Tuesdays With Morrie, Book Review Example

In reading the book Tuesdays with Morrie, one can only begin to understand the values of Mitch from page 6. After failing to achieve much as a musician and after his Uncle dies from pancreatic cancer, he becomes very disillusioned. He moves to Florida and takes a job as a columnist for Detroit Free press. At this point, a lot more opportunities come his way: writing sports books, doing radio shows, appearing on Television and other freelance opportunities. I start to identify his values and principles that guide his decision making. First of all he has an insatiable desire, to acquire wealth as much as possible. After he realized that sports journalism makes money, it suddenly became his passion, and he was working day and night to make money. This passage taken from page 6 best illustrates this,

“I stopped renting. I started buying. I bought a house on a hill. I bought cars. I invested in stocks and built a portfolio.”

His ambition was completely wealth driven after failing to achieve success as a pianist. Another key value of Mitch is his obsession with deadlines. Everything he did was strictly with a deadline, from the same page 6 continuing to the next sentence,

“I was cranked to a fifth gear, and everything I did, I did on a deadline. I exercised like a demon. I drove my car at breakneck speed.”

His drive for success became so compelling so much such that he was willing to push himself to the limit. Even after he got married, he still kept his deadlines. Another of Mitch’s key values was his concept of squeezing as much happiness out of life as possible. He got buried into his accomplishments at the expense of starting a family. The passage on the same page 6 illustrates:

“I buried myself in accomplishments because with accomplishments, I believed I could control things I could squeeze in every last piece of happiness before I got sick and died,”

To find the most life challenging occurrence in Mitch’s life we go back to his hitherto role model, his Uncle. It his Uncle who taught him music, gave him his first driving lessons and introduced him to girls. They had a strong bond, and it was him he wanted to be when he grew up. However, he died of pancreatic cancer at the age of forty four changing his life forever. He describes as they, his aunt and Uncle’s two children watched helplessly as he suffered night after night slowly withering away. Mitch Albom goes on to describe this moment as the most helpless moment in his life. Watching his hero Uncle suffer and gradually die affected him greatly.

When his Uncle died, Mitch says his life changed. He felt as if he was wasting his life. This passage best portrays his emotion at that moment. Pg 6

“I felt as if times were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not move quickly enough.”

His reaction to his Uncle’s death can be best described as a turning point in his life. He stopped playing music at half empty clubs; he stopped writing songs that no one would listen to. He decided to go back to school where he gained a masters degree in journalism.

Mitch Albom espouses different spiritual beliefs at different points in his life. At the beginning, he is a committed believer in his dreams. After graduating from college, he set himself on a path towards becoming a music super star. He completely commits himself to this belief and spends countless nights playing music in empty night clubs and writing songs that he describes as that no one wants to listen to. The below passage thoroughly explains this trait,

“My dream was to be a famous musician (I played the piano), but after several years of dark, empty nightclubs, broken promises, bands that kept breaking up and producers who seemed excited about everyone but me, the dream soured. ”

He kept at his dream for, while strongly believing in it before finally giving up. Later on Mitch also strongly believed in self gratification before death. After witnessing his Uncle helplessly die, he lost his passion and committed himself totally to making money. He labored long hours, keeping tight deadlines, and he made money. Even after getting married, he never managed to start a family as his work took away most of his time. This passage on pg 6 best illustrates.

“I was back to work a week after the wedding. I told her—and myself—that we would one day start a family, something she wanted very much. But that day never came.”

Later on after Morrie’s encouragement, his relentless pursuit of wealth became meaningless. At this point his spiritual beliefs changes and he realizes that he has been missing on the greater higher things of life. He starts to visit Morrie regularly and Morrie becomes the man he wants to be; valuing love over money and people over tabloid gossip.

One of the things I admire most with Mitch Albom is his commitment to his ideals and principles. At every stage in his life, he followed through with his decisions. From the onset when he chose to be a musician, he worked very hard at it not withstanding all the challenges. Playing in empty night clubs and writing songs that no one wanted to listen to. Another instance of his commitment to his ideals is when he gives up his music dream and begins to pursue money. He works under tight deadlines without compromise, thereby, mostly achieving his dream.

The three specific statements that aptly capture my heart are, “I buried myself in accomplishments, because with accomplishments, I believed I could control things,” “My uncle had worked for a corporation and hated it—same thing, every day—and I was determined never to end up like him”, “The years after graduation hardened me into someone quite different from the strutting graduate who left campus that day headed for New York City, ready to offer the world his talent”. The first two statements echo a strong belief in ideals and being passionate about one’s undertaking. The third statement is an aspect of which as a student I believe in, even though it never panned out to the writer. I want to believe after my studies my skills will be useful to the country.

Reference:

Albom, M. (1997). Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson. ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited.