Tuesdays With Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: <br />Beautiful and touching, inspirational and rich. A book that not only teaches but makes you feel. <br />Also recommended: Nightmares Echo by Katlyn Stewart, Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs,The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom

Rating:
Summary: Heartwarming
Review: I had been avoiding this book despite hearing from numerous people that this was a great book because I was skeptical and because the biography of a dying man's last months was not exactly an appealing topic for a book. However, someone gave me this book a couple of weeks ago and I read it in a couple of hours.

The book is a short work by Mitch Albom, a sports reporter in Detroit and on ESPN. Albom heard on Nightline one night that Morrie Schwartz, his favorite college professor, one with whom he had developed a real friendship at school, was dying from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Albom had not seen or talked to his professor since then. However, Albom called his professor, was invited over, and then, at the professor's request continued to visit him while recording their conversations to transform into a book, or as the two of them described it, a final thesis.

The story that emerges is a combination of Morrie's reflections of life, how to be happy, how to feel satisfied at the end of it, and so forth and Morrie's reflections of what it was like to know you are dying and watch your body wither away.

None of Morrie's ideas are particularly novel. Morrie tells us that we should be good to each other and that we should care more about being happy than making money or buying things. Morrie is sad about his body deteriorating, but he tells us that if you live a good life, you can go through even this horrible death without worrying that you didn't do enough in life. However, Albom tells Morrie's lessons to us clearly and, as much as is possible, without lecturing us. The story of Morrie's last months is, of course, tragic, but worth reading.

The only part I disliked was Albom's interspersed story of his own life. Albom starts telling us a bit about his life in college, and that was interesting, but then Albom switches to the present. I guess the point is that Albom wants us to know that he had lost his way but that he was taking Morrie's lessons to heart. It seemed an unnecessary addition to the story. Better to let Morrie's lessons speak for themselves.

Rating:
Summary: Never Too Old To Learn "Life's Greatest Lesson"
Review: Mitch Albom hadn't spoken with Morrie in sixteen years, ever since Mitch graduated from Brandeis University in 1979. He may have never gotten back in touch with his professor that he lovingly refers to as "Coach" if he hadn't been clicking through the channels one evening and seen Morrie being interviewed by Ted Koppel on "Nightline". Tuesdays With Morrie: an old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson is an undeniably touching biography that leaves its readers dabbing their eyes with tissues and not only that, but grasping to read more about the incredible and unforgettable professor of Sociology, Morrie Schwartz, who never stopped learning or sharing his words of wisdom until the day he died.
In his book, Albom gives good grounding so the readers know all about his own past, Morrie's past, and medical knowledge of the disease which has taken control of Morrie, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. At times readers may feel that the details and analysis of Albom's own life aren't needed, but on the contrary, they give insight into the man who changed so much after being with his mentor and friend for only a few short months before Morrie's death.
In the beginning of the book, Albom makes a promise that at the time, he intends to keep. He writes that at his graduation ceremony in 1979, he presents Morrie with a briefcase in hopes that Morrie will never forget him and after a long hug, Morrie asks him if he will keep in touch. Without hesitation Mitch says, "Of course." He does a horrible job of keeping that promise until almost twenty years later when mentor and student are reunited. Mitch Albom tells readers truths about himself that most people would be too ashamed to divulge. This gives readers something to relate to. Mitch becomes a sports reporter in Detroit and on ESPN and when his life gets difficult, his way of running away is to dive deeper into his work and focus on anything but the real problem at hand that he needs to deal with. Too often people get preoccupied with making money and buying the newest and best products available, and we forget about the truly important people and things in our lives that have helped shape us. Some of Morrie's aphorisms are "Devote yourself to others" and "Love always wins". We all need to be reminded of these truths sometimes, and Morrie illuminates many of them in his weekly, tape-recorded sessions with Albom.
Tuesdays With Morrie teaches the deeper meaning of life. The book is structured in such a way that there is a chapter on all of one through fourteen weeks and then there is a flashback. It could be of either Albom or Morrie's life. These flashbacks explain pertinent information and are a wonderful way to engage the reader without giving too much unneeded information that could make the book go on much longer than it had too. The 192-page hardback book is the perfect length book to give the reader just enough so that they don't need to ask for more because they feel as if they have closure at the end. Yet this book is so easily understandable and heartfelt that the reader can't help but say, "Give me more! Tell me more about this elderly man that has so much wisdom to offer."
Each chapter, aside from flashbacks, is called "The (any number of one through fourteen) Tuesday" and then it goes on to explain the topic that will be discussed that day. Some topics that they discuss in the book are the world, feeling sorry for yourself, regrets, death, family, emotions, the fear of aging, money, how love goes on, marriage, our culture, and forgiveness. The book ends by painting a picture in the readers mind. This is the same picture that was painted in the beginning almost word for word.
Albom writes: "The last class of my old professor's life took place once a week, in his home, by a window in his study where he could watch a small hibiscus plant shed its pink flowers. The class met on Tuesdays. No books were required. The subject was the meaning of life. It was taught from experience.
"The teaching goes on."
There couldn't have been a better way for Albom to close the book. This ending tells people that everyone can learn how to live their lives to the fullest right up until the end. Morrie was learning new things about life and about himself all the way until the day he died. We are just lucky enough to get to hear what he learned.
Readers may be asking, "So what is life's greatest lesson?" Albom says, "...if Professor Morrie Schwartz taught me anything at all, it was this: there is no such thing as "too late" in life." He also learned that "Death ends a life, not a relationship" so even after Morrie left this world, he would live on in the hearts of everyone he met, and in the readers of this book who felt as if they knew Morrie personally after reading the book.
This well-organized chronicle of the last fourteen weeks Morrie Schwartz and Mitch Albom spent together, helps make a book of great clarity and wisdom. The book is inspirational and sensitive and the life lessons learned in the book aren't easily forgotten. This book is what the two men refer to as the final thesis of the class; the class that met once a week on Tuesdays. This story is tragic, but well worth reading. The excellence of the book can't be doubted when it has been embraced by readers around the world, being published in nineteen countries and in sixteen different languages. Albom gives a tribute to a remarkable teacher in Tuesdays With Morrie. If you want to learn the meaning of life, then this book is for you.