Book Review: Travels with Epicurus
Review by Casey Douglass
The
dentist isn’t usually the place for moments of existential clarity.
Sure, it might be the altar on which you confess your chocolate
loving, sugar-drink binging tendencies, but usually, you are wholly
focussed on the pain, or the prospect of it. For Daniel Klein
however, a trip to the dentist set his mind turning, and led to the
writing of his book: Travels with Epicurus.
The
dentist’s verdict was that he’d need some lower teeth removed,
and that he could either opt for dentures, or a year of painful
procedures to provide him with implants. His dental problems were
related to the normal course of ageing, but the two paths he could go
down proved revealing about his feelings towards ageing. Did he want
an “old man’s smile” or some implants that would allow him to
feel more youthful? He was in his early 70s at this point. He
realised that he had been caught up in the current trend of “trying
to extend the prime of life well into the years that used to be
called old age.” Daniel ponders that he is not entirely sure
what authentic old age is, or how it might best be lived. He travels
to the Greek island of Hydra with a suitcase full of his philosophy
books, looking for the answers, from without and within.
The
only Hydra I’d ever heard of before reading this book was the
mythical creature, or maybe the shadowy crime organisation in a spy
novel. Daniel describes the charms of the Greek island and it seems
like a great place to contemplate your navel. There are elderly
residents that Daniel can appreciate and befriend, and also a
different way of life to the hubbub of more metropolitan areas. Time
it seems, is perceived differently there, highlighted later in the
book in a revealing conversation Daniel has about kombolói, the
“worry bead” kind of thing that Greeks use to space out time.
Daniel
begins the book proper with an introduction to Epicurus and his
philosophy of fulfilment. It doesn't take long for him to dispel the
false impression that many people have of Epicurus, which is one of
seeking extreme sensual pleasures. Yes, Epicurus counselled people
that to have a happy life, they should fill it with pleasure, but
there is more nuance to it than that. Not all pleasures are created
equal. Some are genuine pleasures, others lead to more pain and
suffering. This is highlighted by the way that Epicurus preferred a
bowl of plain boiled lentils to a plate of roasted pheasant. Hardly
the actions of the sensation chaser he is often portrayed as. When it
comes to ageing, Epicurus thought that old age was the pinnacle of
life, that the “old man has docked in the harbour, having
safeguarded his true happiness”. As you might expect from the
title, Epicurus plays a central role in Daniel’s book.
Daniel
applies various philosophies (Epicurus and others) to a variety of
topics linked with ageing, from the pleasure of companionship in old
age to the issues of boredom, play, and the fear of death. Daniel
always does a good job of illustrating his point with an event from
his past or a description of something on the island. His dog
Snookers also makes an appearance, which is something I enjoyed in
another of his books: Every Time I Find the Meaning of Life, They Change It. This isn’t a dry philosophy book, it’s one in
which real-life experience is used to illustrate the wisdom of
adopting a particular way of looking at life.
When
I purchased Travels with Epicurus, I somehow missed the part
that described it as being about old age. While Daniel compares old
age to old old age (that
period in which you aren’t just old, but in which your body and
mind are shutting down), I have a feeling, for various reasons, that
I'll not even see these periods of my life. With that in mind, I
probably wouldn’t have bought this book had I realised its focus.
That being said, it was still very pleasant to read about Daniel’s
experiences on Hydra, and how these helped further illustrate the
philosophies Daniel was mulling over. There is also wisdom to be
gleaned from the topic of how we can live best in the later stages of
life, that we can apply to our life, no matter which stage we are in. I also realised
that I’d probably like anything philosophical that Daniel Klein
writes. If he ever brings out a book called “The Philosophy of the
Sewer: Tunnels, Faeces and Rats” I’m sure he’d write it in such
a way that it would be interesting.
Book Title:
Travels with Epicurus
Book Author:
Daniel Klein
Publisher: One
World Publications
Released: 1 May
2014
RRP: £7.99
ISBN:
9781780744124
