And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy? When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon , was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment because "time is all you have It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe.
It was about living. In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. What do I consider my most important lesson in life so far?
It is quite a difficult question to answer. I'm sure that I don't have the life experience to give a good enough answer, but it's quite possible that this student was bright enough to recognize that and learn something from the incompleteness of my relatively uninformed response.
I hope that someday I can have the kind of perspective that Randy shows in the lecture and the book. We need people like Randy, who have a clear picture of what they have learned in life and who are willing to share it. Regardless of whether you or I agree completely with his advice, what shines through is that this was a man who lived his life according to principles that he believed in, and that he thought others would benefit from hearing.
His life, lecture, book, and his death remind me of a quote from Dr. Howard Thurman: "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Even as he lived the last few months of his life, I know that Randy was truly alive. View all 15 comments. My review of this book will not be popular, but I must be honest. I'm halfway through this book, and although I appreciate a positive voice, it's really not that interesting or helpful.
If I could sum up this book in three words, they would be "yay for me". The author tells us how great his childhood was, then that he accomplished all his childhood dreams, got the girl of his dreams It's really not a book how to better your own life, as much as it him telling us how great his life My review of this book will not be popular, but I must be honest. It's really not a book how to better your own life, as much as it him telling us how great his life has been.
Yes I realize it was born from a lecture, but maybe every life, achievement, and event in this world doesn't necessarily need a book to be made about them. Having said all negative stuff, Mr. Pausch sounds like a good guy. View all 89 comments. View all 6 comments.
Jan 18, William T. No doubt Randy Pausch was a nice guy. But this book is smarmy, self-indulgent crap--which is ok given the circumstances under which he gave this lecture. But it is not worth reading. This is typical 's individualistic, unreflective advise on how to succeed in life.
Alas, Professor Pausch does not realize that he was born white, male, middle income, in exactly the time in the 20th century where he could avoid confronting WWI, WWII, the depression, Korea, Vietnam, urban riots of the 's, the No doubt Randy Pausch was a nice guy. Alas, Professor Pausch does not realize that he was born white, male, middle income, in exactly the time in the 20th century where he could avoid confronting WWI, WWII, the depression, Korea, Vietnam, urban riots of the 's, the civil right movement,and the women's movement because he was too young.
And he got to miss all of the problems of Bush 1 and Bush 2 in the middle east because he was too old and affluent. So he has the privilege and lack of social awareness to totally ignore the entire social context that provided and constructed his wonderful, if unfortunately short, life. Thus he leaves out the advise that was most important to his success. Have the pre-natel intelligence to be born male at the right time, in the right place, to parents who are racially privileged citizens of a superpower in ascendance during a brief window of peace at a time of expanding educational opportunity for middle-income working people in an expanding economy.
Then these individualistic platitudes, if you are also very, very fortunate, may possibly help--but then again, they may not. Nice guy, sweet sentiment, save your money. Shelves: poop , memo-auto-bio. While this man has a 5-star attitude, I can only give the book two.
Five star attitude He refers to this as "an engineering problem" understated and true has months to live, tops. Has 3 small children ages 6 and under who will never know him. I applaud the great attitude he takes to enjoy the time he has left and focus on what matters. But is this earth shattering?
Is any of this a surprise? View all 71 comments. The Last Lecture is Randy Pausch's last hurrah- a final note to the world and his family about how to live, love and let go. It is beautiful. I think that we're all here for a reason and have stories to tell. How fortunate for us all that Randy had the time and ability to tell his particular story. I recommend this book for fans of memoirs, computer engineering and heart-felt narratives. I listened to the audiobook and it was excellent. Then, once I finished the book, I looked up Randy's actual las The Last Lecture is Randy Pausch's last hurrah- a final note to the world and his family about how to live, love and let go.
Bring your kleenexes, friends. View all 5 comments. It's hard to criticize a dying man. I think this is a great book for his wife, family, children, and friends to read, and although it has some good life lessons that are not revolutionary but do need repeating from time to time, this book is not well written.
