基本上是一口气读完了这本书,感动之余,分享一下自己的感受。
推荐这本书给我的朋友说,这是三十岁之前必读的一本书。要我说,这是三十岁的人必读的一本书,如果你在十多岁的年纪,也许不会有所感动,甚至会觉得有些鸡汤。
作者Mitch Albom在创作这本书的十多年前和故事的主人公Morrie在布兰迪斯彼此结识,在毕业典礼上
He asks if I will stay in touch, and without hesitation I say, “Of course.”
At this point, I should explain what had happened to me since that summer day when I last hugged my dear and wise professor, and promised to keep in touch.
I did not keep in touch.
但是毕业后的十多年,Mitch并没有信守承诺,忙于自己的生活和事业,直到有一天偶然翻电视,发现ABC-TV的"Nightline"对一位自己非常熟悉的人进行报道,于是才有了本书被写就的契机。
借用Mitch写在Conclusion里的一段话来说明这本书的主要内容:
The last class of my old professor’s life took place once a week, in his home, by a window in his study where he could watch a small hibiscus plant shed its pink flowers. The class met on Tuesdays. No books were required. The subject was the meaning of life. It was taught from experience.
The teaching goes on.
在自己的导师垂死之际,最后的十三个周二的碰面时间,成了他们一起完成的最后一个项目。
在读的过程中,越到后期越感动的无法自拔,从Janine唱歌的那瞬间,眼泪就充满了眼眶。
Janine是Mitch的妻子,也是一位专业的歌手,平时他的朋友们听到Janine是歌手,总喜欢说,给我们唱唱呗?Janine每次都会婉言拒绝,但是当Morrie提出这个请求的时候,Janine唱了 "The very thought of you"
Morrie raised his eyebrows. “Will you sing something for me?”
Now, I have heard people ask this of Janine for almost as long as I have known her. When people find out you sing for a living, they always say, “Sing something for us.” Shy about her talent, and a perfectionist about conditions, Janine never did. She would politely decline. Which is what I expected now.
Which is when she began to sing:
“The very thought of you
and I forget to do
the little ordinary things that everyone ought to do …”
It was a 1930s standard, written by Ray Noble, and Janine sang it sweetly, looking straight at Morrie. I was amazed, once again, at his ability to draw emotion from people who otherwise kept it locked away. Morrie closed his eyes to absorb the notes. As my wife’s loving voice filled the room, a crescent smile appeared on his face. And while his body was stiff as a sandbag, you could almost see him dancing inside it.
“I see your face in every flower,
your eyes in stars above,
it’s just the thought of you,
the very thought of you,
my love …”
When she finished, Morrie opened his eyes and tears rolled down his cheeks. In all the years I have listened to my wife sing, I never heard her the way he did at that moment.
Morrie有一种魔力,也许是他本身的魅力让你觉得有什么都很愿意和他敞开心扉。
他的很多观点我都认同,我们虽然生活在不同的文化中,但是我们的文化里都没有去严肃的探讨死亡。这本书所探讨的问题,都基于如果When you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” 所以很多次,如果你知道活着的意义在哪里,你的生活方式会有很大不同。可是,人们总在当死亡真正来临时,在自己面对死亡时,才会真正地做出反应。
在三十岁这个年纪,几乎所有的人都在善意地提醒你,这是该如何如何的时候了,你看某某某都已经怎么怎么了,有时候他们也会用自己的经验来劝慰你,我像你这么大的时候,已经……
很多时候,我都还没有真正想好,过来人又怎么能体会我的感受呢?在这个事情的看法上,我敬佩按照自己的生活方式去过日子的人,不妥协,我们应当过自己理想的生活,把生活过成理想的样子。
“People are only mean when they’re threatened,” he said later that day, “and that’s what our culture does. That’s what our economy does. Even people who have jobs in our economy are threatened, because they worry about losing them. And when you get threatened, you start looking out only for yourself. You start making money a god. It is all part of this culture.”
He exhaled. “Which is why I don’t buy into it.”
“Here’s what I mean by building your own little subculture,” Morrie said. “I don’t mean you disregard every rule of your community. I don’t go around naked, for example. I don’t run through red lights. The little things, I can obey. But the big things—how we think, what we value—those you must choose yourself. You can’t let anyone—or any society—determine those for you.
这本书值得读很多遍,相信你的每次阅读都会有不同的收获。
也分享一些有趣的对话,tuesdays with Morrie 基本上是在欢笑和眼泪中度过的。
“I … always knew … you wanted … to hit me …” Morrie gasped.
渐冻人症逐渐侵蚀着Morrie的身体,在第十周他们见面的时候,Morrie的身体状况已经很糟糕了,需要理疗师通过拍打他的身体来使身体放松,肺部得以提供足够的氧气进行呼吸。这是Mitch代替理疗师拍打Morrie的时候他的玩笑话。
Yeah, I joked as I rapped my fist against the alabaster skin of his back. This is for that B you gave me sophomore year! Whack!
Mitch也是有趣的人,接过Morrie的玩笑~类似的场景还有很多:
So I watched the therapist work on Morrie in the bed, pounding the back of his ribs, asking if he could feel the congestion loosening within him. And when she took a break, she asked if I wanted to try it. I said yes. Morrie, his face on the pillow, gave a little smile.
“Not too hard,” he said. “I’m an old man.”
是不是很有趣?
“Mitch?” Morrie gasped, his voice jumpy as a jackhammer as I pounded on him.
Uh-huh?
“When did … I … give you … a B?”
最后用一个我很喜欢片段来结束吧:
It is 1979, a basketball game in the Brandeis gym. The team is doing well, and the student section begins a chant, “We’re number one! We’re number one!” Morrie is sitting nearby. He is puzzled by the cheer. At one point, in the midst of “We’re number one!” he rises and yells, “What’s wrong with being number two?”
The students look at him. They stop chanting. He sits down, smiling and triumphant.