Book Review: The Art of Aging, by Sherwin B. Nuland

This book was shoved into my hand with an edict to read it. Okay, it wasn't that harsh a movement, but she did give the book to me as a gift, and reading it became almost required. What is there to read about aging, I thought, when you're living it?

But I was surprised by this book, and enjoyably so.

It starts out in a daunting sort of way, however, with medical reasons underlying aging. One thing did catch my eye: the reasons for falling. As we age, we seem to be in danger of stumbling and falling more often, and such accidents really are awful to those of us who are seniors. I thought that there would be one or two reasons for this propensity, but it turns out there are several, according to Nuland. "Falls become an increasingly important source of disability as people get older. Falls happen not only because of decreased strength and coordination but because of a lessened range of joint motion and because of a generally decreased reaction time. All of these factors are accentuated by the kinds of neurologic deficits that sometimes make walking so hazardous."

Nuland has an easy style, but as a surgeon, these words come trippingly off the tongue, I'm sure, but a bit harder for the rest of us to digest. However, after the first long chapter where he tells us how we get older -- as well as what exacerbates that process, including a dissertation on the hazards of smoking -- he spends most of the rest of the book on individuals and how they cope with aging.

And these stories about actual people, how they deal with their spouses passing before they do, how they lead spiritual lives that help them live longer, fuller lives, is the best part of the book. And Nuland seems to suggest that somewhere in their stories is the wisdom and energy that we can borrow to help us with our own journey.