At points while I was reading I found myself actually disliking Pausch and his way of presenting himself, but then I realized that this would perhaps make me a horrible person. Maybe I am. I very much prefer Tuesdays With Morrie for a simil It's hard to criticize a dying man. I very much prefer Tuesdays With Morrie for a similar message that is presented in a more eloquent way.
View all 9 comments. Shelves: , i-reviewed-this-bad-boy , tnbbc-winter , nonfiction , it-made-me-cry , autobiographies-and-memoirs. I think this was one of those books where knowing the criticisms before starting it ultimately upped my enjoyment factor.
Randy Pausch, the author, was one of those people who became wildly popular in thanks to the internet. And so they are encouraged to break down all t I think this was one of those books where knowing the criticisms before starting it ultimately upped my enjoyment factor.
Throughout it all, he remained very upbeat, he was charismatic and his nerdy persona was infectious. And so copies of the lecture spread and spread and spread over the internet and suddenly Pausch was an overnight sensation. Only in America. And many of the longer ones appear to be run-ons.
About halfway through the book I realized that each chapter of this book reminded me of a blog entry. Then I realized that that may be some of the appeal to this generation, because as a piece of literature, this book is just…well…no.
This book came highly recommended to me by my sister and my mom who love it. My mother-in-law has read this book and also loves it. Since discovering this site, I almost always scan some of the top-vote-getting reviews before starting a book.
And in the case of this book, since there were so many glowing reviews, I found myself focusing on the negative ones if only because they appeared to be in the minority and the minority has always intrigued me. And realizing that this year, next year, five, 10, 15, 45 years from now, his children will still have a record of who he was and what he stood for whether I agree with all of it or not is an unbelievably beautiful thing. Having that connection to the past is a tangible reminder not only of what was lost, but of where we come from.
And losing a parent before their time makes that connection even more powerful. I hope that will be a tremendous source of pride for them.
View all 10 comments. The Last Lecture, literally, for a professor with a terminal illness. Taken from a speech that he wanted to impart to his students, family, friends, - really everyone as he came to grips with his condition.
This is about as emotionally charged and spiritually powerful as you may expect, the author is exploring territory that we all face, but he was at the edge of existence when he put this together. Randy Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had months to live, from this perspective he The Last Lecture, literally, for a professor with a terminal illness.
Randy Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had months to live, from this perspective he shares with us what is most important. Read it, discuss it, share it. The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch The Last Lecture fleshes out Pausch's lecture and discusses everything he wanted his children to know after his pancreatic cancer had taken his life.
It includes stories of his childhood, lessons he wants his children to learn, and things he wants his children to know about him.
He repeatedly stresses that one should have fun in everything one does, and that one should live life to its fullest because one never knows when it might be taken. I was first "introduced" to Mr. Pausch while watching the Oprah show in the fall. My father in law was in the hospital at the time, fighting melanoma that had metastacized to his lungs.
Simply stated, I stopped folding clothes and cried so hard during that show. Soon after, the emails began to circulate with links to the last lecture on utube and I watched every link I got and cried even more. I read all the internet articles and was touched every time. When I saw the book was coming out, I jump I was first "introduced" to Mr.
When I saw the book was coming out, I jumped on board and knew I had to read it. I never knew how emotional this book would be for me. The day August 15, Randy Pausch got the devistating news that his cancer had spread and there was nothing the doctors could do anymore, is the same day that we arrived at MD Anderson with my father in law, knowing things were not right.
I came across this in the book and had to put it down for days. This was just hitting too close to home for me. I finally was able to pick it back up and continue.
This book and Mr. Pausch's stories are so touching and true that we can all find something in there that will help us want to be a better person. We can all find some bit of wisdom that can be carried into our lives. I cried so many times reading this, but I laughed several times too!
