This is a book that I chose to read due to its reputation.
I think the book deserves that reputation. First of all, I've never read a book that was frank about how it was written so the proceeds could allow a person to pay their medical bills. That was an interesting fact about this book & changed the way I see it.
That being said, I think Morrie was deserving of having a book written about his life. He was a person who thought about life and how it should be lived and helped a lot of people along the way. I was intimidated by how clear it was that Morrie was surrounded by people who he had influenced and who in essence were reflecting his love back to him. I say I was intimidated by this because it's probably my greatest fear that I will die alone. And also that I will die without ever really having lived. Morrie is an example of the opposite and I don't think I can achieve that situation myself.
Morrie presents a lot of philosophy over the course of these pages and I didn't find it hard to relate to. This was because it was a simple philosophy. His ideas are ones a normal person might be able to put into practice. Philosophy isn't always like that. I enjoyed that a lot of his ideas were concerned with turning our conception of the social contract on its head. I think of Morrie as a sociologist first and foremost, not a philosopher. He concerned himself with people and how they relate to each other. The moment in the book that comes to mind was when Albom's college class plays the trust game - the purpose of which was to highlight the difficulty of trusting others.
I've shied from being concerned with the social contract - mostly because people are an unknown variable to me. More so than with anything, you don't know what you're going to get from people. Some individuals are enlivened by this fact - mostly it just scares me. So many possibilities of different outcomes and most of them not positive at least in my experience.
Morrie didn't bring negativity to his attitudes about other people. He even managed to forge a relationship with the ugliest reality of all - death - and make it a meaningful one. Arguably, this is the responsibility we all have when the time comes, and most of us don't rise to the challenge. It struck me reading this book that the attitude you bring towards your death will be similar to the attitude you brought towards your life. If you viewed your life as a pessimist would, than what is the likelihood that you will do any differently when you must face death? It also struck me reading this book that how I mold my relationship with death when the time comes will be very important. It is an ACTIVE experience, not a passive one where you simply lie there and wait for the inevitable. At least, I think Morrie is a good example of how it shouldn't be. Death occurs while you are still alive and so I don't think it should be viewed as a tunnel towards something else with all the focus on that other place you may or may not be heading towards. I think it should be viewed as an event that is part of this story you are still a part of here on earth - as a piece of life. And therefore, you experience it just as you experienced other events over your lifetime. Morrie was a good example of this. He talked to Albom about what was going on with him at their meetings - he shared what dancing with death for him was like. He didn't believe he had to go through it alone because technically we all die on our own. We don't share that experience at all in a way and we never could. But as much as any of us can, Morrie did. I tend to revert into privacy especially during distressing times - Morrie did the opposite and I found that a curious thing.
Albom I related to more than Morrie. For some reason I feel like I have to take my time with this post so I will update it over time.
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