The Five People You Meet in Heaven (Heaven)

by Mitch Albom

THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN is a wonderfully moving fable that addresses the meaning of life, and life after death, in the poignant way that made TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE such an astonishing book. The novel's protagonist is an elderly amusement park maintenance worker named Eddie who, while operating a ride called the 'Free Fall', dies while trying to save a young girl who gets in the way of a falling cart that hurtles to earth. Eddie goes to heaven, where he meets five people who were unexpectedly instrumental in some way in his life. While each guide takes him through heaven, Eddie learns a little bit more about what his time on earth meant, what he was supposed to have learned, and what his true purpose on earth was. Throughout there are dramatic flashbacks where we see scenes from his troubled childhood, his years in the army in the Philippines jungle, and with his first and only love, his wife Marguerite. THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN is the perfect book to follow TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE. Its compellingly affecting themes and lyrical writing will fascinate Mitch Albom's huge readership.

• ISBN10: 1401308589
• ISBN13: 9781401308582
• Publish Date: 1 March 2006 (first published 23 September 2003)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Hachette Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 208
• Language: English

Reviews

[clementine]

I could almost feel the author congratulating himself on a book that’s so deep and inspiring and heartfelt, but really it was just heavy-handed and saccharine. It’s like he crammed every sad thing he could think of into one story. All the profound life lessons are imparted to us via dialogue. The section on war was promising, but instead of concluding that war is destructive and violent and life-ruining, we ended up at “dulce et decorum est pro patria mori”. Throw in advocating for forgiving rapists and child abusers and you’ve got a doozy of a book!

[Bianca]

Lost love is still love, Eddie. It takes a different form, that's all. You can't see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it.

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

This book is a quick read and offers a rewarding view of Heaven, forgiveness and how we affect each other's lives every day. The book is not cerebral or challenging. It would appeal to anyone regardless of your religious or political views.

However, I think I prefer [b:What Dreams May Come|33555|What Dreams May Come|Richard Matheson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316130195s/33555.jpg|33617] when it comes to views of the afterlife and love going beyond the grave. The book and movie are excellent.

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

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?"

I read this for my book club with very low expectations, thinking it may be to spiritual or inspirtional for me. Know my reading preferance I was right.