I think the reason I didn't particularly enjoy this book isn't because I found it too dense (that wasn't a problem at all), but rather, it reminded me of blander philosophy lectures when I was studying at university. Whilst I find the premise intriguing, I didn't not find much payoff for me as the reader.

The title, Life is Short, caught my attention. Each time someone passes away, I shake my head and say, "Life is short." I make mental notes to reach out to those whom I haven't spoken to in some time. Yet, after a week or so, I fall back into the habit of doing my own thing, disconnected from family and friends. While this audiobook was not what I expected, I am grateful to have listened.
The author writes in a manner that speaks to the academic community as well as laypersons. Rickles, who serves as Professor of History and Philosophy of Modern Physics at the University of Sydney, lays out in great detail how we should focus less on the length of time we are alive and more on what we do with that time. The book made me realize that fearing death will lead to missing out on some of the best moments life has to offer. It encouraged me to live each day to the fullest.
As I listened, I was reminded of the poem by Benjamin Mays:
I have only just a minute,
Only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me, can’t refuse it.
Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it.
But it’s up to me
to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it.
Give account if I abuse it.
Just a tiny little minute,
but eternity is in it.
The narrator's voice was a struggle at times.

Far from being a book that's religious or spiritual, it's a philosophical book, reflecting on Seneca's belief that life is short so make the most of it. But based on the title, description and categorization, I had anticipated something inspiring and uplifting.

Instead, what I found was something that was interesting, but a bit ponderous. More like a Philosophy 301 class with an enthusiastic professor than a guide to making life more meaningful...

Even though the audiobook is short, I have struggled to finish it, not because the content was too difficult to follow, but because it didn't really seem to make a point. Repeatedly, there are references to things that will be discussed later in the book, and oftentimes, by the time the author came back to it, it was less interesting than when he'd first set up the premise.

Overall, what I had anticipated and hoped for based on the metadata for the book was not what was delivered. Given that I enjoy philosophy sometimes, I decided to stick with it anyway. But it has been a chore, and I finally gave up about halfway through. While I will probably continue to chip away at it periodically until I finish it, it is better taken in 15-minute segments than to sit down and read right through. Since I highly doubt finishing the book is likely to affect my review, I decided to go ahead and leave one now.

Thank you to Dean Rickles, HighBridge Audio and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

The first word that comes to mind is ponderous. Parts of this were inspiring. Others parts were tedious and overly wordy. I listened to about 80% but I found that it really didn’t have me.

"By viewing the present self as simply the future self of our past self, we can project our present self onto the future self more readily. That is, our present self just is the future self of our past self. Treat every future time as equally as now because it will be now later and it will be your now."

3.5 Stars for this one. I enjoyed this quick audiobook. It is a very well-researched analysis of support for being present. It offered some interesting points about the value of incorporating empathy, emotional self-awareness, and what Rickles presents as "temporal economics" into the education system. Not only as a way to inspire observation and appreciation of life but as a way to nurture ambition and willpower. If you like philosophy and are up to face evidence that humans have basically been trying to figure out how to "be present" for many centuries, this is a good, thought-provoking listen.

In Life is Short Dean Rickles makes a case for why the limitation of a short life makes living meaningful. I didn't dislike this book but I’m not sure who the target audience would be. It’s too complicated and technical for most people to read casually, and not novel or complex enough for those who are typically interested in philosophy. I didn’t dislike reading this but compared to 4,000 weeks, another short book covering the same material, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for access to the audiobook in exchange for my opinion.

Rickles updates Seneca’s philosophy that to live a full, authentic life, we must make the most of our relatively short lives and avoid wasting time. Death is essential because it reminds us that our lives are not infinite. Overall, the book has the feel of an engaging philosophy lecture but the content was a bit unexpected. I really believed I was going to read about Memento Mori not Carl Jung’s theories.

My biggest struggle was the audio edition. I was familiar with Simon Vance reading Dracula and I just found it so distracting to pay attention to Rickles’ ideas when Stoker’s images kept creeping into my mind.