The two books I read were The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch and Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom. They’re both about how a professor has cancer: but that’s pretty much the end of the similarities. The Last Lecture is from the professor’s point of view, while Tuesdays with Morrie, is from a students point of view. The reason I chose these books to compliment each other is because they’re both about professors who have cancer I’ve read The Last Lecture before and I found it entertaining and inspiring to live like you’re going to die because you never know when your going to die or get a diagnosis of a terminal illness. This was the first time I read the book Tuesdays With Morrie, but I’m glad I did because it talks about a man who lost so much because of his illness but he fought it to keep his job because it was something that can’t be taken away by anyone or anything other than time. They both speak about the values of life, but also about not giving up even when you have an obstacle that you have to bypass.
The Last Lecture is about a professor who has a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, but decided to live a legacy of himself for his three kids that he had with his wife, Jai. Tuesdays with Morrie, on the other hand, is about a professor who doesn’t want to give up on working just because of his diagnosis; so he continues to have a class on Tuesdays, after breakfast, every week. The topic of the class was ‘The Meaning of Life.’ many things were mentioned in this class including love, work, community, family, aging, forgiveness, and finally, death. As I have said in prior paragraphs, the novels are similar in many ways. There alike because of them both being about professors; both the professors continue their work even after they got their diagnosis of cancer, and they both have wives. They have many differences, too. The differences include the difference in point of view, in The Last Lecture, the book is from the perspective of the professor; but in Tuesdays with Morrie, the book is from the perspective of the student whom the professor lectures every week on Tuesday.
The book Tuesdays with Morrie, and the book The Last Lecture, relates to current events because nowadays hundreds of thousands of people have a diagnosis of cancer and sadly, most die. The Last Lecture shows how cancer can put a strain on a families relationship, because of the bills, and the thought of losing one of your loved ones. My opinion on the 2 books that I read, is these books really show what it’s like to have someone who you hold close to your heart have cancer; and sadly, not make it through. there’s nothing else to say about them.
