August 14, 2024

Terse texting is not misunderstood at Meadhouse.

Received in the middle of the night:


Meade intended to say: Please add that to our Audible account. But by hitting a share button, Amazon added the seemingly friendly generic message, "I think you might like this book." The book is "How to Die"! I think you might like How to Die....

In case you want to buy the book — and send us a commission — here's the Amazon link: "How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life (Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers)."

I'm glad to see that I already had a "Seneca" tag, and I like that this is the second post of the morning that reminds us that men are always thinking about the Roman Empire. 

Actually, I think the "Seneca" tag originated as a commenter name, here. Back in 2009, someone with the pen name Seneca helped me distinguish a butterfly from a moth (and another commenter made a comic animation out of my photograph of a rather moth-y butterfly).

33 comments:

mikee said...

My mother in law has given me one book and one book only as long as I've known her. Her gift arrived by mail just a few days after my wife and I announced our first pregnancy to the family. MIL sent me a nice new copy of Cider House Rules, a fun book about orphans and abortion. She was a peach of a MIL, that woman.

Narr said...

I always figured that dying would take care of itself--no lessons needed.

Ann Althouse said...

"I always figured that dying would take care of itself--no lessons needed."

You're confusing dying with death.

Wince said...

Amazon added the seemingly friendly generic message, "I think you might like this book." The book is "How to Die"! I think you might like How to Die....

Gert Fröbe said it best.

Two-eyed Jack said...

I had thought that comedy was the hard one.

Cappy said...

Got dang commies at Facebook keep recommending this.

Narr said...

"You're confusing dying with death."

Yeah, I always get those two mixed up.

RCOCEAN II said...

Yeah, the stoical Romans were big on a going out in the right way and not fearing death. "You will die not because you are sick but because you are alive. That end still awaits you when you have been cured".

Stoical philosophy seems to appeal only to men. Women dont see much appeal in it.

Big Mike said...

And here I assumed that a book titled How to Die would be all about dying. If it’s a “how to” book, there are probably a lot of improved ways to remove yourself from the gene pool over the intervening two millennia since thd book was written.

Is there something you and Meade are trying to tell us about the expected longevity of this blog?

n.n said...

Whether life or death evolves from conception is a matter of perspective.

traditionalguy said...

The over 78 crowd have a betterquestion . Whats your ejection fraction?

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

"I think the "Seneca" tag originated as a commenter name, here."

"Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist."

When is this "misinformation" thing going to end? 😉

n.n said...

Life is the art and science of dying with a cause.

Fred Drinkwater said...

67%

n.n said...

A life [well] Planned

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Big Mike said...

Is there something you and Meade are trying to tell us about the expected longevity of this blog?

Or the longevity of the blogger.....

Big Mike said...

… and I like that this is the second post of the morning that reminds us that men are always thinking about the Roman Empire.

And I think gullible Althouse fell for someone’s joke.

Ann Althouse said...

"Stoical philosophy seems to appeal only to men. Women dont see much appeal in it."

It's important for men because they must endure childbirth.

lonejustice said...

I retired 2 years ago, and I think more about death and growing old than I used to before I retired. One excellent book I am now reading is "How to Grow Old -- Ancient Wisdom for the Second Half of Life" by Marcus Tulliuus Cicero. I highly recommend it for anyone entering their twilight years.

Ann Althouse said...

From David McCullough's "John Adams" (p. 774):

"With Nabby and Abigail gone, Louisa Catherine filled a great need in [John Adams's] life, writing to him steadily and with affection, and welcoming what he wrote in return. Concerned about the trials she would face as the wife of so prominent a public man, Adams cautioned her to study stoicism. But who was he to preach stoicism, she responded warmly. “You, my dear sir, have ever possessed a nature too ardent, too full of benevolent feelings . . . to sink into the cold and thankless state of stoicism. Your heart is too full of all the generous and kindly affections for you ever to acquire such a cold and selfish doctrine.”"

Ann Althouse said...

""Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist."

Thanks for the heads up. Try it now.

tcrosse said...

By dying, one could either dye or die. The word has different colors.

Biff said...

RCOCEAN II wrote: Stoical philosophy seems to appeal only to men. Women dont see much appeal in it."

My recent ex-GF, a classicist and political science prof, insisted that I read Aurelius' Meditations. It was a challenging relationship.

Big Mike said...

Cicero ended his life early by getting on the wrong side of Octavian and Mark Anthony

Hassayamper said...

My granddad always said "Life is a terminal illness." As I sit on the bench sucking the fourth-quarter oranges, I am far more in tune with that sentiment than I was as a young man.

robother said...

I suppose his earlier work, "How to Avoid Death" is lost to history. Seneca was condemned to commit suicide by all 3 Roman Emperors he served under: Caligula, Claudius and Nero. He dodged the first 2 bullets, but not the last. Public service in the Senate and as advisor to the Emperor was more...interesting... in those days, so taking the stoic attitude was maybe necessary to just getting on with life.

n.n said...

Dying your best life.

Misconception in transmission.

imTay said...

I think about Rome a lot, so I’m not sure that it was a joke. Even if it was, it was a joke, it was funny because it was true.

Rabel said...

Speaking of missing commenters, has anyone heard anything recently from Mike Sylwester? He had some health issues, went away for a while, then returned briefly.

boatbuilder said...

It's been a long time, but I recall finding "A Prayer for Owen Meany" to be a surprisingly thoughtful novel by John Irving. I thought "Cider House Rules" was cheap stuff.
Maybe I'll read it again.

boatbuilder said...

"Well, it's better than dying of piles."
--The Great Santini

boatbuilder said...

Touche.

I thought you didn't do sarcasm.

Rusty said...

It's important for men because they have to endure everything besides childbirth.