Non-fiction
The book cover says "an old man, a young man and life's greatest lesson"..and the book stays honest to this plot..
Its a compact book, and still I didn't finish it off in one read ..I slowly read it through beacuse I wanted the emotions to sink in completely page after page...After the usual acknowledge page the book goes to whooping start with "the curriculum " starting with "The last class of my old professor’s life.......and when I come across "Kissing him good-bye earned you extra credit" , I could't help but smile...Lines like ".A funeral was held in lieu of graduation","The last class of my old professor’s life had only one student, I was the student", made me sigh...
The chapters are named The curriculum, syllabus, the student and not just numbered is a author's vantage to write for his favorite professor , Morrie Schwartz college professor in philosophy at Brandeis University.. In spite of all this after graduation Mitch becomes too busy to keep in touch with his professor until he (author is currently a newscaster and sports journalist) finds out in an interview that his old professor is dying battling ALS (Amyotropic lateral scelerosis). Morrie is happy to hear from Mitch again and invites him and there begins the journey of an old man, a young man and life's greatest lesson...They meet every Tuesday extending to fourteen weeks, all their conversations are taped..They discuss topics on life like whats love, life , death, relationship..Even when topics deal with death aren't uneasy to read along.. Every single aspect of life is discussed with simple ease yet striking the right chord..I found myself reading in again and again for the sheer elegance they had been put forth to..My favorite quotes are :
"So many people walk around with meaningless life. They seem half asleep, even when they are busy doing things they think are important. This is because they are chasing the wrong things . The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."
" I don’t mean you disregard every little rule of your community. I don’t go around naked, for example. I don’t run red lights. The little things, I can obey. But the big things - How we think, what we value - These you must choose yourself. You can’t let anyone- or any society - determine those for you".
"The culture we have does not male make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture soesn't work, don't buy it.."
"We need to forgive ourselves..For all the things we didn't do..All the things we should have done.. You can't get stuck on the regrets of what should have happened."
During the college days unlike being addressed as professor , Morrie is addressed as coach by Mitch..The book ends with "A teacher until end" is heart rendering.. Even at his death bed Morrie's spirit is inspiring and true to his nickname coach he taught how to keep one's head up facing things head on at every situations and for Morrie death was just another situation considering himself lucky for a happy life till now...
Do find time to read this and you'll never be disappointed...
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