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216 reviews for:
The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man
David von Drehle
3.73 AVERAGE
216 reviews for:
The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man
David von Drehle
3.73 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
I enjoyed
and
I
wish
the
author
would
have let us enjoy his story and learn our own lessons from it instead of the author telling us what we should have learned throughout the book.
and
I
wish
the
author
would
have let us enjoy his story and learn our own lessons from it instead of the author telling us what we should have learned throughout the book.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
(i was born in the wrong generation) i'm so glad penicillin was invented
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
David von Drehle promised to write his young children a book, but he failed to deliver. Until now, he says, even if it is not the book they expected or asked for. Instead, he writes, it is the book they will need as they face a future filled with change and challenges. In the story of his neighbor Charlie White, von Drehle offers insights on how to not only survive but thrive the storms of life.
Charlie was 102 years old when von Drehle met him. Over the next seven years of friendship he listened to the story of Charlie’s life. Charlie was a boy when his father died in a tragic accident. He became the ‘man of the house,’ and worked to help out, and was still a stellar student. He attended a summer camp where teens were sexually abused. He taught himself an instrument to earn money by playing in a band. Charlie and his college friends drove from Kansas City to California, and he hopped freight cars to get home. He had just started his medical career and was newly married when WWII broke out and he went into the service. He lost his first wife to suicide, and his second to divorce. His third wife died.
The author saw life lessons in how Charlie thrived in spite of losses. Stick in there. Do the right thing. Stay positive. “Keep your daubers up.” Be self-sufficient. Be patient. In essence, Charlie’s philosophy was Stoicism, the ancient Roman belief that we can only control our own responses to what the world slings at us. Charlie did not let set backs overwhelm him. He let go of what he could not control and persisted to accomplish what he could.
The lessons of Charlie’s life offer a blueprint for living. This slender volume is inspirational.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book.
Charlie was 102 years old when von Drehle met him. Over the next seven years of friendship he listened to the story of Charlie’s life. Charlie was a boy when his father died in a tragic accident. He became the ‘man of the house,’ and worked to help out, and was still a stellar student. He attended a summer camp where teens were sexually abused. He taught himself an instrument to earn money by playing in a band. Charlie and his college friends drove from Kansas City to California, and he hopped freight cars to get home. He had just started his medical career and was newly married when WWII broke out and he went into the service. He lost his first wife to suicide, and his second to divorce. His third wife died.
The author saw life lessons in how Charlie thrived in spite of losses. Stick in there. Do the right thing. Stay positive. “Keep your daubers up.” Be self-sufficient. Be patient. In essence, Charlie’s philosophy was Stoicism, the ancient Roman belief that we can only control our own responses to what the world slings at us. Charlie did not let set backs overwhelm him. He let go of what he could not control and persisted to accomplish what he could.
The lessons of Charlie’s life offer a blueprint for living. This slender volume is inspirational.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book.
Probably wouldn't have read if it wasn't a book club pick and wasn't that interested initially. However, I did end up liking the blend of life wisdom, KC history, and Charlie's story. Author blended those pieces well to keep the story moving. Probably really a 3.5 for me.
von Drehle does not just chronicle the life of a centenarian; he spends about a third of his efforts contextualizing the events of Charlie White's life that spanned from 1905 to 2014. While reading about Charlie's adventures, character, and achievements, von Drehle discusses national trends as well as those that were more regional (to the Midwest primarily) and some that were city specific (to St. Louis and Kansas City, for example).
We get to observe life on the frontier in the teens and twenties, life during the Depression, war time service for WW1 and WW2, and the development of medical techniques that transformed medicine dramatically during Charlie's practice from the family doctor with the black bag making home visits with limited ability to intervene to Charlie performing state-of-the-art techniques for aesthesia.
I liked von Drehle's technique of switching from the particular to the universal and back again. Yes, Charlie participated in some trends and was influence by the Zeitgeist of several eras; however, he also was adventurous and innovative--having adventures (such as riding the rails and being an entrepreneur by being a doctor to an apartment building as well as plunging patients into newly purchased horse feeding troughs as a way to make open heart surgery possible).
If you want a guided tour through 100 plus years of American history (with some overseas adventures here and there), ride along with Charlie as von Drehl narrates.
We get to observe life on the frontier in the teens and twenties, life during the Depression, war time service for WW1 and WW2, and the development of medical techniques that transformed medicine dramatically during Charlie's practice from the family doctor with the black bag making home visits with limited ability to intervene to Charlie performing state-of-the-art techniques for aesthesia.
