A Death of One's Own by Terry Eagleton review
The literary critic brings his vast reading to bear on life’s most inescapable fact
TL;DR
- Terry Eagleton criticizes Dylan Thomas's poem 'Do not go gentle into that good night,' questioning the idea of resisting death if it is 'good'.
- Eagleton, now 83, finds death to be a primary subject of contemplation, enjoying its potential for release from moral and social obligations.
- He suggests that embracing the full knowledge of impending death could lead to a more intense and liberated way of living, akin to William Blake's visionary intensity.
- However, he notes the difficulty of achieving this state and contrasts it with humanity's tendency to be trapped by past and future, making death feel like an unexpected insult.
- Eagleton favors less dramatic deathbed utterances, like Steve Jobs's 'Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow,' over perceived 'sham grandeur'.
- 'A Death of One's Own' is described as a broad exploration of mortality, incorporating influences like Marx, Freud, and cradle Catholicism, rather than a structured argument or inquiry.