Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Last Lecture

First of all, this is not "the" last lecture by Randy Pausch that you can find on YouTube . It's more like a book that capitalized on the last lecture's popularity.

It's full of little essays on the meaning of life as seen through the eyes of a man with a terminal diagnosis of cancer. Lots of advice left for his three young kids that he would never see grow up. Too bad the guy was a computer geek, since I found his writing to pretty average. Many of the blogs I read by regular moms are better written!

I found it hard to read all at once. Too much advice on how to live your life to take in one sitting! He struck me as a bit arrogant and seemed to have all the answers. It's an ideal bathroom book, I suppose, inspirational in small doses. It's like those "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books.

I was disappointed. I was expecting something much more profound. But I suppose dying from cancer doesn't automatically give you otherworldly insight.

Definitely ready to pass this one on! Just let me know if you want it!

2 comments:

  1. Haven't read it and can't say I will. I know I'm in the minority here, and risk having rotten tomatoes thrown at me, but I wasn't a huge fan of his whole Last Lecture YouTube phenomenon. It was too saccharine for my taste, and very unrealistic. Really, you poured soda all over the seat of your brand new car to show your nephew (I think . . .??) that material possessions don't matter? I just didn't buy it. Why did he buy the car in the first place then? I dunno . . . I'm sure he was a great guy with a great attitude, but the whole thing was a bit of a turnoff for me.

    Have I mentioned that I'm cynical?

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  2. Definitely saccharine. That's why I compared it to those Chicken Soup books.

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