The Book of Life: One Man's Search for the Wisdom of Age. By Andrew Jackson. Gollancz. £18.99 in UK
At first glance, yet another book on self discovery does not exactly fire the imagination. Some years ago, Andrew Jackson, a successful advertising executive, set out with his wife, Vanella, on a two-year quest for wisdom. His goal? To scour the globe for the oldest people in the world and interview them on their recipe for longevity.
While the prospect of a stressed-out exec throwing it all away in search of greater truths may bring out the cynic in us all, Jackson has produced a book with some extraordinary insights.
The book is part travelogue, part philosophical musing, part self-development manual. Jackson's wanderings brought him in contact with a breathtaking range of humanity. Not only did he, in true gumshoe fashion, track down an enormously varied group of human beings; he also happened on characters that the most gifted of novelists could not have invented: Spain's most ancient matador; Mr Poona, the world's oldest first-class cricketer; Morarji Desai, former Prime Minister of India, who followed the lead of Gandhi and told Jackson that the secret of a well-lived life is fearlessness, truth, non-violence and humility; and Kin-san and Ginsan, the world's most ancient identical twins, who became media superstars in Japan only after they reached their centennial year, and who then became much in demand for sponsorship and TV advertising.
Some of Jackson's interviewees are ordinary people who had been in the thick of extraordinary events: witnesses to the October Revolution, the coming of electricity and TV, the Cultural Revolution. Born in the last century, some of them will die in the next, and many, in the mode of old folks everywhere, are sceptical about the real value of progress. Others are unsung heroes and heroines in their own land, but inspirational nonetheless.
Jackson's at times surreal journey takes him to such curious locations as the Institute of Gerontology, the Avenue of Eternal Youth and, Uzurihara, Japan's long life village. While Jackson tells us little new about the secrets of longevity - moderation, optimism, religious faith, humour, hard work and simple diet are recurring themes - he does produce a stark indictment of Western values and Eurocentrism. In nearly all the countries outside of Europe where these doughty ancients reside, they belong to a culture with a deep respect for old age. Eastern and other cultural attitudes to older people, as so ably described by Jackson, expose the hollowness in much of Western values.
Such a book, by its very nature, paints a rosy picture of old age. Only on a few occasions are we confronted with the spectre of frailty or ill-health.
Yet many of the interviewees are refreshingly candid about their longevity. Mr Ichimaya from Japan muses: "Life is a stream. No-one can stop the years and months going by. I have lived for ninety-one years and eight months and I think there were more hard things than sweet in that time."
One lady confesses to being bored by her longevity, yet others still retain a curiosity for the advent of each new day.
Along the way, of course, Jackson and his wife discover a few home truths about one another. The daily, intense proximity produces insights which shock the husband-and-wife team. The organisational skills and endless list-making that Vanella admired in Andrew back in England seem to irritate her intensely during their odyssey.
Yet the sections where Jackson philosophises about their situation are the least satisfactory in the book. This is New Age bordering on self indulgence. Jackson's harping on about not yet having discovered the nature of "Truth" jars somewhat.
Yet the twist at the end of the book, when his wife has a near-death experience, gives a timely focus to his quest. There is something of Western middle-class indulgence about his search, yet the diversity of characters and stories he stumbles on give the book a wondrous aspect.
It is when Jackson lets his amazing cast of characters tell their own stories that the book really fulfils the expectations of his journey.