Now We Are Sixty

By Christopher Matthew

Book Overview

For those turning sixty, this new edition of Christopher Matthew's tribute to A. A. Milne's classic poems contains fresh material as well as the old favourites.

'A wonderful present to sixty-year-olds' Auberon Waugh, Daily Telegraph

When Christopher was six, the poems of Milne were always on hand to reassure him that other children were just as puzzled and naughty and silly as he was, and that grown-ups could be even sillier.

When he turned sixty, he decided it was high time there was an equally reassuring volume for those of his generation who were not only more confused than ever, but were losing their teeth, their hair and, all too often, their car keys.

What he did twenty years ago was to take some of Milne's best-loved poems from Now We Are Six for an older audience, with results that are often hilarious, sometimes rueful and always thought-provoking. Some verses are about realising one is not as young as one once thought, and not feeling quite as chipper as one once did; while others address some of the more disconcerting problems of modern life such as mobile telephones on trains, unsocial behaviour, traffic jams and the internet.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0719559790
• ISBN13: 9780719559792
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: John Murray Publishers
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

An ode to people sixty or more

This collection of short poems is an ode to the person whose age is sixty or better. Some are light, describing the pleasures of age and how your perspective changes. When that hurdle is jumped, many of the things that were so critical before now become superficial. This is summed up in the last two lines of the last poem in the book. But now that I'm sixty I've got to confess That more often than not, I couldn't care less. Some of the others are less light hearted, describing the downside of aging. Financial fears, forgetting simple things, having to face young criminals and ways to try to recapture some of the exuberance of youth are all mentioned. However, even these topics are dealt with in a light-hearted manner, so there is never a point where the tone turns depressing. Whatever your perspective is on turning sixty, this book will make you smile at some of the consequences of reaching that mark. Matthew is a very good poet and his prose will lighten your feelings, no matter how dark they are.

a gift on my 60th birthday

my son gave me this book on my 60th birthday. I grew up with the milne books and read them to my boys. In fact, our oldest, Christopher, is named after Christopher Robin. Get out your old book of Now We Are Six, and keep it next to you while you read this book. So charming. So clever. Makes me feel like a kid again and it makes me smile....alot.