Thursday, March 12, 2015

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (Audiobook Review)

Across the country, professors are selected to give special lectures at colleges and universities.  These lectures are not their typical lectures, the ones they give every day.  Instead, those selected are given the same topic:  What would you say to your students if it were your last lecture ever given?  Randy Pausch was one of these professors selected to give this lecture at Carnegie Mellon.  When he was selected, he had no idea that it was going to literally be his final lecture.  He was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and given only months to live.  Even despite his diagnosis, he chose to continue with his speech and The Last Lecture was born of Pausch's final words of wisdom.

I knew the topic of this book before listening to it, and so I braced myself for sadness - lots of sadness.  What I did not expect was humor and genuine warmth.  And, I experienced all of it in extremes because I was listening to Pausch himself narrating his own story.  His stories, his words, his wisdom impacted me and will stay with me, probably more so than if I had been simply reading the book.  In fact, it is one that I will likely revisit on a regular basis . . . tears and all.  Next time, I will stick with the print version.  I know that there will be many quotes that I will be taking note of the next time around.

Have you been affected by The Last Lecture?  Did you find it as powerful as I did?

10 comments:

  1. I know of this one, but could never bring myself to actually pick it up. I can read about all sorts of traumatic events but this one just seemed so personal and heartbreaking. I love that you listened to it though. I think for me, that would be the way to go.

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    1. Ti ... I won't lie. It is heartbreaking. BUT, there is also so many encouraging words in there that I still have to recommend it. And, audio is a great way to go.

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  2. This book was amazing. ALL THE FEELINGS. I read it not long after my father's death from cancer and it tugged at every last heartstring I had.

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    1. Becca Lostinbooks ... Oh my, I am sure that it did. It was truly an amazing book and an amazing man behind the words.

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  3. This one has always sounded so heartbreaking to me. I know I will cry while reading it, or listening to it. At the same time, I do want to read it. Maybe I'll give the audio a try.

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    1. Belle Wong ... I definitely recommend the audio. It does have heartbreaking pieces, but it also has some great life advice and funny parts too. I guess you could say it balances it out.

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  4. How touching and sad....I haven't read it but I would like to.

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    1. Ally R. ... I definitely recommend that you read it!

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  5. You know, I remember hearing about this back when it was fresh. In fact, it may have been before he died, but I can't remember it clearly. It drew my attention then and you draw my attention back. Maybe audio is the way I might actually "read" something like this. Hmmm...

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    1. writersideup.com ... I definitely recommend that audio version. It's short and a great listen ... but expect tears!

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