Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Tuesdays with Morrie is a gorgeous book about life, love and teaching.

It is based on the true story of a professor who is dying of ALS, and in his final days makes a difference in the lives of many, many people - including his old and favourite student. The student is shown as an idealist in college, ready to dream big and follow those dreams, and the story goes on to show you how the guy becomes more and more disillusioned - his idealism crushed by the bills and the attitude of those around him. And then one day he rediscovers the professor who taught him the meaning of the life, and goes to him every Tuesday for his Professor's final lectures, which help him to reassess his own life and relations.

The book is peppered with interesting stuff - quotes and stories come in the middle of every chapter, and therefore make the book more fun to read as well as more inspiring. The chapter names are also masterful. But the real beauty of this story is in how well the author takes a very sensitive topic like death and portrays it simply but effectively. He does not use any hard words, he does not bother with long paragraphs. This story requires no stylistic help to put its point across. Basically the story just has so much substance, and is so inspiring in itself that I feel like I want to memorize the book so that I will remember it forever.

In the story, Morrie, the professor, says, "Learning how to die helps you learn how to live."

And that is exactly what he tries to teach you. With sayings ranging from, "Love each other or die," and "When you're in bed, you're dead," Morrie will teach you about the many things that assail the generation of today - answer questions about life, death, about marriage, about family, about the importance of having someone to fall back on, the importance of connecting with people, the eventual unimportance of material things, and the fact that no matter what happens, love will live on. This book will fill your heart with joy and sorrow, and I am pretty sure you will not leave this book without feeling inspired and refreshed and ready to re-think you life and your goals.

I was very, very glad that I got the chance to read this book. (It was actually suggested by one of my teachers, who I was reminded of frequently as I read the book.) I don't agree with all the things Morrie believed in, but I do think that this a book everyone should read once (or perhaps at every stage in their life) in order to assess themselves whether they are not simply wasting their life pursuing someone else's goals.

Final thoughts: This has been a short and simple review for a short and simple book, but here is what I think - this is a book for all those kids with inspiring teachers, all those people who once had them, and all the people who never got the chance to meet their inspiring teachers. Definitely a must-read.

Other thoughts: Finishing up with Chandru Bhojwani's Journey of Om, should post a review soon. Also, one of my book reviews on Eva Ibbotson's Star of Kazan, came in Teen Ink here. Please read and vote if you like it.

Readers question: Did you ever feel like you had a teacher who truly understood you? Did you end up losing touch with them? Share your stories.