Submitted to: Sir Fida Hussain Bukhari Submitted by: Zainab Javed Roll # M09BBA014 BBA(hons) Banking &

Finance 7th Semester

THE LAST LECTURE

By Randy Pausch

BOOK REVIEW
When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.

Randy Pausch was not a writer, he was actually a professor and researcher. At the peak of his career he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer with only 3 to 6 months of good health left. Instead of blaming fate and going down with depression. Randy decided to make the few days of his life meaningful. He decided to deliver the last lecture at his university titled Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. He saw the lecture as a way to pass on the lessons that he learnt from his life to his children and his students.This lecture became very popular and was converted into book with the help of Jeffery Zaslow who is a columnist for Wall Street Journal.

This book is very inspiring and motivating. Randy tells his life stories in this book which makes the readers learn the importance of dreaming big, hard work, modesty, sacrifice and positive outlook towards life. Reading it changes your perception on life and how to live. The theme of the book persuades the reader to achieve their own dreams. In one of the chapters Randy gave the message of never giving up in life by mentioning an example of brick walls. He said that brick walls are there for a reason. They are not to keep us away but to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. If we really want something, we will find a way to achieve it. So we should never give up on challenges which come across our dreams and us.

Randy tells the story of himself when he wanted to be a Disney Imagineer. This was his childhood dream and many people told him that he would not be able to achieve it but he did not give up; he persisted until he made his dream come true. He tells several stories in the book that illustrates how life challenged him and how he overcame the challenges. Although Randy had only few days of his life left, he rather than focusing on dying gave a lecture about truly living each day as though it was your last. This book teaches that no matter how hard things get, you should always remain optimistic towards life. It will make you examine yourself and how you are living your life. The last lecture is a great read with lots of good advices for the readers. As the author framed his message through his childhood memories and life experiences this book will have a strong and positive impact on its readers.