I loved this book, truly deserving of the word “romp” through the lives of four octogenarians. Barfoot’s writing is wise and wry as she ponders life’s big questions with wit. We see characters who are fleshed out, passionate people behind the old-age camouflage of invisibility. I laughed and commiserated as Barfoot explored the loss of dignity and autonomy in old age, and gained insight into what makes life worth living. A jewel of a book. If you’re over 60, read this … and see where you’re headed. A dark comic novel of four friends in a retirement home, pondering topics of life, death, family, children, sex...essentially their past lives and how they relate to one another. A surprise twist when the age-old euthanasia debate comes up and the toughest form test of friendship is put to the test. Favourite quote on life/death/rainbows: “Sometimes I see shapes and colours that I know aren’t really there. I think that’s just because of a new drug my doctor is trying, but in a way it’s also how I tend to see life: in a big curve, like a rainbow. It starts with an arc that shades upwards for a while, and then it goes along with bumpy patches but more or less nicely flat and pastel for quite a distance, until it begins heading downward. It declines and turns grey. And I don’t want to decline past a still fairly good, reasonably bright end point. As it seems to me too many lives do. AS we can see here every day, with one person or another going downhill. So I want to grab the moment while I’m right between what’s worthwhile and what’s not.” (163)
Do You like book Exit Lines (2008)?
interesting view of old age. i loved reading about the characters lives and experiences.
—JUNJUN
A celebration of life in all it's different guises.
—tamahalle
Couldn't even finish it, it was that bad.
—zxcvbnm
