THE LAST LECTURE by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow

Death is a very difficult thing to come to terms with, especially when one finds out that they don’t have as long a time as they would like. I have heard that when people reach their old age, many think back on their lives. Whether they were a good person or not. Whether they achieved what they had dreamt of as young adults. Whether their life led was a life led meaningfully for them and those around them.

Randy Pausch, a professor of computer science and human computer interaction from Carnegie Mellon, had to do all that around the time when most others would be in the middle of their careers or planning for their young children’s futures. He had to come to terms with something that very few would expect in their lives: pancreatic cancer.

Naturally, as many others who find out that death is imminent for them, Pausch too wanted to leave a meaningful piece of himself behind for his wife, children, those who knew him, and those who would come to hear about him after his death. Being a lecturer and a geek, he did it in the one way he knew he would make a lasting impression—by giving his last lecture.

To give you an idea of my opinion on this book, I’ll say this: only two books have brought me down to tears—ever. And this was one of it. It felt like Pausch was speaking to his reader—as if he was sitting in front of me and having a conversation over coffee—throughout the pages. Such tone, in my opinion, is highly difficult to achieve with words. One would need to have a very clear understanding of their personality and self—and I suppose natural talent—to come through and touch a person using nothing but written words. And to do that as a reflection of his life is simply an amazing feat.

As much as he directly intended for his lecture and book to be a piece of him for his young children, it indirectly became an encouragement for all the people out there. Through his anecdotal stories, we learn about and to appreciate the small or intangible things in life. The ones that caught my attention the most were the close human connections that he made, with his family, friends, colleagues, and students, as well as his emphasis on passion and following that to achieve something in life.

To Pausch, death is a given. There is nothing that can be done to change it. All he cares about is that however long life is, it is lived with passion and worth. A professor of mine has this biweekly talks about the bucket list—things we’d want to do before we dies—and how we shouldn’t be too caught up that we forget to live. Giving talks like that are fine, but there’s only so much impact that it can make. But with The Last Lecture, Pausch became a real life embodiment of this philosophy and more. So, all in all, I’d say that although it really wasn’t meant to be, if there is every a need for inspiration or motivation, this would be the one book to look for.

p.s. do watch the webcast of Pausch’s lecture. All my praises for this book would be justified in it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo