Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you?
Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying of ALS - or motor neurone disease - Mitch visited Morrie in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final 'class': lessons in how to live.
Review:
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Mitch Albom |
I took this book on a rainy Sunday morning and finished it by that night. It was an interesting read and I must say I was impressed with the simplicity of the narration. The book is about a reunion between a teacher who is counting his days on earth and his favorite pupil. Morrie, the teacher, manages to exude a positive vibe even in his dying days. His last lecture to his favorite pupil, Mitch, is about life and its various aspects like marriage, family, goals etc. This book teaches you to appreciate the small things in your life and not to put your happiness on material things.
Morrie is diagnosed with ALS, an incurable nerve disease and is said that he has only a few days left. Now, he has two choices to live the rest of the days - brooding over his impending death or to appreciate and enjoy every moment of his last moments on earth. Morrie chooses the latter.
Mitch, a pupil of Morrie at college, is a journalist who is constantly busy and flies all over the world to cover news. He promises to keep in touch with Morrie during his graduation but fails his promise in his busy career. He comes to know about Morrie's fatal disease through a TV show and visits him immediately apologizing for meeting him before. The two decide to meet every Tuesday and talk about anything that comes to their mind. On those Tuesdays, its just like the old days - Morrie delivering his lecture and Mitch actively listening. They end up talking about Death, Fear, Aging, Greed, Marriage, Family, Society, Forgiveness and a meaningful life.
The book is loaded with motivational quotes that are guaranteed to make you feel better when you are experiencing mood swings. One quote that I loved is "Dying," Morrie suddenly said, "is only one thing to be sad over, Mitch. Living unhappily is something else. So many of the people who come to visit me are unhappy"". This book is a nice little light read that lightens up your mood and makes you see things around you in a different light.
I'm not a big believer of self-help books and I feel there is no magic formula for success and happiness. But I highly recommend this book as it puts various aspects of life in the right perspective.
Quotes:
"Dying," Morrie suddenly said, "is only one thing to be sad over, Mitch. Living unhappily is something else. So many of the people who come to visit me are unhappy"
"Death ends a life, not a relationship."
"If you hold back on the emotions--if you don't allow yourself to go all the way through them--you can never get to being detached, you're too busy being afraid. You're afraid of the pain, you're afraid of the grief. You're afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails. But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your heard even, you experience them fully and completely."
"Love wins, love always wins."
