Reviewed by Lily Bond
In Mitch Albom’s best-seller book Tuesdays With Morrie (Time Warner Books, 1997, 192 pages), the author examines what life is all about and its most important values.
He challenges the modern consumer-society concepts of go-go-go, earn-earn-earn and spend-spend-spend. His story shows that these values relate to people trying and failing to buy time and to find satisfaction.
As Mitch attended university, Morris Schwartz, known as Morrie, taught him at least one sociology course per year. He developed a close relationship with the professor and promised to stay in touch after graduation.
Although life took Mitch on a different course, he heard, thanks to a TV interview, that his old professor suffered from an illness. After a 16-year gap, he renewed his acquaintance with Morrie. Together, they charted the professor’s final course, his journey to death from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).
Written as Mitch’s final “thesis”, the book’s brevity and simple style make it an easy, but worthwhile, read. Significant past events are interspersed with, and affect, those in the present.
I felt slightly disappointed at being less touched by the story than anticipated, given the nature of events and the characters’ intimacy. But reassessing what really matters in life is helpful, and that’s what Albom forces his readers to do as they tag along.
Approval rating: 78 per cent.
For more information: www.twbg.co.uk or www.albom.com.
(November 20, 2006)
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