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A review by graciegrace1178
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
4.0
4.45 stars.
Randy? Sir? Your good humor is contagious.
WIL
1) Entertaining. This is one book I really looked forward to reading. I'd take breaks in listening to the audiobook throughout the day, but I was always happy to return. It's not exactly a happy read per se, but Randy keeps things entertaining throughout.
2) Optimism. Randy's perspective always puts a brighter spin on things. An admirable quality!
3) Humor. Randy was just a funny dude, and his wit shines through in every word. Comedians have a certain rhythm to them, and Randy writes like a comedian speaks. He's a master presenter.
4) QUOTES. (Written as one single quote bc I don’t want to add all those quote marks. But I swear the quotes are from diff parts of the book)
“There’s a formality in academia that can’t be ignored, even if a man is busy with other things, like trying not to die.
Kirk, I mean, Shatner, was the ultimate example of a man who knew what he didn’t know, was perfectly willing to admit it, and didn’t want to leave until he understood. That’s heroic to me. I wish every grad student had that attitude.
Have you ever walked around a carnival with a giant stuffed animal? Have you ever watched how people look at you and envy you? Have you ever used a stuffed animal to woo a woman? I have...and I married her!
I admit: I’m either an incurable romantic or a bit Machiavellian.
Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something.
What followed just proves that at times we’re all living in an I Love Lucy episode.
If my life were a movie, this scene of me and Dylan would get slammed by critics for over-the-top foreshadowing.
My message is this: There is more than one way to mea- sure profits and losses. On every level, institutions can and should have a heart.
Tenacity got me over the brick wall.”
WIDL
1) complaining about complaining. I do see where he's coming from, but his point was a bit too drawn out to be effective. Especially because he was complaining about younger generations specifically. (Yes, I do see the irony in my complaining about his complaining about complaining.)
Neutral Ground
1) I'm so curious if other people will read this and think Pausch was "too analytical." I thought he was pretty well balanced? I mean, yea he hid behind the analysis when emotions were too high, but he still let his feelings out in therapy and expressed himself/his emotions to his wife. And hiding behind the analysis is, imho, not a bad strategy for coping in stressful moments. It ensured Pausch kept a level head and was able to see clearly at the expense of emotion temporarily. He was keenly observant during the stressful-highly-analytical periods, and that ultimately helped him better reconstruct the stressful scenes mentally to deal with it later. In short, being hyper-analytical isn't always bad,,, right?
2) Teaching style. I've had teachers like him. I am afraid of teachers like him. I'm sure some students did love him, but he made himself sound kind of terrifying in the classroom. Was that on purpose? To what END?
Randy? Sir? Your good humor is contagious.
WIL
1) Entertaining. This is one book I really looked forward to reading. I'd take breaks in listening to the audiobook throughout the day, but I was always happy to return. It's not exactly a happy read per se, but Randy keeps things entertaining throughout.
2) Optimism. Randy's perspective always puts a brighter spin on things. An admirable quality!
3) Humor. Randy was just a funny dude, and his wit shines through in every word. Comedians have a certain rhythm to them, and Randy writes like a comedian speaks. He's a master presenter.
4) QUOTES. (Written as one single quote bc I don’t want to add all those quote marks. But I swear the quotes are from diff parts of the book)
“There’s a formality in academia that can’t be ignored, even if a man is busy with other things, like trying not to die.
Kirk, I mean, Shatner, was the ultimate example of a man who knew what he didn’t know, was perfectly willing to admit it, and didn’t want to leave until he understood. That’s heroic to me. I wish every grad student had that attitude.
Have you ever walked around a carnival with a giant stuffed animal? Have you ever watched how people look at you and envy you? Have you ever used a stuffed animal to woo a woman? I have...and I married her!
I admit: I’m either an incurable romantic or a bit Machiavellian.
Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something.
What followed just proves that at times we’re all living in an I Love Lucy episode.
If my life were a movie, this scene of me and Dylan would get slammed by critics for over-the-top foreshadowing.
My message is this: There is more than one way to mea- sure profits and losses. On every level, institutions can and should have a heart.
Tenacity got me over the brick wall.”
WIDL
1) complaining about complaining. I do see where he's coming from, but his point was a bit too drawn out to be effective. Especially because he was complaining about younger generations specifically. (Yes, I do see the irony in my complaining about his complaining about complaining.)
Neutral Ground
1) I'm so curious if other people will read this and think Pausch was "too analytical." I thought he was pretty well balanced? I mean, yea he hid behind the analysis when emotions were too high, but he still let his feelings out in therapy and expressed himself/his emotions to his wife. And hiding behind the analysis is, imho, not a bad strategy for coping in stressful moments. It ensured Pausch kept a level head and was able to see clearly at the expense of emotion temporarily. He was keenly observant during the stressful-highly-analytical periods, and that ultimately helped him better reconstruct the stressful scenes mentally to deal with it later. In short, being hyper-analytical isn't always bad,,, right?
2) Teaching style. I've had teachers like him. I am afraid of teachers like him. I'm sure some students did love him, but he made himself sound kind of terrifying in the classroom. Was that on purpose? To what END?