After reading so many raving review for this book on Amazon, I had high expectation. Unfortunately, it fell short. My opinion of this book mirrored this reviewer's opinion.
Because I like list, I'll list what I like and don't like about this book/author.
I admire O'Kelly for:
- Able to see the silver-lining despite being given a death sentence.
- Facing death calmly and dealing with it in a logical and methodical manners.
- Have discipline to get things done.
- Having good intentions to make his death easier and a more positive experience for those around him.
I dislike O'Kelly (and this book) for:
- The constant self congratulatory tone in the writing. He constantly mention his past accomplishments. Yes, his career accomplishments are very impressive. However, the frequent mentioning of these and the name dropping make him come across as selfish and arrogant.
- He proclaimed how much he loves his family and yet he did not talk much about them in the book.
- O'Kelly spent most of his last days writing and people in the 'outter circles' that he rarely spent his good days with his wife and daughters. I feel sorry for his wife and daughters. Despite having good intention to make his last few days on earth more meaningful (consciousness), with more perfect moments, stop and smell the roses....he still doesn't get it, even at death.
- It seems that his purpose in writing this book was to let his family know how much he loved them, but more so to let them and everyone in the world to remember him, to not be forgotten. Selfish?
"Chasing Daylight" is more of a self-congratulatory book that chronicle Eugene O'Kelly's accomplishments as CEO of KPMG than an insightful book on life and love. If you want to read a good book on life and love, read Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking. I will write a review for it later. The Year of Magical Thinking is the best book I read this year!
One good note for "Chasing Daylight," the book does remind one that life is short, live the moments. This book also bring to mind a forward story:
A professor gathered his students around him. And while they watched, he filled a gallon-sized Mason jar with about a dozen fist-sized rocks. Then he asked the students a question. He asked: "Is this jar full?" And everyone in the class agreed that it was. Then he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of gravel and poured it into the jar. The gravel worked its way down between the cracks and once again the professor asked his students: "Is the jar full now?" The students weren’t so sure this time. Next, the professor pulled out a bucket of sand and poured it into the jar. And the students watched in amazement as the sand filtered down among the rocks and gravel. And the professor asked again: "Is this jar full now?" Of course, the students were believers by now and all responded with a single “No.” The professor agreed and pulled out one last bucket. This one had water and he poured that into the jar as well, filling it up to the very top.
“The jar,” he said, “is now full. But what’s the point?”
One eager student raised his hand and said, “The point is that, no matter how full your schedule, there’s always room for more.”
But the professor had another lesson for them. “The point is,” he said, “that if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you won’t get them in at all.”
As you begin to struggle with the everyday kinds of questions about what direction your life should take. As you struggle – as we all do – on what you need to focus on ... and what you can let slide. Let me suggest that, like the professor, you focus on putting the big rocks in first.
What are the big rocks in your life?
