MINI REVIEW: HAVE A LITTLE FAITH

The Reb...

I remember loving my reading experience with TUESDAYS WITH MAURIE when I picked that up years ago. When I randomly encountered this other non-fiction story from the same author, I was instantly intrigued. 

HOW I RATED IT 

4/5 This is another really wholesome and heartfelt story by Albom. Though it didn't leave quite the impact I was hoping it would, I still found it to be an enjoyable read nonetheless. 

CONTENT

The basic setup for this story is quite simple. Albom is approached after a presentation by his childhood Rabbi who asks him to write his eulogy. Unsure of how to go about doing it and unable to turn such a request down, a relationship between the two men ensues where they talk about life, love, and faith. Fans of TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE might find this to be a very similar situation and the author makes several references to how it all feels a bit recursive to him as well in some ways. As this is a story from Albom's own life, the repetition felt significant rather than redundant (as it might if one or both of the stories were a work of fiction) and it was interesting to see how Albom reacted to spending time with another mentor figure at the end of his life. 

As the title implies, this isn't just another story about death and dying, but also an examination of faith: what it means to have it, what it means to live it, and what it means to die with it. Apart from Albom's interactions with "The Reb," this book follows the story of a man named Henry, who has lived an extremely dark life. It's initially unclear as to how the story of a Godly man like The Reb intersects with the story of Henry's self-destructive spiral but, without spoiling things, they do eventually connect in a thematically beautiful way. There is still a high degree of juxtaposition between each man's interactions with Albom and how they approach their respective beliefs which helped give a much fuller picture of what it even means to live a life of faith. 

It's probably no spoiler that the book ends on the promised eulogy. While I think this was a fitting way to end things and the words Albom shared were lovely, I ultimately finished feeling a little bit hollow. Throughout the whole book, Albom has very philosophical and academic reactions to what Henry and The Reb share with him. He mentions several times that he feels these interactions are possibly meant to pull him closer to God, but we never really get a sense of how this affects him on a more personal level and whether he ends up taking steps toward either returning to his Jewish roots in a more active way or if he converts to Christianity. I suspect a more neutral tone was taken to appeal to people of different faiths, but as a practicing Catholic, I think it would have been much more gratifying if we got any kind of inclination that these experiences led him to want to travel down one path or another as opposed to a more agnostic broadening of his worldview. Now, this is non fiction, so I'm not saying he should have lied if the experiences didn't affect him in that way, it just sort of seemed like the whole premise of the book centered around something that either didn't really impact his life much or did but he didn't want to share the personal details of. 

HARDCOVER

I was able to find a hardcover of this book quite cheap at a gift shop and am glad I discovered it. The book is well made with solid construction and some nice paper quality. It's also a nice size and can easily be slipped into a bag or suit case for reading on the go. The naked hardcover isn't really anything special but the dust jacket is printed on a nice, thick paper and has an appealing design (the significance of certain details are made clearer by the story told within). The fonts and formatting also made for easy reading. 

CONCLUSION

If you enjoyed TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE, then this book may be to your liking as well, especially if you live a life of faith or are close to someone who does. The stories of Henry and The Reb are quite beautiful in their own ways and I think the connective tissue between them proved to be quite profound even if the main themes of the book didn't fully manifest within the book's conclusion in the way which I would have liked. 

(+) Albom has a really wholesome writing style that shined through once again. 

(+) The stories of Henry and the Reb are extremely worthwhile and significant in their own way.

(+) Albom's time with Morrie is nicely tied into this new story through subtle references. 

(+) The way that the different stories unfold  and then sort of converge together was quite satisfying. 

(+) A well made hardcover edition that was a pleasure to read through. 

(-) The core themes of the book ended up ringing a little hollow for me toward the book's conclusion.