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Summary: What Carl thinks
Review: There are so many people that agree with me on this that is was one of the only books i have ever read that i just couldnt put down i always wanted to know that mitch and morrie were going to talk about next this book made me think and has shown me that everyone gets old and dies but there are so many diffrent ways to go about this. morrie you would think would just let himself pass but he doesnt he teaches mitch and so many other people that even though you may be dieing you can make the best of it by showing other people that you can help by passing all you have to do is taslk to the ones that are younger than you and show them the way i have never read a book that is better than this one get book R.I.P Morrie
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Summary: I could only hope...
Review: I could only hope that when I get to the end of my life, I have half of the insight that Morrie had. I found this book to be a very quick read but the lessons held within to be wonderful and so easy to apply to life. If you ever need to read something that is life-affirming, this is the book. Beautifully written to capture the last days of this wonderful human's life.
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Summary: At least it's true!
Review: Honestly, when i first opened the book i figured, ' what kind of book can tuesdays with morrie be about?' but right when i began reading i was hooked, the book makes you want to keep reading. ending the chpaters in a mysterious suspense, making you want to know more. what i truly liked best about this book is the fact that its rare for me to find books that talk about the topics that were discussed in this book. Majority of pople have a diffficult time dealing with the true meanings behind what makes life life, being love, hapiness, death, and even pain. this book can truly be an eye opener for alot of people, morrie had alot of knowledge to offer about many topics many people can't deal with. and mitch just had the ability to put it down on paper.
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Summary: Credits to Morrie, not to the author
Review: I just reviewed the author's another book, "Five People You Meet in Heaven." I wrote that both the authors and his books are way over-rated. I find Morrie as a person very charming and adorable. As I do not get to know Morrie in person, I have no choice but to take everything written by the author about Morrie at face value. Morrie would be a great person and teacher to meet and learn from. I also find that many of his views reflect teaching of Buddhism, and I get a taste of Zen in there as well. As the author put it, "Morrie borrowed from many religions." As on the author, again, I find him unimpressive as a writer. The book could have been written in no more than half its length without losing anything except some revenues. Indeed, in this book, there are only several core messages from Morrie, and these can be well delivered in 50 pages. I have lost several loved ones in my life. I watched them became sick, I took care of them, including wiping their bottoms, and I watched them die. While every person has different ways of dealing with such a situation, the author simply failed to "touch the deepest part of the heart." Overall, I love Morrie and he deserved 5 stars. But I took away 2 stars as this is not a well written book. Worth reading though. I am going to buy "Morrie: in his own words." I don't think we need the author's filtering in delivering Morrie's wisdom and messages to us. Let's go to the original source.
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Summary: I Just Couldn't Get It
Review: i'm sry to all of the other millions of happy people who loved this book, but i must share. This book is AWFUL. it's not that albom's writing is bad, it's quite the oppisite, he is, in fact, a fab. writer. And it isn't Albom's subjest matter, becuse hearing of this novel made me want to read it and even after finishing it, i was impressed by the story line. It's simply his road in doing so. i just didn't feel that i could get into this book like i have with others, perhaps it was just me (as it seems from the rest of these reviews) but the same thing seemed to happen every chapter. Mitch goes to Morrie's on Tues. Morrie teaches a life lesson. Mitch only half gets it. Mitch goes away. Mitch ponders. Mitch realizes Morrie is right. Mitch goes to Morrie's on the next Tues. where the vicously mundane cycle begins again. I would not however giving up on Albom entirely. In fact one of the best books i've ever read is "the five people you meet in heaven". a beautifly written and well orginized, (plus it has a little variety!!) novel, i trongly recoment you read it instead
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Summary: A Small Wave Once Saw Others Crashing Against a Shore...
