Book review: ‘The View in Winter’ by Ronald Blythe

This charming book explores old age. It’s written mostly from the perspectives of various elderly interviewees, although a few young people and carers also have a say—as does the compiler of this collection, Ronald Blythe, in a number of characteristically brilliant short essays.

The book is reminiscent of Blythe’s famous book Akenfield, about people living in a number of country villages, in that most of the pieces are written in the first person from the perspective of the particular interviewee—although I suspect, as with Akenfield, Blythe adapted and edited many of the accounts to improve the book’s effect.

The View in Winter is surprisingly positive about becoming old. While ackowledging frustration on behalf of the elderly about no longer being able to do everything they used to enjoy doing, and pulling no punches about how the elderly and the young often don’t get along, it also describes how old people are able to adapt to new circumstances and continue to lead meaningful lives.

This book was originally published in 1979, when Blythe was in his mid-40s. Appropriately, he went on to live a famously productive and long life, dying shortly after his 100th birthday in 2024.

Recommended.