Joshua Prager: Wisdom from great writers on every year of life
Joshua Prager: Mądrość wielkich pisarzy na każdy rok życia
Joshua Prager’s journalism unravels historical secrets -- and his own. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
is going to be a very good year,
będzie naprawdę udany,
particular in store for me,
że będzie to dobry rok
czterdzieści cztery lata..."
and sentiment to be a man,
i sentymentu bycia człowiekiem,
wasn't writing about me.
że pisał o nas wszystkich
the subject of his book,
along the same great sequence:
zaczętą w dniu narodzin:
and confinements of childhood;
and frustrations of adolescence;
okresu dojrzewania;
and millstones of adulthood;
milowe dorosłości,
and resignations of old age.
"It will happen to me as to them."
"Przydarzy się to mnie, tak samo, jak im".
where they become narratives
gdzie stają się narracjami,
if it passes into anything."
to właśnie w karty książek".
a thought leapt to mind:
there were, somewhere,
zapisane o każdym wieku.
assemble them into a narrative.
można z nich ukuć jedną spójną narrację.
którzy mają najwięcej szczęścia.
wrote William Trevor.
nad czasem i wiekiem.
and later an injury to me
could not be assumed.
brać starości za pewnik.
only postponed the inevitable,
tylko opóźnia nieuniknione,
what circumstance did not.
czego nie dokazały inne okoliczności.
year by vulnerable year
what was fleeting,
a glimpse into the future,
I was quickly obsessed,
szybko stało się to obsesją,
for ages and ages.
w poszukiwaniu wieków i epok.
through our first hundred years.
przez pierwsze sto lat życia.
of sudden revelations,"
- czas nagłych objawień",
- wiek subtelnych umniejszeń".
that such insights were relative.
że takie spostrzeżenia są względne.
and so age more slowly.
i starzejemy się wolniej.
the phrase "the yellow leaf"
użył sformułowania "żółty liść"
used it to describe himself at 36.
opisał tak siebie w wieku 36 lat.
can swing wildly and unpredictably
zmienia się dziko i nieprzewidzianie
the same age differently.
można doświadczać w różny sposób.
as the reflection in the mirror,
jak odbicie w lustrze
and less sure of who one is;"
pewny tego, kim jesteś".
of preparation into active life;"
przygotowań do aktywnego życia",
the doors to rooms
"...po cichu zamykać drzwi pokojów,
visualizations you see here,
and an apotheosis," wrote Nabokov --
jak pisał Nabokov,
what we've experienced.
czego doświadczyliśmy.
the list with my grandfather,
moją listą z dziadkiem,
we are sure we will not die,
jesteśmy pewni, że nie umrzemy,
named Edwin Shneidman was right
Edwin Shneidman miał też rację,
że jednak umrzemy.
do których mogę przejść.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Joshua Prager - JournalistJoshua Prager’s journalism unravels historical secrets -- and his own.
Why you should listen
Joshua Prager writes for publications including Vanity Fair, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, where he was a senior writer for eight years. George Will has described his work as "exemplary journalistic sleuthing."
His new book, 100 Years, is a list of literary quotations on every age from birth to one hundred. Designed by Milton Glaser, the legendary graphic designer who created the I ♥ NY logo, the book moves year by year through the words of our most beloved authors, revealing the great sequence of life.
His first book, The Echoing Green, was a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. The New York Times Book Review called it “a revelation and a page turner, a group character study unequaled in baseball writing since Roger Kahn’s Boys of Summer some three decades ago.”
His second book, Half-Life, describes his recovery from a bus crash that broke his neck. Dr. Jerome Groopman, staff writer at the New Yorker magazine, called it “an extraordinary memoir, told with nuance and brimming with wisdom.
Joshua was a Nieman fellow at Harvard in 2011 and a Fulbright Distinguished Chair at Hebrew University in 2012. He was born in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, grew up in New Jersey, and lives in New York. He is writing a book about Roe v. Wade.
Joshua Prager | Speaker | TED.com