![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() He must enter death’s domain,” writes the German poet Christian Morgenstern. Nor is this some professional peculiarity: writers are in no fundamental respect different from other members of the race to which they belong.” We are at our best when we contemplate death, and, continues Enright, “To talk at all interestingly about death is inevitably to talk about life.” “Reading for this anthology,” writes Enright in the introduction, “I was moved to the thought that on no theme have writers shown themselves more lively. To read a collection of pieces of writing on death might, I fear, be thought an odd thing to do in 2023, but I urge you to read the book-you’ll encounter deep insights, wonderful writing, sparkling poetry, pieces of science, and many laughs. This timeline makes me worry that we are progressively losing touch with death-and so with life. ![]() It’s not available on Kindle and seems to be out of print. The book was first published in 1983 and has not been revised. The anthology was assembled by the poet D J Enright, who shared my birthday and lived from 1920 to 2002. We must study and enjoy death, and one of the best ways to do so is to read this collection-not all in one gulp (if that were even possible) but morsel by morsel. The central theme of this marvellous collection of quotes, poems, and fragments of writing on death is that death and life are so tightly bound together that we miss most of life if we do not pay close attention to death. ![]()
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