Rules For Old Men Waiting

Rules For Old Men Waiting (2005), a novel by British author Peter R. Pouncey, follows eighty-year-old historian Robert MacIver as he waits to die in the house where he nursed his recently-deceased wife, Margaret. To keep himself busy, he writes a short story set in the trenches of the First World War, while reminiscing about his life. The novel was well-received (“unpretentious, lyrical and deeply moving”—Publishers’ Weekly), and many reviewers noted that it was a remarkable debut from a sixty-eight-year-old writer. A British classicist who ended his career as the president of Amherst College in Massachusetts, Pouncey worked on Rules For Old Men Waiting for more than twenty years.

The novel begins in a house “older than the Republic,” as the porch gives way beneath the weight of its sole occupant, aging Scot Robert MacIver: “The house and the old man were well matched, both large framed and failing fast.”

The house is isolated, in the midst of the woods on Cape Cod. MacIver came here with his wife, Margaret, so that she could die in a place they loved. A painter whose gentleness tamed MacIver’s passionate rage, Margaret named the house “Night Heron House” in honor of a bird that visited the grounds.



Having lost Margaret, MacIver sees no reason to live, and for months, he allows himself to decline. In any case, he is terminally ill. Nevertheless, when the porch collapses, he decides to bring some order to his last days, in order to make them worthy of his beloved wife: “I must retrench.”

MacIver stockpiles provisions for his end. To keep his fire alight he burns books, first “books of rival scholars and other trash, before good books and my own.” He begins compiling rules to govern his conduct and keep himself in order. At first, they are simple: “keep personally clean,” make the bed, and tidy the house, “eat regularly,” and “play music.”

Still, he finds himself invaded by “random images,” distracting him and making him feel deranged. So he decides he needs some occupation: rule number 7 is “work every morning.”



Long since retired, MacIver made his name as a historian by interviewing the survivors of poison gas attacks in the trenches. His father was killed during the First World War (in the air over France); MacIver served in the Navy during the Second World War. So he is well-equipped for the task he sets himself: to write a short story set in the No Man’s Land between the trenches. He dons two sets of socks and the rugby cap he earned playing for Scotland and begins to write each morning.

The remainder of the novel interweaves MacIver’s story with memories of his own life. We learn about the death of his father and the shadow of permanent rage it left on MacIver’s soul. We relive the triumphant rugby game in which MacIver’s Scottish team beat the old enemy, England. We learn about his difficult manner as a teacher and colleague in academia—which also sheds some light on MacIver’s attitude to his own personal history. He reflects on the assessment of his career offered by a former student: “Mr. MacIver always insisted that, whatever I was learning about historical methods in the course of my degree, I should never surrender the conviction...that a historian must involve himself passionately in the lives of the people he is studying. He has to understand the minute variances that are the real prime movers of historical change: the choices an individual can make, from the identical background as everyone around him, to crave something for himself and his family that is entirely different from the 'popular' choice. He was a notoriously passionate man himself and I think quite a few of his colleagues disapproved of him or were afraid of him.”

The center of MacIver’s life-narrative is his meeting Margaret, already an accomplished painter, and their rapturous courtship. More happiness follows with the birth of their only son, David. MacIver’s life-long rage settles and mellows.



After college, David volunteers to serve as a medical officer in Vietnam. Injured in the leg, David is flown home, only to die of his injuries.

MacIver’s anger returns, so powerful that it threatens his marriage. Once again, it is Margaret’s patience and gentleness that saves MacIver from himself.

Meanwhile, MacIver’s story sees the central themes of his life play out between four soldiers in the trenches. Private Tim Callum is a talented artist who draws in his downtime. Something about him provokes Sergeant Reggie Braddis, a skilled soldier and a psychopath, who bullies Callum relentlessly. Callum is defended by their commanding officer, Lieutenant Simon Dodds, who recognizes Callum’s talent. When Braddis kills Dodds, Callum is inspired to murderous rage, and he revenges his commander by killing Braddis.



When the story is finished, MacIver feels ready to die.