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Diana Athill

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Alive, Alive Oh!: And Other Things That Matter Kindle Edition

by Diana Athill (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.1 696 ratings

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“Enchanting . . . Diana Athill, 98, still has a few things to teach us about growing old with dignity and humor and grace . . . Astute and sparkling.”—Associated Press

Several years ago, Diana Athill accepted that she could no longer live entirely independently, and moved to a retirement home in Highgate. Released from the daily anxieties of caring for her own property and free to settle into her remaining years, she reflects on what it feels like to be very old, and on the moments in her long life that have risen to the surface and which sustain her in these last years.

What really matters in the end? Which memories stand out? As she approaches her 100th year, Athill recalls in sparkling, precise detail the exact layout of the garden of her childhood, a vast and beautiful park attached to a large house; relates with humor, clarity and honesty her experiences of the First and Second World Wars and her trips to Europe as a young woman; and in the remarkable title chapter, describes her pregnancy at the age of forty-three, losing the baby and almost losing her life—and her gratitude and joy on discovering that she had survived.

Alive, Alive Oh! is “so beautifully written and exquisitely detailed . . . [Athill] mines her memories of a life well-lived and generously lays them out on the page for the rest of the world to enjoy” (Star Tribune).

“Witty, candid . . . If you haven’t read Athill, and open her latest book expecting serene reflections from a nonagenarian sipping tea in her garden, you’re in for a surprise.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Witty, candid…If you haven’t read Athill, and open her latest book expecting serene reflections from a nonagenarian sipping tea in her garden, you’re in for a surprise."
― Carmela Ciuraru, San Francisco Chronicle

"Like Athill’s favorite paintings, her essays ‘make you see, when you leave their presence, that everything has become more alive.'"
― Laura Miller, Salon

"Enchanting…Diana Athill, 98, still has a few things to teach us about growing old with dignity and humor and grace…Astute and sparkling."
― Ann Levin, Associated Press

"So beautifully written and exquisitely detailed…[Athill] mines her memories of a life well-lived and generously lays them out on the page for the rest of the world to enjoy."
― Meganne Fabrega, Star Tribune

"Moving and always engaging…The sheer candour with which she writes and the overwhelming sense of a life fully lived are both quite marvelous."
― The Bookseller

About the Author

After a distinguished career as a book editor, Diana Athill (1917―2019) won the National Book Critics Circle and Costa Biography Awards for her New York Times best-selling memoir Somewhere Towards the End. In January 2009, she was presented with an Order of the British Empire.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0125XI36C
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Granta Books (November 19, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 19, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3683 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 177 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #490,340 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #857 in Biographies & Memoirs of Authors
- #2,053 in Biographies & Memoirs of Women
- #2,900 in Author Biographies

Customer Reviews:
4.1 696 ratings

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Diana Athill

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Born in 1917 and educated at Oxford University, DIANA ATHILL has written several memoirs, including "Instead of a Letter," "After a Funeral," "Somewhere Towards the End," and the New York Times Notable Book "Stet," about her fifty-year career in publishing. She lives in London and was recently appointed an Officer of the British Empire.

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4.1 out of 5

696 global ratings

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Virginia Kay

Amazing life perspective. Quick read, but so engaging and interesting!

Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2016

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Wow, it is amazing to read the thoughts of a 97 year old woman. I believe this was initially published when she was 94, with the US edition put out when she was 97, but I cannot be sure. Regardless, the perspective, thoughts, reflection, and insight Ms. Athill shares on her life are refreshing! She did not succumb to the pressure to marry despite the era she grew up in, and I greatly appreciated that she did not feel she had to "defend" this choice, she just told her life story as naturally as could be. We could all learn from our elders if we took the time to speak with them more! I am so appreciative that Ms. Athill spent the time sharing her thoughts in this format so we could all enjoy learning from her!

3 people found this helpful

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Nataša MV

So from this point of view her life was not easy, there was WWI and then WWII followed

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2015

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Diana Athill was born in 1917. So from this point of view her life was not easy, there was WWI and then WWII followed. But in her book of short stories from her long life there are no such complains. This book is nice to read and it shows how one's life can be fully lived no matter of circumstances. All depends on how we perceive the world around us. And Ms. Athill is an expert to see even the little details as nice and beautiful. One of the most important messages of this book is that to make a life successful is to accept whatever comes in one's way. And this also applies for the end of it. Once she was really near the death and as she puts it. "My last thought - if that had turned out to be what it was - would have been acceptance." The book is full of wise thoughts and a real pleasure to read.

