Sample
The Warmth of the Heart Prevents Your Body From Rusting
Ageing without growing old
By: Marie de Hennezel
Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 07-02-2012
Language: English
Publisher: Macmillan Digital Audio
Marie de Hennezel
The Warmth of the Heart Prevents Your Body from Rusting: Ageing without growing old Paperback – 4 March 2011
by Marie de Hennezel (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars 90 ratings
Audiobook1 Credit
Paperback
$17.44
The inevitable ageing process does not have to condemn us to solitude, suffering, degradation or dependency. In this eloquent meditation on ageing, Marie de Hennezel guides us through a true 'art of growing old'. She recalls her encounters as a clinical psychologist with extraordinary people who 'grow old gracefully' -- and through her experience shows us how to make the most of this time in our lives, to avoid depression and to stay happy. She believes that wherever we grow old and whatever our circumstances, if we can maintain energy in our hearts and believe in the power of joy and human warmth, this can transform us and the way we look at the world. This is a wonderful book with a powerful message that applies to everyone no matter how old they are. A bestseller in the author's native France, critics said: 'Marie de Hennezel explores the secret of eternal youth and provides us with the keys for a happy, free and spirited old age. A must read.' La Croix 'A message of happiness and wisdom for all ages.' Nouvelles Cles 'Marie de Hennezel delivers a wonderful lesson that will inspire anyone who wants to age without becoming old.' Le Figaro Magazine
288 pages
Product description
About the Author
Marie de Hennezel is a respected psychologist and psychotherapist entrusted with the mission for raising palliative-care awareness by the Ministry of Health in France. She has written nine books about the end of life, including Seize the Day (previously Intimate Death), and is the author of two ministerial reports about caring for those with terminal illnesses. Her book The Warmth of the Heart Prevents Your Body from Rusting: Ageing without growing old was a Number One bestseller in France and a Top Ten bestseller in the UK.
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Product details
Publisher : Rodale (4 March 2011)
Language : English
Paperback : 288 pages
4.0 out of 5 stars 90 ratings
Top reviews from other countries
Evidence-seeker
5.0 out of 5 stars Cheering and lovely bookReviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 9 February 2022
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I found this is a cheering and lovely book . The french author, who is a therapist, gives a series of commentaries on issues of ageing, sexuality, affection and friendship based on different people she has encountered . Her opinions and conclusions are encouraging and optimistic. I am in my early 70s and was delighted to read this .
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Summer
4.0 out of 5 stars Ageing without growing oldReviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 9 September 2011
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Like many others I heard extracts from this book on radio 4 and jotted down a note to buy it.
Typically I forgot about it for quite a while, then came across the note, ordered the book and read some reviews before it was delivered. Depressing! burnt it, binned it, put it on the compost! Oh dear I have wasted money.
Not so. Of course the early signs of growing old are depressing and the author illustrates this, maybe too much. But then she helps us to accept and work with these signs and to use them to our advantage, to enjoy ourselves and help others do the same. I was going to lend my book to a friend, but had filled the margins with stars and comments, so bought her a copy instead. So why only four stars? Well I have younger friends with debilitating illnesses. Marie de Hennezel gave little to discuss with them.Also she seems to assume that as we grow older we become wiser, calmer and quieter and I haven't noticed that happening to me. However I found much to value in this book and will certainly read parts of it again.
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Katkin
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring!Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 10 November 2012
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This wonderful book is an inspiration to those of us of a certain age as we speedily and inexorably progress towards what we all hope will be an old age as stress free as possible.
Despite the inevitability of aches, pains or more serious conditions, the author, through her interviews with elderly people, reveals that attitude is all important to maintaining a positive outlook on this time of life.
The book is filled with poignant, tender and sometimes very funny, as well as frank, revelations from those in the autumn of life.
A delightful read and, I would suggest a "must" for anyone working with the elderly in any capacity.
