The Books Briefing: On Growing Old and Growing Up
Not the same old stories: Your weekly guide to the best in books
For some people, including poets such as Louise Glück and Gerard Manley Hopkins, fall is a symbol of lost youth. The season’s gradually shortening days can feel like a reminder of mortality, or prompt worries that one’s most vigorous and productive years may already be coming to an end.
Even so, the autumn of life is a fertile topic for writers to explore the pangs and benefits of getting older. The eponymous hero of Ernest Hemingway’s is left at the end of the book withdemonstrates how a person can draw power from the seeming invisibility of age. New works of nonfiction by Darcey Steinke, Susan Mattern, and Gail Collins reflect on the cultural meaning of menopause, and point to the unexpected opportunities it can create for women.