22 people found this helpful

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H. Wood

Needed reading

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2015

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It's hard to explain why this book is as good as it is. The author is a woman in her high 90s in an assisted living facility. The preface is about the scene, so horrifying to younger outsiders, of old people "just sitting there." She then engages in a series of reveries about her life. They range from the prosaic, such as memories about fashion, to the thoughtful essays about subjects such as why she lives to read Boswell and Byron, to the philosophical final chapter about her thoughts about death. It isn't a profound or highly quotable book. Shortly after realizing this, I realized that it isn't meant to be profound or quotable. It is real, and full of the traces of a life well lived and calmly thought over.

30 people found this helpful

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Paul Chapman

with deeper insights (and even perhaps some humourous yet useful advice). Not bad though

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2017

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Not quite what I was expecting. Carries on a bit, dragging out certain points or moments in time. I don't mind a bit of that but was expecting a more intuitive reflection on life, with deeper insights (and even perhaps some humourous yet useful advice). Not bad though.

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Jennifer

I adore this book, this author

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2019

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How have I gotten past middle age and never read anything by Diana Athill? I read this book at exactly the right age, and I find her writing and her personality to be delightful. I look forward to digging back into her history and reading more.

This book is probably best suited to the baby boomer & older set, facing our own lifestyle changes in the not as distant as it was future and helping our parents ride out their latter years. This totally resonated with me.

3 people found this helpful

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Your Aunt Martha

What matters and how one writer pays attention to it

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2016

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We need books that tell us how to go on even if we wouldn't follow the path taken by the pathfinder. This is a postscript to Somewhere Near the End by a writer who kept on living and writing. She is truthful and frank about the amount of help she needed to move her into a splendid retirement home. A helper holds up each book: toss or take to the new home? Once there, she tells us about the interesting people she meets. Ms Athill has published many stories from her long and productive and mostly pleasant life. I am happy to read she's still spirited, interested, and interesting after giving up her home and finding a small space can be both adequate and comforting.

16 people found this helpful

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merrily poth

Wonderful book

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2019

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Diana Athill does it again. She is wise, articulate and entertaining. All of this is a reflection of her tremendous intellect and personal character. Wish she were in my neighborhood so that we might have coffee and continue the conversation.
Having written her two major books in her 90s makes her a role model for us lazier oldsters.

One person found this helpful

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RAC

Skip this one.

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2016

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I had read Diana Athill's previous book, written at the age of 89, so I was interested in seeing what she had to say at 98. Sad to say I only found about a quarter of the book interesting. She repeated herself form the prior book. Some areas dragged on a bit. I throughly enjoyed " Somewhere Towards the End" but not this one. Roberta

6 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Live your life

Reviewed in Canada on April 6, 2019

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Gentle reading of a woman’s life changes as she naturally aged

Bibliophilia

That's the way I want to grow old

Reviewed in Germany on November 3, 2017

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Athill really is good reading to keep independent spirits up. I wish, I'll be as fit and gorgeous as she is at that age.

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Rose

Short

Reviewed in Australia on February 1, 2019

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..........but perhaps that is how life is when you are old! Pertinent and to the point.
A very honest appraisal with a glass half full attitude to the inevitable end of each and everyone of us.

constable59

Recollections in tranquillity

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 24, 2016

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The old have time for reflection. No matter how busy we are with family, travel, writing and voluntary work, reflection can become part of one’s way of life. Readers who are ‘old and grey and full of sleep’ (this reviewer is in the mid 70s) will find, as Diana Anthill observes, such reflections may mark the end of a day and the transition from wakefulness to sleep. Her new book is a series of reflections on different aspects of her life, written in a calm and thoughtful manner. She has a positive attitude to death and as a nonagenarian she reflects the views of Jay Appleton in his poem ‘Reply to Dylan Thomas’ (published in his 'The Cottingham Collection’) where he rebukes the poet and argues in the final line ‘Why not go gentle into that good night? Her writing brings to mind Richard Hoggart’s Promises to Keep: Thoughts in Old Age although his book is a series of short pieces rather the longer essays in this collection. She does not avoid talking of the difficulties of old age. She struggle to reduce her library to a small collection of what to her are key works but she also expresses delight in that life in a wheelchair helps to open up uninterrupted views of works of art in a gallery as other visitors give way to the ‘lady in the wheelchair’. Her care home experience is also written up in a very positive light. Of course, these are reflections from a member of a wealthy family and sufficiently well-resourced to meet the costs of old age. On reaching the end of the book I made a note to read more of Diana Athill.

10 people found this helpful

Susan Sweeny Wurst

More please

Reviewed in Canada on March 3, 2016

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It's always a pleasure to read Atwell and profit from her wisdom. Her genuine enthusiasm for the advantages attached to aging and nearing the end of ones life are comforting and dispel so many fears attached to dying. Just wished she had written more.
Susan Wurst

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