Review: Many people may think, "Why bother to accept death? Isn't life more important?" However, Morrie Schwartz is a riveting character that will change your outlook on life and death completely. Explained beautifully by his former student, Mitch Albom, with his philosophical reasoning, he is sure to bring out the good in anyone. His attitude toward life is amazingly unique and optimistic, although optimistic may be too light of a word. Even though he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and had a very limited time left, he did not feel bad about what he could not do. He didn't complain, or wallow in self-pity because he couldn't even move by himself. Morrie Schwartz strived to teach others his thoughts instead. Almost all the philosophies taught in this book will stay in your heart and soul forever. It teaches things that really will require one to think about life, and will change your perspective on the world completely. For example, why should someone be afraid of growing old when it's just like being a baby again when people pamper and take care of you? Why is it that commercial wealth is more important than love and family to people? Why can't people just accept the world? Throughout the book, there are twelve different chapters, each which portrays a different message of what Morrie's teachings. Just some of his philosophies are about forgiveness, death, fear of aging, and how love goes on. This book is also an excellent example of symbolism. Throughout the book, Morrie's condition gradually gets worse and worse, and in his room is a pink hibiscus plant. The closer to death Morrie goes, the plant also gradually sheds it petals and as Morrie dies, so does the plant. In addition, Morrie talked about a small wave on a shore. The wave sees all the other larger waves crashing on the shore, and is therefore afraid too. However, another wave reassures it that they're all going off to a better place to a larger ocean, and that all will be well. The smaller wave represents the whole world's perspective on death, or crashing onto the shore. However, the reassuring wave is Morrie, and how he shares what he knows with all possible, and teaches that death is not something to be afraid of, but rather to embrace, and after you do, you'll find out that there's a lot more past the shore. Also, Morrie almost welcomes death. Like the wave, he does not know exactly what lies ahead, but he has a good, reassuring idea that people value. He thinks that no one can live life well until they've learned to accept death. He even held his own funeral before he died, just so that he can show that death is not scary and that regrets aren't good. You may go to a funeral and give a few gifts in honor of the dead person, but what use is it if that person is already dead, and the family isn't yet willing to accept that, or that one will live with regrets for the rest of their lives, thinking "I could have prevented that," or "I wish I did this before I died." His straightforward attitude not only makes more sense than what we live by now, but also raises the ever-popular question, "Why?" Why are regrets so hard to drop? Why are we raised with such an upbringing that money has a greater value than dreams in our life? Why? Why? Why? This is the main question Morrie Schwartz poses, not only to readers, but also to the rest of the world. Ted Koppel from the television show, Nightline, was fortunate enough to interview Morrie Schwartz and hear what he had to say three times. This book is definitely a five, and if I had the option, six out of five stars. The book will strike awe through you and leave you wondering about Morrie Schwartz and of course, "why?" Incredibly told by his own student, Mitch Albom, this book will strike your heart like none other. Although in his last years of life, Morrie may have been physically weak, Morrie's message is like a punch right in your face, except maybe not so harsh. Just reading this book makes you want to go outside and declare to the world all that you've learned from reading it. Morrie Schwartz will forever stay in my heart and his teachings forever in my head. Thanks to Mitch Albom for his dedication to getting Morrie's story to the world, but most of all, thank you Morrie for teaching me how to really live life and tear down hate.
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Summary: Love is Life's Greatest Lesson
Review: It is sad to watch someone die. It is very painful to focus on the loss of a loved one. Morrie's 'lessons' teach the reader to focus on life and love in relationships NOW.
Morrie does not pretend to have risen above pain; he insists on living, even if his body is losing its functions one by one. The author does not minimize the graphic deterioration of his mentor's body; neither does he shun being involved in the physical care required by Morrie. He does not run from the room because of the bad smells or from seeing the horror of a disease taking over the physical body.
In order to do this I believe that the author had to love enough to see his teacher's soul beyond the physical representation and be vulnerable enough to connect with the unspoken need to touch and be touched.
The small book is very easy to read quickly but I took time between chapters to think about what I had read.
I would have liked more depth from Albom on how his own life changed as a result of these lessons.
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Summary: Morrie was an example for all
Review: Tuesdays with Morrie is one of the most inspirational real-life stories you can read. Morrie is a heart-warming character who is afflicted with Lou Gherig's disease. The book describes his passage from life to death of a man and how he continued to give his best no matter how tough it got. There are lessons for all of us here. I highly recommend this book. I recommend Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self too. Optimal Thinking provides the mental resource to be your best no matter what comes your way. Both of these books are first-rate.
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Summary: Captivating
Review: Mitch initially seems almost annoying - the perfect student that the teacher loves, but you soon learn why. The way Mitch gradually loses touch with Morrie is reminiscent of how we don't keep in contact to so many that we promised; However, when Mitch sees Morrie on television and actually goes to visit him, the stretched but still intact bond between them is clearly visible. As Mitch grows closer with Morrie in their Tuesday lessons, so does the reader. Morrie teaches Mitch about common day epithets that surround us all, but Morrie gives more meaning to these words. Albom turns this overused, typical storyline into a truly heartwrenching work. The mere fact that this is a true story throws the reader into an even deeper shock - left there to ponder the meaning for hours.
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Summary: I Did Not Like This Book
Review: Maybe it is just my view but I did not like this book. I am sure some will. It is a short large font touchy feely book that is supposed to bring us a life lesson from a death experience. I could not relate to the book. It is for myself an "air brushing" of the death experience. In the past few years both my mother died and a friend of mine, the latter who was quite remarkably very much like the Morrie person described in the book. Neither situation was like the book. Both were fine people that lost control over their bodies, and eventually died. Each death was under different circumstances and both from natural causes, but trust me it was nothing like the book. My mother just became very aged and my "Morrie" character that I will call "Bob" lost his zest for living - suffering the all too familiar situation of not one but suffering from multiple diseases including kidney failure for the four years before his death. For different reasons they stopped communicating with the outside world and eventually passed away. The process of dying itself brought about large changes in their personalities and character. It was not a learning process that I want to repeat or draw dramatic life lessons. It was not a good experience and in many ways a negative experience. Sure there are lessons, but the details are something that I feel are private and I would not want to share the way the author does in this book. I still think fondly of these people and their lives but not their last few years. I hope we can all be spared of that type of ordeal. The book for myself, a person that has lost a loved one recently - unfortunately is not related to reality - and I think that is true for most of us. My humble opinion. Jack in Toronto
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