The Consolations of Autumn : Sages in Hard Times

“ ... a wonderful, wide-ranging book. I had been planning to read it at a later date, because of my workload, but I keep dipping into it and not wanting to re-emerge.” Sarah Montague,  presenter,  the Today Programme,  BBC Radio 4 “A wonderful book. It is not pure philosophy. It is better.” Professor Raymond Tallis, philosopher and neuroscintist How   did   the   great   sages   of   the   past   try   to   remain   functional   human   beings   in   the   face   of   loss,   misfortune,   illness,   old   age, even   social   calamity?   How   did   they   fight   the   lonely   battles   that   most   of   us   will   have   to   fight   at   one   or   other   stage   of   our lives?   How   did   their   particular   experience   of   life   equip   them   for   those   battles?   To   what   extent   did   they   succeed?   Was   it hard   to   lead   a   semblance   of   a   normal   life   to   enable   them   to   be   useful   to   those   near   them?   Could   they   justify   remaining   a little detached when civilisation itself collapsed around them? As   he   approached   the   75 ^th    year   of   his   life,   and   as   he   saw   chunks   of   the   world   seemingly   descend   into   Malthusian   turmoil, the   political   commentator   Hazhir   Teimourian   sought   inspiration   in   the   lives   of   the   philosophers,   artists   and   scientists   he admired.   He   found   that   for   some,   the   challenge   was   almost   continuous.   These   included   Socrates,   Darwin   and   Pasternak. For   a   few,   such   as   Boethius   and   Beethoven,   darkness   fell   early.   For   yet   others,   such   as   Seneca   the   statesman,   the   end arrived   reasonably   late,   but   loomed   over   the   horizon   for   many   years   before   descending      suddenly   and   brutally.   Nearer   our time, Bertrand Russell found refuge from depression during the First World War in frenetic work and political agitation. Teimourian   sought   strength   also   in   the   works   of   the   poets,   for   poets   invoke   beauty,   love   and   longing,   joy   and   sorrow,   to speak   to   our   hearts.   So   a   segment   of   this   book   is   an   anthology   of   poems   that   have   enriched   his   life   over   the   years.   They include   a   few   by   himself   that   he   wrote   in   exceptional   moments   of   sorrow   or   elation.   But   he   has   chosen   them   in   a   spirit   of realism.   Misfortunes   and   calamities   such   as   illness,   bereavement   and   social   collapse   cannot   be   underplayed   with   the preacher   of   serenity   remaining   credible.   Thus   the   anthology   includes   sections   on   loss   and   solace,   as   well   as   on   love,   joy   and hope. The   book   ends   with   an   appendix   of   four   autobiographical   talks   commissioned   by   BBC   Radio   4   and   praised   by   the   press. They   tell   the   author’s   own   unusual   story,   his   journey   from   a   remote   mountainside   in   Kurdish   Middle   East   to   the   most exclusive halls of London. Hopefully, they will cast a little more light on what he says elsewhere in the book. Readers   may   also   be   interested   in   the   occasional   ‘blog’   that   Teimourian   writes   under   the   title   of   ‘ Reflections   on   a Drifting Humanity ’. They can be found in the WordPress site: www.HazhirTeimourian1.Wordpress.com   .

Hazhir Teimourian