Very Good Lives - A graduation speech by J. K. Rowling

 

In 2008, J.K. Rowling delivered a deeply affecting commencement speech at Harvard University. Now published for the first time in book form, Very Good Lives offers J.K. Rowling’s words of wisdom for anyone at a turning point in life, asking the profound and provocative questions: How can we embrace failure? And how can we use our imagination to better both ourselves and others?
Drawing from stories of her own post-graduate years, the world-famous author addresses some of life’s most important issues with acuity and emotional force. Very Good Lives

My opinion

5/5 stars
I just graduated and I do not remember the words my speaker used in his speech. All I can remember is that he took off his fancy-graduation-ceremonial cap and put on a real cap. Oh, and after that he said some funny stuff, some inspirational things, and some famous quotes. Was it long? Yes. Did it get my attention? Yes, at least 89.999% of it. Did I laugh? Yes.
Basically, J. K. Rowling was right. Graduation speeches are easy to forget. But I got the gist of it: Caps and gowns are expensive and we do not know why we call them caps and gowns because they do not actually look like real caps and gowns.
Let me show you some pictures:

 

Cap (the real meaning if you Google it) vs. Cap?

 



And
 

Gown (the real meaning if you Google it) vs. Gown?

I know, right? Mind blowing!

 

OK! Enough about my graduation speech! Let's continue talking about J. K.'s speech. (And I am not talking about "just kidding's speech". That is a totally different story or acronym.) This piece of writing was truly inspiring and it deserves to be read. Why you ask? Well, J. K. Rowling put her life on a silver plate and served it to us as an inspirational speech. If you read this, you get to know the woman behind the books as a real person and not just a picture and brief bio on a book cover.

I am not going to lie, I was not sure what to expect from this book. Now, I am glad I did not have any expectations. I received a valuable lesson about life and I got inspired.

Are you in a desperate need for a piece of reality? Do you want something to motivate you in life? And, do you want a quick read?

Well then... Very Good Lives is the answer to all of your questions.

 

This is my sole opinion. ^_^

 

Also, feel free to check out my review on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

 



Genre: Nonfiction, Speech
Language: none
Sexual content: none
Violence: none
Drugs/Alcohol: none