Product Description

Andrew Jackson had it all - a well paid job, fast car, expense account . . . but he wasn't happy. He felt he'd lost touch with what mattered, with who he really was. With his wife, Vanella, he set out on a journey which altered him profoundly. For two years they travelled the world to talk to some of its oldest inhabitants. Through Europe, down into Africa, across Asia, Australia, the United States and South America, they searched for the elders of the human race. Travelling with only what they could carry, they laid themselves open to a series of extraordinary encounters. They heard wonderful stories, received precious advice and even discovered the secret of long life. And gradually their journey took on a new dimension. . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1161243 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-14
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Andrew Jackson quit his high-powered job in advertising to travel the world with his wife Vanella. Their quest was to meet the oldest people alive and imbibe some of their knowledge. With Jackson, we discover the stories of nonagenarians and centenarians in Slovakia, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, America, Ecuador and Bolivia. The two-year-long journey ends in drama: in the most moving passage of the book, Vanella hovers between life and death in Caracas, at the end of their trip.

This is not a book of exploration in the conventional sense. Jackson and his wife do not scale mountains or penetrate jungles. Rather, in their meetings with the aged, they explore the changing world and the peaceful demeanour which has helped these survivors to live into their dotage. In the stories of the Navajo medicine men, Indian cricketers and Balinese priests, we are reminded of the dangers of population growth and environmental decay and hear of the wholesale changes in values and morals. Jackson is not a particularly evocative writer, but the message of the book is an important one. Says one man in Pakistan: "These days, everyone is interested in his own. In the past we all used to eat from the same plate. Now, each has his own plate." --Toby Green

Amazon.co.uk Review
Andrew Jackson threw in his high-powered job in advertising to travel the world with his wife Vanella. Their quest was to meet the oldest people alive and imbibe some of their knowledge. With Jackson, we discover the stories of nonagenarians and centenarians in Slovakia, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, America, Ecuador and Bolivia. The two-year-long journey ends in drama: in the most moving passage of the book, Vanella hovers between life and death in Caracas, at the end of their trip.

This is not a book of exploration in the conventional sense. Jackson and his wife do not scale mountains or penetrate jungles. Rather, in their meetings with the aged, they explore the changing world, and the peaceful demeanour which has helped these survivors to live into their dotage. In the stories of the Navajo medicine men, Indian cricketers and Balinese priests, we are reminded of the dangers of population growth and environmental decay, and hear of the wholesale changes in values and morals. Jackson is not a particularly evocative writer, but the message of the book is an important one. Says one man in Pakistan:

"These days, everyone is interested in his own. In the past we all used to eat from the same plate. Now, each has his own plate."

Customer Reviews

Book of Life Offers Guide for Living
Peter Mayle gave up his career in advertising for a hedonistic lifestyle in a chocolate box landscape. He bought the dream he had been selling to his clients and their customers. He then had the appropriate perverse - if successful - blend of insensitivity, nerve and good fortune to re-sell the whole thing back again. Andrew Jackson's response to his own success in the tawdry world of advertising was to set out on a journey of the soul. Of the two roads ahead, he chose the most difficult, but he - and we - are so much richer for that choice.

The main theme of 'The Book of Life' is a global tour in search of the oldest and most interesting people on the planet, together with a largely successful quest for their wisdom and guide to longevity. While - especially in the First World - our experience of the very old is of physical and mental decay, it is not always so elsewhere. Something which could explain Jackson's surprise exclusion of a UK subject amongst his colourful global array on ageing interviewees.

Jackson may share some of his conclusions with us, but thankfully, he gives us the room to make up our own minds. This is partly what makes the book so enjoyable: the polemic is light. We can choose how much of Jackson's journey is our journey, but - time and time again - he allows the words of his ancient subjects to speak for themselves, asking the questions we might ask. Not all are wise or particularly healthy. In Slovakia we encounter Cyril Murna, who still enjoys 40 untipped cigarettes per day. (Check that out Tessa Jowell) and Keith Hellawell will be non-plussed to note that the sleepiness of ancient Indian herdsman Noor Mohammed is attributed to two hefty opium-smoking sessions every day.

It is no surprise therefore that, shortly after this encounter, Jackson muses: "Perhaps what I'm really looking for lies within". Indeed, it is the authors reminiscences of his grandfather - clearly his seminal influence - and the sweet intensity of his relationship with his travelling companion (his wife Vanella) that really deliver the emotional high points of the book. The account of Vanella's battle with near-death in a Venezuelan hospital at Christmas-time is a heart-rending read and clearly something of a watershed in Jackson's own life.

Through Jackson's journey, most of us can actually look forward to old age. In an era when there is a billion-dollar industry geared to avoiding it, this is some achievement. It also hints at the ballast behind the Book of Life and its - initially at any rate - irritatingly portentous title. Of course, neither Jackson himself nor his subjects would tolerate the slow rot of a Home Counties rest home. There lies the lesson. A high quality old age requires practice and good health. But not necessarily healthy living or even happiness. In fact, one of the images that stays longest with me is of the desperately sad South American Indian, Romana. Having started with her mother's death in labour 96 years ago her life has been on a downward spiral ever since. To spend your last years being stoned by neighbours' children and passing the hours -without family - in a dank one-room hovel is a living nightmare. Predictably, the positive life-rules of health, family love and personal industry espoused by the majority of Jackson's subjects replicate the guidance we've always been given, by parents, schoolteachers and God himself. If this conclusion irritates the head-banging, pill-popping 'me' generation, so be it, but - if we are looking for messages in a new millennium - give me Andrew Jackson over Peter Mayle any day.

A book of fantastic landscapes, but limited visions.
Sometimes the old folk give Andrew Jackson a story of interest. Sometimes I think the author struggled to divulge any memory at all from his subjects. Similarly, the book itself has its sporadic moments of enlightening script - although this was usually in the narrative describing the numerous and exotic locations he found himself in rather than in the ancient beings he searched for. However, the book was undoubtably written by a genuinely observant being, and emotions are not left untapped. Overall, it is a book worth reading but do not expect to find The Holy Grail in its pages.

This book has it all!
The Book of Life by Andrew Jackson was something I picked up from my local library on the off-chance it might be good. I was right. It was better than good, it was thought-provoking, evocative,poignant, emotional, humourous, the list could go on for ever. If you do nothing else for the remainder of this year, read this, you will certainly not be disappointed.