Tuesdays with Morrie
I just finished reading Tuesdays with Morrie, a book by Mitch Album. After reading his more recent novel, the five people you meet in heaven, I thought I might try reading the book that made him known in the first place. It's not as good as I hoped it would be, but it sure was worth the try.
Tuesdays with Morrie is a real story that occurred to Mitch Album himself. Morrie Schwartz, a professor Mitch has been taught by during his university years, gets ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - a disease), which results in Mitch remembering his old professor and deciding to visit him. This book talks about the journey Morrie had to take towards his death, and the way it affects Mitch, along with the memories it raises. By the end of the book, I had some tears in my eyes; it was touching.
Having read two of Mitch Album's books by now, I can say that I do not like his style of writing. The way he tries to jump from the past to the present and the other way around is just not good, and his use of the present tense is way too overdone. I do believe, however, that the contents of his books are worth reading something not all that well-written.
Morrie was a wise guy; I admit. Yet, not everything he said I agree with or approve of. He tried to sound above-it-all, but that did not work all the time. One instance that really annoyed me - and is the reason why I am writing this paragraph anyway - is when he started talking about aging. Aging, he says, is something we should be looking for. Oh yeah? That's what I call sour grapes, dear Morrie. If you're interested in his reasons, you can always go read the book. I do not want to spoil too much of the book's contents.
Do you fear death?
I guess I do, somehow. I feel I have not done enough - if any - good in this world to not be afraid of what's coming next. To be honest, I'm not just afraid of death itself; I'm afraid of aging before it and becoming helpless; I'm afraid of potential pain that could come just before I have my last breath; I'm definitely afraid of what happens beyond death, when I'm left to be judged for the good and the bad I have done; when all I have left is the forgiveness of God, and his mercy.
Morrie thinks it's lucky to die slowly; you get enough time to correct what you want corrected, he believes. That's a lovely way to think of it; none of us would want to die suddenly with things needing to be finished or corrected. Nonetheless, is it really lucky to see yourself decay and get weaker day by day, there is nothing more dreadful than slow increasing pain that has no end but death.
When I was a kid, I always wanted to write this story about the guy who gets told he has x days to live; after which he'd die. Tuesdays with Morrie is just that very same story, but it is too different than what I had in mind; it's nowhere like the one I would have written.
In my story, the dead guy would do everything he wants to do, he'd entertain himself, and do all the good things he would miss when dead. He'd go look at the world, and try all the interesting things out there; he'd simply do one thing: Be selfish in his last few days. Morrie's is just the opposite, and it happens to be a really story. So afterall, I will never write my story, Morrie's story is way more impressive.
Tuesdays with Morrie is a real story that occurred to Mitch Album himself. Morrie Schwartz, a professor Mitch has been taught by during his university years, gets ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - a disease), which results in Mitch remembering his old professor and deciding to visit him. This book talks about the journey Morrie had to take towards his death, and the way it affects Mitch, along with the memories it raises. By the end of the book, I had some tears in my eyes; it was touching.
Having read two of Mitch Album's books by now, I can say that I do not like his style of writing. The way he tries to jump from the past to the present and the other way around is just not good, and his use of the present tense is way too overdone. I do believe, however, that the contents of his books are worth reading something not all that well-written.
Morrie was a wise guy; I admit. Yet, not everything he said I agree with or approve of. He tried to sound above-it-all, but that did not work all the time. One instance that really annoyed me - and is the reason why I am writing this paragraph anyway - is when he started talking about aging. Aging, he says, is something we should be looking for. Oh yeah? That's what I call sour grapes, dear Morrie. If you're interested in his reasons, you can always go read the book. I do not want to spoil too much of the book's contents.
Do you fear death?
I guess I do, somehow. I feel I have not done enough - if any - good in this world to not be afraid of what's coming next. To be honest, I'm not just afraid of death itself; I'm afraid of aging before it and becoming helpless; I'm afraid of potential pain that could come just before I have my last breath; I'm definitely afraid of what happens beyond death, when I'm left to be judged for the good and the bad I have done; when all I have left is the forgiveness of God, and his mercy.
Morrie thinks it's lucky to die slowly; you get enough time to correct what you want corrected, he believes. That's a lovely way to think of it; none of us would want to die suddenly with things needing to be finished or corrected. Nonetheless, is it really lucky to see yourself decay and get weaker day by day, there is nothing more dreadful than slow increasing pain that has no end but death.
When I was a kid, I always wanted to write this story about the guy who gets told he has x days to live; after which he'd die. Tuesdays with Morrie is just that very same story, but it is too different than what I had in mind; it's nowhere like the one I would have written.
In my story, the dead guy would do everything he wants to do, he'd entertain himself, and do all the good things he would miss when dead. He'd go look at the world, and try all the interesting things out there; he'd simply do one thing: Be selfish in his last few days. Morrie's is just the opposite, and it happens to be a really story. So afterall, I will never write my story, Morrie's story is way more impressive.