The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Hardcover, 198 Pages
2003, Hyperion
ISBN: 1920798218
Synopsis
Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him, as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It's a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie's five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his "meaningless" life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: "Why was I here?"
Review
The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a spiritual book, managing to take the reader on a journey through the afterlife without an obvious preachy religious stance.
Eddie is an average man. In his opinion, his life adds up to nothing more than seemingly random events that have had no effect to anyone. Basically, he believes that he was born, he existed and then he died and all of it was unimportant. Upon his death, he is greeted by 5 people whose lives he touched. Through speaking to them and reliving their deaths, he learned that he did effect the universe around him.
The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a surprisingly uplifting, heartwarming story when you look at how much death is focused on. Through the eyes of others, Eddie learned the true meaning of his own life. The book makes you consider your own life and makes you realize that no life is ever truly meaningless. Mitch Albom has proven again how great he is at being deep without being heavy. The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a short and light look at death and what comes next.
Rating
Links
My Mom hooked me on this author with this book. I LOVED it! It sucks you in and won't let go. Have you seen the TV movie of it with Jon Voight?
ReplyDeleteMy mom raved to me about "Tuesdays with Morrie" by the same author and although I never read it (for some odd reason), I did read this one and his "For One More Day".
ReplyDeleteHis books, this one in particular, really leave an impression on the reader. They have great messages!
Glad you enjoyed it :) Great review!
♥Isalys
I cant wait to read this, I've had it on my bookshelf for years now! Great review :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Not typically my kind of book, but it seems like you really enjoyed it. Maybe I'll check it out.
ReplyDeleteI liked this novel, too. I thought it was unique and had a positive message.
ReplyDelete@Stephanie - Mitch Albom as a great talent for writing deep without being heavy that I haven't seen a lot of other writers manage to do. That alone makes all of hit books unique and memorable.
ReplyDelete