THE LAST LECTURE: BOOK REVIEW

Book Review by Salman Asif Siddiqui, published in Journal of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Research, NED University – June 2012

Book: The Last Lecture

Authors: Randy Pausch & Jeffrey Zaslow

Length: 206 pages

Published by: Hodder & Stoughton, UK

Year of publication: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-340-97773-6

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? On 18^th September 2007, Randy Pausch, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, delivered a lecture titled 'Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams'. The lecture was a part of University’s old tradition according to which professors at the end of their tenure are asked to consider their demise and ruminate on what matters most to them. Theses talks which are full of wisdom and invaluable lessons are generally regarded as The Last Lectures.

But in the case of Randy, it was not the end of his tenure. He was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in 2006 when he was 45. He was married, with three little children aged five, two and one at that time. Unlike other professors, the time of his Last Lecture came very early in his life.

Randy’s last lecture at Carnegie Mellon was attended by an audience of over 400 colleagues and students. Right after its delivery, the lecture was uploaded on Youtube and University website. It became extremely popular in no time and viewed by millions of people across the globe. Later on, in April 2008, Randy authored a book The Last Lecture with the help of his friend Jeffrey Zaslow who was a journalist.  The book is not the transcription of the lecture that Randy delivered in Carnegie Mellon, but the story behind the lecture with some details of his life that were not given in his lecture. In Randy's words, the book is a way to continue what was begun on stage. The idea of writing this book was as exciting as the idea of preparing the lecture. Readers will find both the stories in the book.

With little time left in your life, it is not easy to commit writing a book. Randy did not want to consume the little time that he had for his three children and his wife by writing a book. But he was keen to compliment his widely celebrated lecture and preserve the lessons of his life in the form of a book. He therefore invented a way to do it. Based on one of his life principles which resonate throughout the book, “the brick walls are not there to stop us; they are there to let us show how badly we want something”. Time limitation did not stop Randy write this beautiful book. He wrote it when he was served an advance notice of his death. He had three to four months left when he chose to record his legacy. Randy asked his friend Jeffrey Zaslow for collaboration, to which he willingly agreed. Randy utilized the time of his bike riding, which was a crucial exercise for his health in giving talks to Jeffrey on his cell-phone headset. On fifty-three long bike rides, fifty-three talks were delivered to Jeffrey who then spent countless hours to turn them into this masterpiece book.

Apart from a brief introduction in the beginning and an acknowledgement page in the end, the content of the book is organized in six parts. The first part of the book is titled 'The Last Lecture', which takes into account perhaps the most touching and emotional background of Randy’s lecture that nobody in the audience could ever imagine without reading this part of the book. It discusses how he convinced his wife Jai about going for this last lecture, she not being very happy over this idea, as only a few months were left for them to spend together and plan for life after Randy.

The second part of the book titled 'Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams' was the title of Randy’s lecture. It was a strategic decision to choose a title through which he was going to communicate to a range of known and unknown people, his students, colleagues, his kids, his loving wife, relatives, friends, parents, counselors, educators and patients of incurable diseases around the world. This part of the book outlines how Randy engineered a presentation that has a lasting inspiration and impact in the lives of millions of people.

Randy lived a life that was driven by his childhood dreams. He has clearly illustrated how dreams add meaning to life. He lived a very successful life by accomplishing all of his childhood dreams from being in zero gravity to playing in National Football League, authoring an article in World Book Encyclopedia, and to being a Disney Imagineer. The book contains stories of how passionately he pursued his dreams and how some extra ordinary people including his parents played their role in his life.

The other parts of the book are filled with meaningful anecdotes of varying experiences like cancer treatment, birth of children, difficult situations at job and other turning points in life. There is a chapter in the book that outlines the tips of time management, which are based on Randy’s personal life.

In the last section titled 'Final Remarks', Randy has described unique qualities of his three kids. This description is extremely profound yet simple enough to state that even educational psychologists would marvel at his insight. His vision for his children can surely inspire other parents, too. Randy says, “It can be a very disruptive thing for parents to have specific dreams for their kids. … A parent’s job is to encourage kids to develop a joy for life and a great urge to follow their own dreams. … So my dreams for my kids are very exact: I want them to find their own path to fulfillment. And given that I won’t be there, I want to make this clear: Kids, don’t try to figure out what I wanted you to become. I want you to become what you want to become.”

Randy’s writing indicates that he was an optimistic person. At one point he analyzed, “Cancer has given me the time to have these vital conversations with Jai that wouldn’t be possible if my fate were a heart attack or car accident.” Besides, he has also expressed his deepest gratitude and regard for his wife.

In the end he points out the two head fakes of his talk. First, the talk was not about how to achieve your dreams but how to lead your life. Second, the talk was not just for those in the hall, it was for his three kids.

The book which is a kind of life story is a unique non-fiction filled with anecdotes and narratives. Organization of content is like a story board, which sustains readers’ curiosity and attention up till the end. Language is simple but often symbolic containing great wisdom in short phrases. Nobody can remain unmoved by the unique style, wit and intelligent humour that run throughout the book making the reading light, enjoyable and impactful. Randy calls himself a visual thinker and the book, too, offers a visual experience through a number of photographs.

Soon after its launch, the book became a New York Times best-seller and spent more than 85 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. The book’s first printing alone had 400,000 copies. It has been translated into 46 languages. There are now more than 5 million copies of the book in print.

Though Randy has lost his life to cancer in July 2008, but he will continue to inspire us all through his breathtaking book and lecture. This book is worth reading for anyone who cares about the meaning of life and its legacy.