Pondlife: A Swimmer's Journal - Softcover

Alvarez, Al

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1408841029 ISBN 13: 9781408841020

Publisher: Bloomsbury Paperbacks, 2015

Synopsis

The ponds of Hampstead Heath are small oases; fragments of wild nature nestled in the heart of north-west London. For the best part of his life Al Alvarez--poet, critic, novelist, rock-climber and poker player--has swum in them almost daily.

An athlete in his youth, Alvarez, now in his eighties, chronicles what it is to grow old with humor and fierce honesty--from his relentlessly nagging ankle which makes daily life a struggle, to infuriating bureaucratic battles with the council to keep his disabled person's Blue Badge, the devastating effects of a stroke, and the salvation he finds in the three Ss--Swimming, Sex and Sleep.

As Alvarez swims in the ponds he considers how it feels when you begin to miss that person you used to be--to miss yourself. Swimming is his own private form of protest against the onslaught of time; proof to others, and himself, that he's not yet beaten.

By turns funny, poetic and indignant, Pondlife is a meditation on love, the importance of life's small pleasures and, above all, a lesson in not going gently in to that good night.

About this title

About the Author:

Al Alvarez is a poet, novelist, literary critic, anthologist, and author of many highly praised non-fiction books on topics ranging from suicide, divorce and dreams--The Savage God, Life After Marriage, Night--to poker and mountaineering--The Biggest Game in Town and Feeding The Rat. His most recent books are Where Did It All Go Right?, The Writer's Voice and Risky Business. He lives in Hampstead, London.

Review:

“The adrenalin still flows in lively extracts from 11 years of journals.” ―The Times

“A beautiful unfolding of a story, told in deceptively simple prose but with a great power to move.” ―Sunday Times

“A marvellous book. Even the title Pondlife is spot-on: unlaboured, light and right. But it has no business to be as invigorating and absorbing--its success is against the odds.” ―Observer

“Al Alvarez is a writer's writer whose brilliant insight has illuminated everything from suicide to his love of poker . . . A miniature classic of a man's defiant assertion against ageing.” ―Metro

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1408841029
• ISBN 13: 9781408841020
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288