Wednesday, February 26, 2014

BR#2: Time Flies - Bill Cosby (Novel Summary)

          We can all recall the most famous show in the 1980’s “The Cosby Show,” right?  Since that is the case, when we reminisce on that humorous sitcom, we all with our great minds image that one person who was the main character of the show: Bill Cosby, thus the title.  While he has made television shows, comedies, and films, not many people are aware that he is an author, writing the novel “Times Flies,” the literature of which I am writing a summary and conducting a book talk.
As the plot begins, Bill Cosby first displays his collegiate years at Temple University in the expedition of the novel.  During the rising action, he compares his youthful condition with his current condition, portraying different scenarios like how he used to be able to clear 6’7” on a high jump bar when he now cannot even pass 5’3” and how he used to only consume a quart of milk, bacon, eggs, and steaks daily when he now has to eat foods like fish, skinless chicken, and vegetables, putting lemon juice on the food to give him flavor he craved for when he was a youth.  After his numerous situations defining the rising action, the climax of the novel evolves when he acknowledges the fact that he is old and tries to adjust to his condition.  He exhibits in the novel that his now-deceased son Ennis can outrun him running three-quarters speed while Cosby running seven-eighths speed, becoming aware that he needs to “accept what [he] is and not torture [himself] with visions of what [he] used to be.”  As the action falls, he starts to correct his attitude towards an old man’s perception, exemplifying “as [he has] grown older, [he has] studied people as they approached [the] tarnished years so that… [he] could avoid unfortunate patterns of behavior…”  In result of his experience on aging, Bill Cosby now lives the life of an usual elder, taking extensive naps, devoting an immense amount of his time with his wife Camille, discussing the weather, and refilling his medicine capsules weekly.
In his novel “Time Flies,” Cosby explains his experience on being 50 years old, not young.  He states how aging has affected his life, presenting many different section of his life in the novel and how he has dealt with aging in every circumstance he depicts.  In the section “Can You Dig It” of Chapter 1, Cosby notes, “Suits... don’t go anywhere.  I’m coming back.”  While I laughed as much as I comprehended, Bill Cosby indicates how when he entered his closet at that moment, he saw his sharp, black suit hanging in the closet.  The title of the section, not to mention, serves as a different term compared to the typical meaning; “Can You Dig It” refers to digging a grave, and when Cosby glanced at his suit, his first thought was his age, which linked to his thought of death.  Additionally, in the section of Chapter 2 “I Wonder as I Wander,” Cosby cites, “Roses are red/ my Valiant is blue/ an A1 car/ in row A2.”  Whenever he said this quote, he had to think of a clever way to remember where he parked while at the mall, characterizing how memory loss factors in aging.  Shockingly, Bill Cosby did not even remember that poem when he exited the mall to go home!  Overall, his aging traps him in a stage of delusion on a daily basis while he lives his blessed life.
In summary, while the autobiography deserves a five star rating, the novel outlines Bill Cosby’s life, describing his notable childhood and adulthood eras that triggered in his “nifty-fifty” approach of his life.  He also emphasizes on his trials and tribulations of mid-life: aches and pains, memory and eyesight loss, and slow reflexes that he is witnessing on his adventure of aging.  Generally, aging is not a laughing matter, but with Cosby’s fun-filled charisma and attitude, he makes his experience of aging envious to people, for they cannot deal with aging as calm as Cosby has done.


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