This is a gentle, honest book about a man’s descent to death. Morrie is a sociology professor who taught Albom in the 1970s. Sixteen years later when he is diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, Albom gets back in touch and they have one last ‘class’ together. A class about the lessons of life, what it important and what Morrie has learnt about living and dying. As he states “When you learn how to die, you learn how to live”.
I have never seen death close up, not really close up. I have seen it from afar and a bit more distantly, but I have not sat & watched it, week by week, day by day, all the while talking to that person about what really matters. Perhaps not many of us have, especially those of us who spouses and parents are still living.
What is clear is how things gain true importance and clarity when you come face to face with death. Does a career, or a house, or someone’s opinion of you matter? Morrie’s view is that what does matter is how you have lived – the way you treat people, whether you forgive, whether there is love in your life.
There is almost no spiritual element to this book, but it still has much to offer. For those of us who know there is more than this life, but sometimes forget to live that way, we can still be reminded from books like this of what really matters.
This would be a great book for a book club, it could open up discussion about things that really matter to each of us.
Albom has also written some fiction – I am tempted to try them also. Have any of you read them?
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