Reader Response to tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Inside cover reads:
"Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher. Someone older, wiser, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you to see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly 20 years ago. Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights fadd, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger? Mitch Albom had that second change. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch 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."
My Rxn:
A cute little reminiscience. the summary pretty much sums it up. It really kind of hit a rough spot with me because Mitch and Morrie were both active at Brandeis University. I wanted to go there for Grad school, but the dorks wouldn't take me! so at least i could connect with the book in that way. i wouldn't turn a backflip for it, though. It's about ALS, more easily recognized as Lou Gherig's disease. I know nothing about this disease, so the book did a great job describing how debilitating it is. I'd like to learn more about it. there are a few snippets that educate and inspire:
"ALS is like a lit candle: it melts your nerves and leaves your body a pile of wax" (8).
"Life is a series of pulls back and forth. you want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted. A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle. Sounds like a wrestling match, I say. A wrestling match, he laughs. Yes, you could describe life that way. So which side wins, I ask? Which side wins? He smiles at me. the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth. Love wins. Love always wins" (34). i have a feeling that padre dave would love that part.
"I'm going to say it again, he said. Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live. He smiled, and I realized what he was doing. He was making sure I absorbed this point, without embarrassing me by asking. It was part of what made him a good teacher" (72).
"Wherever I went in my life, I met people wanting to gobble up something new. Gobble up a new car, a new piece of property, or the latest toy. And then they wanted to tell you about it. 'Guess what I got? Guess what I got?' You know how I always interpreted that? These were people so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes. They were embracing material things and expecting a sort of hug back. But it never works" (109-110).
"I remembered how he used to teach this idea in the Group Process class back at Brandeis. I had scoffed back then, thinking this was hardly a lesson plan for a university course. Learning to pay attention? How important could that be? I now know it is more important than almost everything they taught us in college" (120).
"We all laughed, a nervous laughter that comes when the devil is within earshot" (135).
like i said. a cute memory book. inspirational to anyone who's lost someone very close to them. but it doesn't win the Word Nerd Seal of Approval.
Inside cover reads:
"Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher. Someone older, wiser, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you to see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly 20 years ago. Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights fadd, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger? Mitch Albom had that second change. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch 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."
My Rxn:
A cute little reminiscience. the summary pretty much sums it up. It really kind of hit a rough spot with me because Mitch and Morrie were both active at Brandeis University. I wanted to go there for Grad school, but the dorks wouldn't take me! so at least i could connect with the book in that way. i wouldn't turn a backflip for it, though. It's about ALS, more easily recognized as Lou Gherig's disease. I know nothing about this disease, so the book did a great job describing how debilitating it is. I'd like to learn more about it. there are a few snippets that educate and inspire:
"ALS is like a lit candle: it melts your nerves and leaves your body a pile of wax" (8).
"Life is a series of pulls back and forth. you want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted. A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle. Sounds like a wrestling match, I say. A wrestling match, he laughs. Yes, you could describe life that way. So which side wins, I ask? Which side wins? He smiles at me. the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth. Love wins. Love always wins" (34). i have a feeling that padre dave would love that part.
"I'm going to say it again, he said. Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live. He smiled, and I realized what he was doing. He was making sure I absorbed this point, without embarrassing me by asking. It was part of what made him a good teacher" (72).
"Wherever I went in my life, I met people wanting to gobble up something new. Gobble up a new car, a new piece of property, or the latest toy. And then they wanted to tell you about it. 'Guess what I got? Guess what I got?' You know how I always interpreted that? These were people so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes. They were embracing material things and expecting a sort of hug back. But it never works" (109-110).
"I remembered how he used to teach this idea in the Group Process class back at Brandeis. I had scoffed back then, thinking this was hardly a lesson plan for a university course. Learning to pay attention? How important could that be? I now know it is more important than almost everything they taught us in college" (120).
"We all laughed, a nervous laughter that comes when the devil is within earshot" (135).
like i said. a cute memory book. inspirational to anyone who's lost someone very close to them. but it doesn't win the Word Nerd Seal of Approval.
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