Line #11 Literature/LongForThisWorld


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6	->''"When you start talkin' about five-hundred-year humans, or one-'''thousan''''-year humans, most members of the general public get a li'l bit '''nervous'''."''\
7	-- '''Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey''', ''on his fourth pint''
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9	A 2010 non-fiction book about TheAgeless and related tropes and a mad scientist trying to [[{{Defictionalization}} defictionalize them]].
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11	The author is a character when he's not being a LemonyNarrator, as he studies the science with both romantic fascination and extreme skepticism. While the book is theoretically about the science involved, there are constant digressions into poetic, poignant, or comical aspects of the quest for immortality. The narrative is packed with historical and literary allusions ranging from Creator/{{Aristotle}} to Webcomic/{{xkcd}}.
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13	(It's this ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Long-This-World-Strange-Immortality/dp/0060765364 Long For This World]]'', not any of the [[SimilarlyNamedWorks several others.]])
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15	-----
16	!!This book provides examples of:
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18	* AccidentalMisnaming: A close friend insists on referring to Au'''b'''rey as Au'''d'''rey.
19	* JustForFun/AdOfWin: Discussed in-universe. A phenomenon discussed in the book; apparently ads for life extension treatments tend to show up next to articles about accepting death.
20	* BlasphemousBoast: "My wife borrowed my notebook and wrote to me in big block letters: [[AC:He is more sure of himself than God.]]"
21	* BrainUploading: Aubrey is [[{{Squick}} squicked]] by the concept. "It seems to me to be in no way desirable. But that may be a danger of being over thirty."
22	* DoubleMeaningTitle: With two different [[TitleDrop Title Drops]] showing each.
23	* DrunkenMaster[=/=]TheAlcoholic: There is one scene where Aubrey's not drinking beer. [[spoiler: He's asleep.]] Possible explanations proffered include addiction, mental lubrication, or that he needs constant alcohol to avoid becoming [[Creator/TerryPratchett knurd]].
24	* FunetikAksent: Used to indicate levels of inebriation more than Englishness.
25	* ImmortalityImmorality: "It's a mad regime that tries to make itself immortal at the cost of the world around it; as mad as a regime that surrenders life and throws it away."
26	* ImmortalitySeeker
27	* LemonyNarrator: "[Descartes] went down as ignominiously as Bacon. [He] caught a cold in midwinter on a visit to Sweden and died at fifty-four. (Those immortalists didn't button up their coats.)"
28	* LogicalFallacies: Some of the classic arguments that aging is evolutionarily desirable turn out to be circular.
29	* MayflyDecemberRomance: Not only is Aubrey's wife twenty years older, but Aubrey plans to live as long as possible while Adelaide has accepted her mortality. Aubrey finds this intensely frustrating. In their last scene together, he's trying to persuade her to [[HumanPopsicle at least freeze her head]].
30	* MeaningfulName/Meaningful Beard: de Grey.
31	* OverlyLongName: Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey. A RunningGag.
32	* {{Retirony}}/TemptingFate: Even in RealLife, it seems like it's not a good idea to mention how long you expect to live.
33	* TheSingularity: Discussed. Aubrey believes that it's inevitable, but that every day we hasten it by saving tens of thousands of lives.
34	* TheyCalledMeMad
35	* WeWillHavePerfectHealthInTheFuture
36	* WhoWantsToLiveForever
37	* WizardBeard[=/=]WizardsLiveLonger
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Context Literature / LongForThisWorld