(6/24/2008)
Because of all the hype surrounding this book, I decided to give it a shot. I was disappointing.
The author attempts to cover a lot of ground in a very short book, rendering the messages ineffective. In less than 200 pages, Albom recounts Morrie's experiences and life lessons on love, marriage, faith, regret, and ambition. I personally view all of these issues to be very complex; I simply do not get much from a one-page discussion on the benefits and difficulties of marriage. To really offer anything worthwhile in any of these areas, I think that the author needs to explore them much further.
Moreover, I found the author's exploration of Morrie to be lacking. The adjectives used to describe the man were extremely broad: kind, wise. Such broad descriptions failed to show Morrie as a truly complex individual. I would have liked to see his character and mannerisms developed more.
I think that the book had a lot of potential. The lessons provided were worth relaying, and I believe that Morrie was a unique and intelligent individual. However, I don't think that enough credit was given to either of these aspects.