I liked von Drehle's technique of switching from the particular to the universal and back again. Yes, Charlie participated in some trends and was influence by the Zeitgeist of several eras; however, he also was adventurous and innovative--having adventures (such as riding the rails and being an entrepreneur by being a doctor to an apartment building as well as plunging patients into newly purchased horse feeding troughs as a way to make open heart surgery possible).
If you want a guided tour through 100 plus years of American history (with some overseas adventures here and there), ride along with Charlie as von Drehl narrates.
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Loved this book. Story about Charlie White and Kansas City history. Remarkable.
Okay, how do I put this delicately? I would much rather have had a) the story of this man's life written by someone else and b) a pamphlet consolidating Charlie's direct wisdom and any reasonable distallation of his life experience as teachings, because I'm pretty sure that's all the space that's actually required.
Not only did the author feel it necessary to put in a fair amount of his own filtering and filler with opinions and historical facts which at a stretch might be considered context for the life events of Charlie White, but he went into what I consider to be gratuitous detail regarding the death of Charlie's father and his first wife. Maybe it's worth flagging that the nature retreat he went on as a boy may have included the trauma of sexual assault that Charlie didn't want to acknowledge, but I feel really weird about my perception that the author attempted to mortph that into a lesson of resilience. I'll be honest, Charlie's mom may have been a bit neglectful because as a single mother of that many kids she didn't have a choice, but I struggle to see any of the youthful experiences related as anything more than lucky escapes rather than adventures that teach bravery.in the context of a mother who granted her son the gift of early responsibility and independence.
Despite championing Stoicism, the author doesn't wander too far into the 'rugged individualism' that has toxified modern American society, but I fear that interpretation is up for grabs among a biased readership.
The premise of writing a book to aid your kids in navigating the future based on how a man in the past navigated big changes has merit, is even heartwarming, but the tone of the book is uneven, to say the least.
Among the many tales of being a doctor in the earlier years of the twentieth century, the intern stories are appalling, while the realities of medical breakthroughs quickly falling to the wayside, leading to an understanding of IID, Iterative Incremental Development as a way to approach change seems valuable. The part where Charlie seemed to council on the side of callousness when it came to ailing loved ones, including one of his wives dying of cancer, not so much.
I think if you're looking for general life wisdom, there are better sources. I think if you're looking for the story of a spectacular life lived across a recent swath of history, you should be prepared for a bunch of distressing moments, and to feel ambiguous about the subject at the end of it.
⚠️child SA, mental health concerns, details of medical procedures, loss of loved one by cancer
Not only did the author feel it necessary to put in a fair amount of his own filtering and filler with opinions and historical facts which at a stretch might be considered context for the life events of Charlie White, but he went into what I consider to be gratuitous detail regarding the death of Charlie's father and his first wife. Maybe it's worth flagging that the nature retreat he went on as a boy may have included the trauma of sexual assault that Charlie didn't want to acknowledge, but I feel really weird about my perception that the author attempted to mortph that into a lesson of resilience. I'll be honest, Charlie's mom may have been a bit neglectful because as a single mother of that many kids she didn't have a choice, but I struggle to see any of the youthful experiences related as anything more than lucky escapes rather than adventures that teach bravery.in the context of a mother who granted her son the gift of early responsibility and independence.
Despite championing Stoicism, the author doesn't wander too far into the 'rugged individualism' that has toxified modern American society, but I fear that interpretation is up for grabs among a biased readership.
The premise of writing a book to aid your kids in navigating the future based on how a man in the past navigated big changes has merit, is even heartwarming, but the tone of the book is uneven, to say the least.
Among the many tales of being a doctor in the earlier years of the twentieth century, the intern stories are appalling, while the realities of medical breakthroughs quickly falling to the wayside, leading to an understanding of IID, Iterative Incremental Development as a way to approach change seems valuable. The part where Charlie seemed to council on the side of callousness when it came to ailing loved ones, including one of his wives dying of cancer, not so much.
I think if you're looking for general life wisdom, there are better sources. I think if you're looking for the story of a spectacular life lived across a recent swath of history, you should be prepared for a bunch of distressing moments, and to feel ambiguous about the subject at the end of it.
⚠️child SA, mental health concerns, details of medical procedures, loss of loved one by cancer