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Tatler Asia
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tatler Asia
7 honest books on ageing that are good for the soul
2. 'This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage' by Ann Patchett Above 'This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage' (Photo: Bloomsbury Paperbacks) Though this isn't a book on ageing, the undercurrent of time's passage runs through every essay. Ann Patchett brings a novelist's discipline to nonfiction: her sentences are crisp, her stories layered. She writes about the long arc of friendship, the slow-building nature of creative work and what it means to live alone by choice. Her reflections are rarely framed as epiphanies; instead, they unfold gradually, shaped by age, habit and hard-won self-knowledge. For readers seeking quiet insight rather than dramatic reinvention, this collection offers exactly that. 3. 'No Time To Spare' by Ursula K Le Guin Above 'No Time To Spare' (Photo: Mariner Books) Ursula K Le Guin, best known for her speculative fiction, turned her sharp gaze inward in her final years, publishing essays that read like conversations with a brilliant, slightly irritable aunt. She writes about cats, breakfast and the arrogance of youth—subjects that seem small but reveal her larger argument: that old age is not a diminishing, but a different kind of richness. Her tone is brisk and occasionally cranky, especially when addressing ageism or internet culture. Among books on ageing, this one is notable for resisting both complaint and inspiration; Le Guin is simply living, and thinking, out loud. 4. 'A Life's Work' by Rachel Cusk Above 'A Life's Work' (Photo: Picador Paper) Ostensibly a book about early motherhood, A Life's Work is in fact a study of identity breakdown—a theme that mirrors the emotional terrain of ageing. Rachel Cusk interrogates the body's mutiny, the evaporation of former selves and the awkward collisions between expectation and reality. Her prose is spare and confrontational, stripped of the usual maternal glow. What makes it relevant to ageing is its unsentimental treatment of transformation: the sense of becoming unrecognisable to oneself. If you're looking for a book that insists on intellectual and emotional honesty, even when it's uncomfortable, Cusk delivers. 5. 'This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism' by Ashton Applewhite Above 'This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism' (Photo: Celadon Books) Ashton Applewhite isn't interested in gently guiding readers into acceptance, but in dismantling the entire system of cultural ageism. Backed by research and fuelled by righteous irritation, her book calls out the ways society marginalises older people, especially women. She tackles everything from workplace discrimination to the cult of youth in media with sharp wit and unflinching analysis. Unlike many books about ageing that focus on coping strategies, this one demands structural change. It's energising, at times confrontational, and deeply clarifying—particularly for readers tired of being told to age 'gracefully'. 6. 'Late Migrations' by Margaret Renkl Above 'Late Migrations' (Photo: Milkweed Editions) Margaret Renkl, a columnist for The New York Times , blends personal essays with observations from the natural world in this quiet but resonant book on ageing. She writes about the deaths of her parents, the slow rhythm of her Southern backyard and the brief but meaningful rituals of family life. There is a calm attentiveness to her voice, even when describing loss. The book doesn't offer solutions, just presence. Its approach to ageing is reflective rather than corrective—Renkl lets the reader sit with time, rather than race against it. Among books on ageing, this one stands out for its stillness. 7. 'The Year of Magical Thinking' by Joan Didion Above 'The Year of Magical Thinking' (Photo: Vintage) A clinical, unsparing portrait of grief, this book is often shelved under 'bereavement', but it also speaks profoundly to ageing's disorienting effects. Didion documents the year after her husband's sudden death with the precision of a surgeon. She tracks her irrational thinking, her physical exhaustion and the ways time can warp under trauma. There's no comfort here, no platitude—just the cold light of loss. What it offers is not catharsis but clarity. For anyone facing ageing as a series of absences—of people, of faculties, of certainty—Joan Didion's account feels devastatingly accurate.
Buzz Feed
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Nine Books That Should Be Read With A Box Of Tissues To Hand
Recently, u/Key_Objective4426 asked r/suggestmeabook for books that will make you cry. So I've taken a few of the top suggestions and given you a bit about the books themselves. 1. If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura Picador "The last three chapters made me absolutely bawl my eyes out." – Key_Objective4426 About the book: We follow our narrator, who lives alone and has no one for company other than his cat, Cabbage. His life is suddenly turned around when he's told that he only has one month left to live. While processing this shocking information, and before he can set out ticking off his bucket-list, he is visited by the devil, who offers him one extra day of life in exchange for making something from the world disappear. What entails is a decision making process fraught with delicate balance, and a journey into discovering what in this life we hold dear, and what we can be without. 2. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Bloomsbury Paperbacks " The Kite Runner made me lose my shit on a plane and I didn't even care. I was quietly sobbing up against the window." – Feeling_Manner426 About the book: Amir is a young boy from a well-off family in Afghanistan. As a child, he betrays his best and most loyal friend Hassan, a decision that will consume him over years with regret and shame. Set in the landscape of political unrest, we explore Amir's hunt for redemption and forgiveness. 3. Beloved by Toni Morrison Alfred A. Knopf "I cried just describing that book to my husband. Utterly gorgeous writing, unparalleled." – postpunktheon About the book: In post-Civil War USA, we follow Sethe, an escaped slave who is living in a dysfunctional house with other former slaves. The house itself seems to be haunted by some sort of spirit. The interactions between Sethe, the spirit, and the other occupants make them face the horror's of their past. 4. The Necessity of Rain by Sarah Chorn Rainbow Publishing Limited "It is SO beautiful, it made me cry multiple times and just ugh truly probably the most beautiful book I've ever read." – darkenough812 About the book: This fantasy book reads like some sort of adult fairytale, delving into the intricacies of loss, grief, and survival. It's a mystical tale of gods losing their divinity, and the struggle to survive through hard, mortal, change. 5. The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Edith Eger Scribner Book Company "I'm reading this right now! Was reading it in public the other day and had to tell myself, 'do not start sobbing right now'." – parrots-carrots About the book: This is the memoir of Edith Eger, who was a ballerina and gymnast before, at 16, she was sent to Auschwitz where she was immediately separated from her parents. Her experience in the camp was one of unimaginable horrors, and when the camp was finally liberated, she was pulled, barely alive from a pile of bodies. The Choice recounts these traumatic experiences, but also focuses on the strength, resilience, and life-affirming effect her time had upon her. 6. Don't Cry For Me by Daniel Black Hanover Square Press Suggested by: moon_dust843 About the book: Jacob is dying, and as his time left shortens, he begins writing letters to his only son, Isaac, who he has not met or spoken to in years. In his writings, he tells Isaac the stories he needs to know about their family. From the ancestral history, going back to slavery, to his tumultuous relationship with Isaac's mother, and experiences that led to his reaction to Issac being gay and his behaviour as a father in general. This is a book about reconciliation, one that covers hard truths with an authentic, and overall hopeful message. 7. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Faber and Faber Suggested by: masson34 About the book: Set at an English boarding school where students are taught nothing of the outside world, we follow three pupils who grow up within the confines of the school. When it's time for them to leave, however, they, and we, understand what their pleasant boarding school really was, and the dystopian and shocking elements of this futuristic world are revealed. 8. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Mariner Books Suggested by: shortshift_ About the book: Charlie Gordon has an unusually low IQ. This makes him the perfect candidate for a new procedure that should increase his IQ, just like it did to a lab mouse named Algernon. After the surgery, Charlie does indeed start becoming more intelligent, more so than the scientists behind this experiment. Everything changes when Algernon begins to deteriorate, and we begin to worry that the same will happen to Charlie. 9. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
