Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow - The Last Lecture Review

Reading the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch was difficult because there were so many times when tears would just well up in my eyes and I couldn't see the words on the pages.  The book is easy to read.  It's a hardback (5 1/2" X 7 1/2") with 206 pages and the print is larger than usual.  The book is divided into six sections with 61 chapters.  Don't let the chapter count fool you.  Every time the author has a new thought he has a new chapter:+}  Some chapters might be half a page and others may actually be three or four at the max.  While on the subject of chapters: I loved the titles.  Just when I thought I was at a stopping point I would see another "interesting" chapter title ("The Elephant In the Room, Pouring Soda In the Backseat or Romancing the Brickwall").  Because there are so many chapters this is a book that you can pick up and put down in between tasks.  I would read a chapter while waiting for the microwave to go off or while waiting for the rinse cycle to finish.  You can read this book in a day or pace yourself thru several days.    

This book can help the dying prepare for the inevitable and help the living prepare for the aftermath.  The Last Lecture teaches you how to live while you're dying.  Funerals aren't for the dead; they are for the living.  You are born to die--you begin dying when you take your first breath.  This book uses humor, romance, theology, football and scientific knowledge to answer the age old question: "What would I do if I only had this much time to live." 

Once I got to The Elephant In the Room chapter I began highlighting quotes that I knew I would reflect back on.  Anyone who knows me and my love for reading also knows this:  I love to highlight books and then share that information with others.  And, I love to quote people.

I'm going to share some quotes from the book with you.  Perhaps they will give you a desire to pick up the book and read it to get the surrounding context.  Perhaps you have already read the book and these quotes will stir your curiosity to see the significance of them for me and you will want to read this book again.  I will pass the book on to "my Shaybo" (my younger sister Sharon) and I will also share it with my Daddy.  Many at my office and church have been talking about it and now I can join in on the conversations.

• "When there's an elephant in the room introduce it" (p. 16).
• to paraphrase a statement on p. 35: "Sometimes you get more out of pursuing a dream than accomplishing it."  My Daddy used to tell me that it wasn't always about the final product but the process it took to get that product.
• "The brick walls are there for a reason.  They're not there to keep us out.  They're there to show us how badly we want something...sometimes the most impenetrable walls are made of flesh."  (pp. 52-53).  
• "Luck is indeed where preparation meets opportunity."  (p. 119).
• The author gave some pointers on workig with others: "The label should be descriptive of the idea, not the originator: 'the bridge story' not 'Jane's story.'" (p. 143).
• What do you say to a person who is about to die?  "Tell your friend that in his death, a part of you dies and goes with him.  Wherever he goes, you also go.  He will not be alone."  (p. 185). 

Hope I didn't bore you with too many quotes but I actually have more than that highlighted.  This is just a powerful book.  I have been around friends who have experienced a great deal of loss.  My best friend's 15-year-old daughter passed away in January 2006 and the family still grieves.  I am always trying to figure out how I can help them and sometimes there are no words; you just sit and cry, reminisce, and cling to the memories. 

That is what Randy Pausch did in The Last Lecture before he passed away from Pancreatic cancer on July 28, 2008.   He takes the reader back to his childhood and brings you full circle from child to man--from birth to pending death.  He helps you see that everything in your life happens for a reason; you just have to accept it and like a farmer you reap the good and throw out the bad.  His charge was to give a lecture to an audience on what would I say if I was dying. The result was a beutiful legacy, the second head fake, for his three children Dylan, Logan and Chloe.   

I think one of my favorite chapters was "Elevator in the Ranch House."  I loved the way he transformed his bedroom thru paintings into his dream room.  I commended his parents for letting him to do this and the description of the pictures that he, his sister Tammy, and his friend Jack Sherriff drew.  I only wish he would have included more pictures because they sounded wonderful.  The Parent Lottery was also a good chapter and I would suggest any child or teenager read it; especially those who don't truly appreciate their parents.

Section VI (Final Remarks) got the best of me.  I was in tears just anticipating the book ending.  His book is one last farewell to his wife and children.  The publishers couldn't have chosen a better book cover.  Notice it is wrapped with packing string?  I believe that depicts that this book is his gift to his wife and children.  You will love his sense of humor and love of football.  He has proven to be a great son, brother, husband and father.  At the closing of his book he gives you the website to view the last lecture that he gave at Carnegie Mellon.  I am going to view it once I finish here. 

Randy Pausch did a lot of living in 47 years and his legacy is in this book.   In closing think on this quote that he has on the inside flyleaf: "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."  This exerpt is also in the body of the text in the Elephant In the Room chapter.  I hope that when my life is over I will leave a legacy that says I loved my life and that I had fun.  My only regret after reading this book is that I didn't get to meet the author.  I can only imagine how wonderful it would have been to be a student in one of his classes, to share his enthusiasm for the projects he had and to share a zest for life that he had.  

My charge to you: Make the best of this day and your life.  Go out there and make a difference in someone else's life and leave a positive mark on the world.  We don't have to be famous authors--we can be the Viewpoints and we can be that still small voice that awakens something in someone.

P.S. on Sept. 19th I finally got to watch his Last Lecture.  You can view it at TheLastLecture.com  It airs best thru the google video and is approximately 1.25 hours.  I laughed until I cried.  It is worth watching. 

Additional Book Information:

• ISBN 10: 1401323251
• ISBN 13: 978-1-4013-2325-7
• Publication Date: 2008
• Publisher: Hyperion
• Format: 206pages, Hardcover
• Cover Price:  $21.95 (Hardcover)
• My Price:  $14.44 plus $3.99 s/h for a new copy from Amazon.com