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patricia gracey
5.0 out of 5 stars A heart-warming and challenging bookReviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 31 March 2014
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This book could be written for people approaching old age, but would be of interest to any thoughtful person. After reading it I felt less anxiety about approaching old age but also more sense of responsibility for what I make of my life in the present. I have recommended it to several friends who all, apart from one, agreed with my judgment. I can recommend it as a book to read through and then, at various times, to pick up and reread a chapter here and there.
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Josephine
4.0 out of 5 stars Thought provokingReviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 20 December 2011
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I bought this book after hearing it featured on woman's hour on Radio 4. It deals with the difficult question of how to get old with dignity and grace in a society which places so little value on it's elderly and their care.
I found it both thought provoking and interesting although possibly somewhat idealistic in places. It does no harm to be reminded from time to time about the things in life which are of real value and there is nothing wrong with having something to aim at providing we don't give ourselves too much of a hard time when we inevitably fall short.
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The Warmth of the Heart prevents your Body from Rusting: Ageing without growing old by Marie de Hennezel | Goodreads
The Warmth of the Heart prevents your Body from Rusting: Ageing without growing old
Marie de Hennezel
3.63
246 ratings56 reviews
The inevitable ageing process does not have to condemn us to solitude, suffering, degradation or dependency. In this meditation on ageing, Marie de Hennezel guides us through the true 'art of growing old'.
Genres
Nonfiction
Self Help
Psychology
Spirituality
Philosophy
Inspirational
274 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
This edition
Format
274 pages, Paperback
Published
March 1, 2011 by Rodale Books
313 people want to read
About the author
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Marie de Hennezel
33 books15 followers
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Marie Gaultier de la Ferrière dite Marie de Hennezel, est née le 5 août 1946 à Lyon, est une psychologue, psychothérapeute et auteur française. [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_de...]
Marie de Hennezel may not be a household name in America, but in France she's a trailblazer. The therapist who helped the late French President Jacques Mitterand through the final stages of his cancer, she's been leading the crusade to help people grow old gracefully, with dignity, and with joy. De Hennezel, who believes that we become truly old when we refuse to age, is the author of many books, including the international bestseller Intimate Death. [Huffington Post]
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Greta
561 reviews
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March 21, 2012
I enjoyed reading this book about ageing, in that it gave me some perspective on the "elderly" people I know as well as some insight as to what I might need to focus on as I grow older. The author approaches this uncomfortable subject with honesty and grace, showing us what makes the difference between becoming an old person and aging. Despite the sometimes painful, lonely, and depressing possibilities involved as we approach the end of our lives, there are ways of looking at things, of understanding our selves and our lives and the world around us that might make a difference between being happy at the end of it all, or not. Reading this book provided me with some ways of growing old better.
general-non-fiction
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Erwin Thomas
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May 24, 2021
Marie De Hennezel's The Art of Growing Old is a fascinating book geared towards older individuals. Much of the author's descriptions address how people can age gracefully. She doesn't refrain from giving the good and bad experiences of growing older. It's a work that challenges the beliefs that old age is mostly depressing and unhappy. It aims to build a reader's confidence that there's also joy and the growth of wisdom with older folk. True, as people age their bodies become less strong, but many continue to have sharp minds. Some describe their senior lives as opening new experiences to enjoy their freedom more fully. Through this reality, there's time to embrace nature, friends, and the environment with a renewed appreciation. These gifts lead many of the older generation to fully embrace life and prepare for a happy death.
ageing
senior-living
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Pauline Evans
28 reviews
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December 21, 2012
A book I saw advertised in the Daily Mail and was captured by the title. As I am passed the half century mark I thought it would be good to read about how to embrace life at any age and how to stay happy and what it really means to grow old gracefully. Its a great message of happiness and wisdom for all ages and its a wonderful lesson that will inspire anyone who wants to age without becoming old . . . that's definitely me!!
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Linda
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July 12, 2012
Very French. An absolutely lovely approach to aging. Looking forward to reading her previous book, "Intimate Death".
