Friday, September 21, 2012

Rudy: My Story

http://www.booksneeze.com/art/_240_360_Book.684.cover.jpgFrom GoodReads:
 The inspirational real-life story of the man behind the beloved movie "Rudy, "his continued determination to make his dreams come true, and how you can dream big too.
How does a lower middle class kid, who suffered through school with undiagnosed dyslexia, get into Notre Dame and become the inspiration for millions in a Hollywood film that has become one of the most inspiring sport movies ever made? He never gave up.
For the first time, read Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger's real life story and learn the behind-the-scenes details of the ten years it took to make the movie and how that tossed him into a new career of public speaking that continues on stages today alongside world-class leaders and speakers. "
"Divided into four parts, each include details of the failures and hard lessons he's learned along the way and how hitting the reset button was often the best thing that ever happened to him: Growing up one of 14 kids in Joliet, a brief stint in the Navy opens a new world of opportunity and dreamsRudy finds a side door into Notre Dame where in a legendary moment he becomes the first player in school history to be carried off the fieldThe struggle to find a career after college leads him to his new impossible dream, to get a movie made about his life storyLaunched into a new world, Rudy finds his true calling as an inspirational speaker and reveals how losing site of his own dreams nearly derails him, but how once again, in learning another of life's most important lessons, he finds a reason to hope again-through the eyes of the next generation of Rudys"Rudy" doesn't represent some far-fetched Hollywood fantasy that most people can never attain-the power of his story comes from the fact that at heart he's just an "Average Joe." The moral is that anyone with a dream can make that dream a reality-as long as they're willing to put in the hard work, and heart, it takes to get there.
 
 
 My Thoughts:
I love the movie Rudy. Absolutely love it. I was so excited to get to read the true story of Rudy and his path to Notre Dame and beyond.  But I was really disappointed.  I didn't want to finish the book, and had to force myself to do it.  I liked reading about the real things that happened to Rudy and how he made it to Notre Dame.  However, I couldn’t stand his attitude throughout the first three quarters of the book.  I felt like he had an "I deserve this" attitude when it came to almost everything in his life.  “Because I worked so
hard and was so put down as a kid, I deserve and          am entitled to all of this.”        
Although Rudy wrote about how hard he worked and how much of himself he put into everything, I was still left with the feeling Rudy felt like he was failed by so many people in his early life (his father, his teachers and his friends) that anyone should just give him what he wants solely because he wants it really bad.  I came away from the book feeling like I don’t like this person and I wouldn’t want to be near him.  The story was good because I love to see the real story behind the movie, but I was so disappointed in Rudy as a person.  

I received a free copy of the book from booksneeze.com in exchange for an honest review.