the few advantages of age is that you can report on it with a certain authority; you are a native now, and know what goes on here.'
In this charming but powerful memoir, Penelope Lively reports from beyond the horizon of old age. She describes what old age feels like for those who have arrived there and considers the implications of this new demographic. She looks at the context of a life and times, the history and archaeology that is actually being made as we live out our lives in real time, in her case World War II; post war penny-pinching Britain; the Suez crisis; the Cold War and up to the present day. She examines the tricks and truths of memory. She looks back over a lifetime of reading and writing. And finally she looks at her identifying cargo of possessions - two ammonites, a cat, a pair of American ducks and a leaping fish sherd, amongst others. This is an elegant, moving and deeply enjoyable memoir by one of our most loved writers.

Expand title description text
Biography & Autobiography Self-Improvement Nonfiction