By Michelle Pitcher
Editor-in-Chief
Very few literary works have the power to move me to tears. I cried in first grade when I read The Velveteen Rabbit. I cried in sixth grade when I read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Then in 11th grade, I cried when I read Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson.
Published in 1997, Tuesdays with Morrie is a relatively new addition to many people’s list of favorite books. The book is the personal account of the author, Mitch Albom, as he reconnects with his favorite college professor after learning of the professor’s terminal illness. The book is an emotional journey, cut with the clarity of a dying man’s revelations. When I read the last sentence, I was not at all shocked to find tears running down my face.
Whether Morrie’s philosophy of “love each other or perish” speaks to you on any level, or if you can associate more with the money-driven Mitch, I guarantee there you will find some degree of truth in this story.
Tuesdays with Morrie is a book that stays with you even after you have returned your copy to the library or deleted it off your Nook; it holds lessons that you actually want to learn. Very rarely do non-fiction books contain storylines that are more captivating and heartwarming than most works of fiction.
And there is the problem.
Students and teachers alike tend to steer clear of non-fiction, and in doing so, deprive themselves of some of the most valuable current works out there. I find that it takes a fourth grade girl to write a love story about vampires, but it takes a true genius to shape their life’s story into something beautiful.
In my sophomore English class, I read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, another contemporary work of non-fiction that follows author Dave Eggers as he discovers himself in adulthood. After declaring it one of my favorite books of all time, I began to recommend it to all my friends, family, my sister’s Canadian boyfriend – all of them were less than thrilled to read it. After all, it wasn’t a classic, by a world-renown author, or on the list for Oprah’s book club, so it was hardly worth their time.
Here is the call to arms. I promise that if you spare a few hours to read either of these works, you will gain some legitimate insight on life, youth, love – whatever you want to take from it. And you’ll find this to be the case too with most other contemporary non-fiction books. They are not difficult reads, but they are worth the time.