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Justin
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February 12, 2021
I am not reading any more of this.. it's too boring, life is too short
2020s
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Ade Bailey
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May 7, 2011
The huge problems associated with an ageing population in the rich countries is upon us already. For everybody, the financial implications are enormous. Attitudes to the elderly are largely negative in a culture preoccupied by youth, maintainance of youth and health, and the pervasive beliefs that becoming old brings nothing but misery, almost a loss of humanity. Provision for the elderly (in the UK) is patchy. Some families do ensure excellent levels of care and dignity, many do not. "Homes" can be awful places.
Marie de Hennezel, psychotherapist and hospice worker, describes the negatives clearly and makes positive suggestions for changing things. The problems I have with her book are largely to do with the examples she chooses to offer of individuals who have gone on to live a happy and fulfilling old age. She is highly cultured, and her network of friends and acquaintances numbers high achieving philosophers and artists. She's aware that lifestyle - reducing calories, avoiding alcohol and tobacco etc - is important - while acknowledging the inevitable slowing down of the body and propensity to disease, but she seems less focused upon those many of us who have not the beneficial bulwarks of healthy lifestyle, cultural capital and adequate finances to negotiate the final stages of life satisfactorily.
She is perfectly right I think to emphasise the power of quite small things such as 'a smile', and more generally the responsibility of carers to listen, engage intimately, and have the utmost respect for the individual. This we can all do. It is to be welcomed that the book marks a contribution to the much-needed yet scarcely begun broader discussion about age which must have inevitable overlap with the political and broader cultural contexts. I fear, however, that without urgent attention to radical provision of money, including the costs of providing high quality education and training, and accommodation, there will be millions who will be well rusted long before they reach 60.
culture
psychology
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Juliyana Junaidi
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April 9, 2020
Well, I would say that I read this book to understand more about my mother. The book deserves to be at the ranking of top ten bestseller. It deals about a lot of matters on the old age. On how most people perceive old age, how you should perceive old age, the fear of getting old, the rights of old people who request for euthanasia, how carers should treat the old, keys to a happy old age and also knowing how to die. I folded so many pages and highlighted so many sentences in this book as a reminder for me as a carer and soon to be an old person. Who knows if I might want to read this book
again in another 35 years old perhaps?
There was an island in Japan called Okinawa and it has been named by the World Health Organisation as the ‘island of long life’. The oldest one is 115 years old and they live their life happily. It is due to the combinations of mild climate, dietary habits, exercise and having well-developed social life and good cultural state of mind.
The title of the book itself was actually taken from a song sung by the old people of Okinawa “The Warmth of the Heart Prevents your Body from Rusting”
There are some of the ideas from this book that I totally love. For instance, the author recalls the story of one of her friends. In one shopping mall in the US, there is a public spave where parents can leave their babies while they do their shopping. The young children are cared for by elderly volunteers, and assisted by a qualified paediatric nurse.
Overall, 4/5
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Kim
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October 13, 2015
There is much in this book to recommend it--good reminders about the importance of approaching aging in a different, more positive way. There are some very encouraging examples that the author uses. I would have liked to have seen the book organized differently--as it was it seemed to be 100 pages of a string of anecdotes with some important information weaved in between. This is a book I'd recommend to anyone who holds to negative attitudes about aging to encourage a more positive outlooks, as studies show that these attitudes can make a difference as to the quality of a person's life after 60.
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Elizabeth Good
185 reviews
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January 1, 2020
This is a French best-seller about how to age well. It's quite philosophical in many ways, but has some interesting stories about particular elders and some very intriguing information about alternative retirement homes that exist in Europe and even in the United States. There is a strong emphasis on developing spiritual life (not religious; but positive outlook, keeping mentally engaged, connecting with people, becoming less attached to outcomes, etc) in order to have a fulfilling aging--and even dying experience. This makes sense to me. The book is a bit "airy" and ethereal for my taste, but I am nonetheless glad that I read it.
self-help
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