Interview with Elke Heidenreich: “Happiness is not constant glory”

Ms. Heidenreich, your new book “Aging” is number one in the book charts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. One media outlet even wrote that it was the bestseller of your life. Do you agree?
No, that’s too theatrical for me. A bestseller doesn’t mean that much to me. But if you wanted to talk about the bestseller of my life, then it was definitely “Nero Corleone”, my children’s book about a cat. It sold over 1 million copies and was translated into 33 languages.

“I would never have thought of that on my own.”

In the introduction to “Aging” you quote Cicero as saying: “Writing this book has made old age comfortable and pleasant for me.” How did this comfort come about?
The book was commissioned by my publisher. They are doing a ten-part series. It is called “Reading Life” and it is about everything that happens in our lives: sleeping, traveling, loving, arguing, living and also aging. Each book is an essay of about 100 pages and I was asked to write “Aging”. I would never have thought of the idea on my own.

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Did the great search for meaning then begin or did you quickly get an idea of ​​what you could write?
I declined immediately. I told my publisher: I’m not at all interested in “Aging”. I’ve moved 23 times, to eight different cities. Let me write “Living”, I said. But then the publisher said: “No, Doris Dörrie writes that. You have to do ‘Aging’.” (laughs) Actually, that was too boring for me. Then I lay in bed at night and thought, 80 at the time: Who, if not me? I know what it’s like to grow old. And I’d never thought about it before: What does that entail? How do other people grow old? Why was my mother already old at 50, and I still don’t feel old at 80? So I called the publisher and said I’d do it after all.

“The calmness increases.”

In a recent interview you said that writing this book made you realize a lot about old age. What, for example?
That old age is always seen as a burden, that it only consists of deficits and that everything decreases. Of course, some things decrease. Your strength decreases. Some opportunities that you had in life are no longer there – running quickly after the bus or whatever. But a lot of things also increase. Your serenity increases. You are no longer responsible for everything. You can now reap the harvest a little and look at things a little more calmly. I find that very pleasant.

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Has the serenity really replaced the restlessness you once felt, which you write about in the book?
Well, someone like me is never completely relaxed. But the questions about what you want in life are all answered when you get older:
How and where do I want to live? Do I want to be employed or work freelance? Children or not…? There is no need to make any major decisions. I can just sit there, read the newspaper and have a nice life. But I am lucky that I can still work and want to work and that I am needed. I think that there is something beautiful about old age, as a gift of time. And there are many ways to do that. I am very grateful for this time.

The talent for happiness

You sometimes say that you have a talent for happiness. Can we find out more about this talent?
You have to make an effort to see things positively. That’s why I put two versions of my life at the beginning of the book. Version one: I messed up my life with all the defeats, and version two: I have a wonderful life, with everything I’ve achieved. The two together make up a “life that I haven’t missed out on” – as I always call it. It’s important to see both: you need the defeats and the lows to be able to enjoy the highs, the joy and the happiness better. You just can’t lean towards one side or the other. Being too optimistic is stupid, and being too pessimistic is also wrong. It’s all about the mix, and that’s what I’ve learned over the course of my life.

“Was my life good or not?”

By the way, I thought this introduction was great.
Me too. It occurred to me in bed that evening. I thought, how do I write about aging? Was my life beautiful or not? And then I thought, it was both. Happiness doesn’t mean constant glory, happiness means fulfillment.

I also read “Aging” as a bit of a declaration of love for literature.
That’s true, of course. Books saved me in my lonely childhood. I always read a lot. And you can tell. My whole book is full of quotes and things I’ve read. A book doesn’t cure illnesses or heartbreak, but you can immerse yourself in a story for a few hours and that story saves you, gives you strength and then you can carry on. Literature simply teaches us to understand people better and to put our own lives into perspective. Everyone has the same longings, wishes and worries. We are very similar to one another, no matter where in the world we are. And the other thing is music, which reaches me very directly. Music just flows into you and is something wonderfully healing.

“Here I was able to reap the rewards of my long life of reading.”

Did the many quotes simply spring to mind or did you need to do intensive research?
No, I didn’t run along my bookshelf and look to see where there was something about aging. It all came to me as I was writing. Something like: Oh man, old André Gorz wrote a love letter to his wife; Joan Didion wrote about growing old in the year she lost her husband and daughter; Julian Green, who lived to such an old age, didn’t he… Then I just had to look at the books to be able to quote it correctly. That means I didn’t really make much of an effort. I was able to reap the rewards of my long life of reading.

You have been on a reading tour with “Aging” for a while now. Does the text change over time? Do you read the text differently now?
… smart question. The text stays as it is in the book, of course, but I had to cut it. I can’t read the whole 110 pages. I always use different parts because I notice how people react to something. And I also look to see what kind of audience it is: an older audience? A younger audience? Incidentally, there are a lot of young people too. Depending on the situation, I read a little more boldly or a little more cautiously. My attitude to the text changes something like this: the text stays the same, but I keep moving to different parts.

“When the request came from Blankenese, I thought it would be a good fit…”

You will also be coming to the Blankenese Autumn Harvest in August. How did that come about?
Once a year I do a benefit reading for a children’s hospital at Pelikan in Hanover. It’s already a bit of a tradition. When the request came from Blankenese, I thought it would be a good fit and I could read at the Literaturhaus in Hamburg beforehand. So that’s three readings in a row in the north, and I’m sure I’ll read something a little different at each one.

Do you already know Blankenese?
Hardly. I did study in Hamburg for a semester, but at the time I was mostly in the university district. So I don’t know Blankenese yet. To be honest, you don’t really get to know the places on a reading tour. You always have to add an extra day, but there’s not enough time for that at the moment. But I’m looking forward to the reading in Blankenese.

Ms. Heidenreich, thank you for the interview.

To person

Elke Heidenreich was born in Korbach (Hesse) in 1943. She became known through her work in radio and television, including as the cabaret character Else Stratmann and with her literary program “Lesen!”. As an author and editor, she has published over 30 works, including the classic “Nero Corleone.” Heidenreich lives in Cologne, continues to write books and columns, is present as a presenter, runs a podcast and recently also an Instagram channel, reviews books and is on a reading tour with her bestseller “Altern.” Her reading in Blankenese is already sold out.