The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

My life is so busy; sometimes I want to live my life a different way. I listened to this audio book going to and from Ann Arbor and learned of a different way to go about life that makes me perfectly content with how things are going right now.

Thomas Button, his wife and the rest of the hospital staff were surprised by what they found after what was expected to be the birth of a newborn child in the 1860s south. Instead, waiting, too big for his bassinet, was a seventy-year-old man. This man was new to the world and yet had already learned to talk and knew enough to be discontent with only being offered bottles of milk to eat and a blanket to wear. Mr. Button took him home and tried to pass him off as a young boy through the use of knickers and hair dye. Benjamin was only happy talking with his grandfather. Eventually, Benjamin seemed to get some of his youth back as he got older, possibly a sickness being cured with time. When he was 20 he appeared 50 and could go out with his now accepting father. He met a young girl named Hildegard who liked older men, even though they were the same age. They got married, but were separated when Benjamin went off to fight in the Spanish American War in 1898. Returning home, Benjamin made the unique discovery that he was in fact growing younger. This displeased his wife who was growing older, a fact that made Benjamin less and less attracted to her. Marital strife and problems with his son blossomed as this curiosity continued. Soon, Benjamin appeared too young to be taken seriously as the man he was. Rejected, Benjamin was forced to live with his son and call him uncle. As a “child,” he now liked to hang out with his grandson as he had hung out with his grandfather decades earlier. It became tougher and tougher for Benjamin as everyone seemed to be going forward and be was slowly creeping behind.

This was a very short audio book because, in fact, it is an audio short story. Read by Kevin Killavey, this was a fantastic one hour and six minutes. I want him to read all of my books to me. He served as a great narrator, but was even more successful with the voices. Benjamin’s changing voice through his years alone was impressive as he progressed from creaky old man, strapping man, and squeaky teenager to silly toddler. This beautifully worded short story takes a unique look at the aging process and offers a perspective about growing older that does indeed make it understandable that even in real life as you grow older you actually grow younger.

This creative narrative was very fascinating and the spinning plot was consuming as poor Benjamin’s condition kept causing problems for him and those around him. I would definitely read the short story if the movie interested you. I fell in love with the movie and that is how I came across this short story. It is different but just as enjoyable. I would, though, recommend that for the most satisfaction you listen to Kevin Killavey read it to you. His version is available cheap on iTunes.

“Read in order to live.”
- Gustave Flaubert