The Last Lecture (LARGE PRINT EDITION)
by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow | Biographies & Memoirs |
ISBN: 9781401323257 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 9781401323257 Global Overview for this book
1 journaler for this copy...
I saw the video of Randy's live lecture, and I found that to be inspirational. He is a charismatic, intelligent, funny, and well-spoken individual, and his attitude towards life and acceptance of his fate upon learning that he had imminently fatal pancreatic cancer seemed so down-to-earth. It was, indeed, a shame that the world soon suffered the loss of such a good soul.
Having said that, I regret that I did not find the book as good as the live lecture - not even close.
What do you do when you simply don't get moved by a book, when you want so much to love it? Especially when written by a man dying of cancer? And even worse, when it keeps riding the crest of the Top 10 Best Seller List forever and forever??
I was really excited to read The Last Lecture when it was published, but instead of finding inspiration, I was disappointed and sometimes even irritated.
A primary reason that Randy Pausch wrote this book of exceedingly short vignettes and essays was to leave a legacy of memories to his three small children, a loving and noble goal.
Early on, Pausch confesses to being self-absorbed and arrogant, a warning that the reader should heed. The Last Lecture isn't as much a book of inspiration as an unabashed chronicle of Pausch's successes and greatness in life. We're to be inspired to follow our childhood dreams by way of his own: becoming an Imagineer for Walt Disney or an astronaut by flying in a zero g-force simulator. But it just doesn't ring true or realistic for more common people with more modest dreams. Instead, the book bogs down in "I-me" stories, over and over again. It loses it's focus -- Is it "The Last Lecture" for ALL of us, or is it the personal snapshot/slide-show memoir connection for his intimate progeny?
I'm not saying that the book is worthless, nor that it shouldn't be read. But take it for what it is -- a self-centered accounting of a life to be left for posterity -- rather than an inspirational lecture to follow your childhood dreams, a theme that is but a small portion of an already slim book, although it's touted as the titled thrust of the book. There isn't much universal substance here, even when you look for it, but perhaps that's to be forgiven for a young man facing imminent, untimely death at the prime of his life and caree.
Having said that, I regret that I did not find the book as good as the live lecture - not even close.
What do you do when you simply don't get moved by a book, when you want so much to love it? Especially when written by a man dying of cancer? And even worse, when it keeps riding the crest of the Top 10 Best Seller List forever and forever??
I was really excited to read The Last Lecture when it was published, but instead of finding inspiration, I was disappointed and sometimes even irritated.
A primary reason that Randy Pausch wrote this book of exceedingly short vignettes and essays was to leave a legacy of memories to his three small children, a loving and noble goal.
Early on, Pausch confesses to being self-absorbed and arrogant, a warning that the reader should heed. The Last Lecture isn't as much a book of inspiration as an unabashed chronicle of Pausch's successes and greatness in life. We're to be inspired to follow our childhood dreams by way of his own: becoming an Imagineer for Walt Disney or an astronaut by flying in a zero g-force simulator. But it just doesn't ring true or realistic for more common people with more modest dreams. Instead, the book bogs down in "I-me" stories, over and over again. It loses it's focus -- Is it "The Last Lecture" for ALL of us, or is it the personal snapshot/slide-show memoir connection for his intimate progeny?
I'm not saying that the book is worthless, nor that it shouldn't be read. But take it for what it is -- a self-centered accounting of a life to be left for posterity -- rather than an inspirational lecture to follow your childhood dreams, a theme that is but a small portion of an already slim book, although it's touted as the titled thrust of the book. There isn't much universal substance here, even when you look for it, but perhaps that's to be forgiven for a young man facing imminent, untimely death at the prime of his life and caree.
