I was going to go all condescending on this book, talking about how sentimental and full of tired truisms it is, but I admit I cried at the end. And I think Morrie, that cheerful teacher with an indomitable joi de vivre, was right, even if he does sound trite. The end of the book packs a wallop emotionally.
I've heard about this book for years and people have recommended it to me several times. I finally picked it up at a book sale. I've been reading it off and on for the past several weeks. Morrie Schwartz was the author's professor in college, his favorite teacher ever. He lost touch with him after he graduated and went on into the frantic business of trying to be successful in a cut throat world. But one day he's clicking through TV channels and he catches Ted Koppel interviewing his old professor. Only the old professor is dying of ALS and is on the show for a human interest bit. He wants to chronicle his dying so he can teach others about what it is like.
Albom, the author, gets in touch with Morrie and begins to visit him every Tuesday. Tuesdays were when they would often meet when he was in college, it just so happens. It seems to be their day. The old friendship is rekindled and Morrie comes to love and treasure the folksy, loving wisdom his "coach", as he affectionately calls him, more and more. The friendship is all the more dear because death must soon part them. This encounter changes the author deeply.
It's a heartening book about how important it is to spend our time on earth being kind to others.
Two thumbs up.
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