Anyone who has had their life touched by cancer will benefit from the optimism Mr. Pausch has, but it will be a very difficult read just because of the seriousness of the issues at hand. Just the sheer optimism in such a negative world is very uplifting. I ran across several quotes from the book that I felt were so important that I needed to use my trusty post it notes to mark them for future reference.
Here they are: Pg. They're not there to keep us out. The brink walls are there to give us a chance to how how badly we want something. Pausch refers to the brick walls so many times, but it is so true! And you may find one day that you have less than you think. We thought we had so much time with my father in law. And we lost him so quickly. Take the time to do the things you want and never put them off. And now it makes sense. I find the best shortcut is the long way, which is basically two words: work hard.
If we could all stop taking the shortcuts and work a little harder, could imagine what might happen?!?! Shelves: books-i-own , to-re-read , non-fiction. Yeah I really won't be able to give a coherent review.
Suffice to say that this is human beings at their best. You might not agree with all of Randy's lessons, but he tells you from the get go that this is what he thinks and he did it all for his kids. Towards the end I cried because there really isn't another word to describe the whole thing but genuine.
The book was published when he was still alive, but I read it when he had already passed away so it was even more heartbreaking.
We can all learn from what Randy has to say. I can't believe that's all I have to say but it is. The book can speak for itself.
View all 7 comments. Dec 05, K. I am writing this review with barely 4 hours to go before I picked this book up to inspire me to face another year. I learned about this book when I took our company-mandated safety leadership training last month.
Our corporate safety manager talked highly of this as he related Randy Pausch's very personal experience with what one person's ultimate objective in life, i. For those who are not familiar with this bestselling I am writing this review with barely 4 hours to go before For those who are not familiar with this bestselling book, Randy Pausch was an American computer science professor who died of pancreatic cancer at the age of At the time of his death, he left his three small children aged 6, 4 and 1.
He learned about his condition in Sept so he was able to use his last 22 months to prepare. The highlight of this preparation was his last lecture delivered in the university where he used to teach, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. That last lecture is basically what this book is all about. The book is divided into 6 parts: 1 the last lecture; 2 his six childhood dreams that he basically achieved prior to his lecture; 3 various anecdotes that taught him life lessons; 4 how he inspired others to achieve their dreams; 5 his list of advices for better living and 6 his final messages to his family - 3 kids and wife Jai.
Overall, the book had that inspiring effect on me but it was far from mind-blowing. I think I've read too many similarly situated characters in both fiction and non-fiction works that I found Pausch's situation less heart-wrenching. Fact: people die everyday and Pausch's condition was a lot better than the people who had to die here in the Philippines.
Why Pausch was even able to buy a brand new house and lot for the family he was leaving behind few month's before his eventual death. Very few of us in a third-world country would be able to do that. So, this is not to criticize Pausch and his better life situations were not his fault, it's just that I found it harder to empathize with him. There are a lot of worse situations around here in our country. His writing is also less moving that those written by non-writers during the last years of their lives.
I even found the memoir The Time of My Life 3 stars jointly written by Patrick Swayze and his wife Lisa Niemi detailing Swayze's fight against the same kind of cancer more engaging and interesting. For one, The Last Lecture at times seems too self-absorbed as Pausch talks about himself, himself, himself.
His thoughts about the concept of time, the meaning of life, and the inevitability of death led to one final collegiate lecture which became an international internet sensation. I, too, have always been acutely aware that time is finite. Sometimes to a fault. I treat my time like businessmen treat their bank accounts, or like models treat their appearance. It means everything to me. I rarely feel I waste my time these days after too many years of spending it like I owned an endless amount.
Knowing for several months that he would die from pancreatic cancer, Pausch put a special premium on his time, as all of us should do, I believe. In , he was diagnosed. In , his diagnosis was terminal.
Less than a year later he was dead. No more time to play with his kids. Or to drive around his convertible. Or to ponder the future together with his wife. Or to lecture college students. He ran out of time. And, as a computer scientist who dealt all his life with scientific facts, Pausch understood this undeniable fact.
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