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The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2003)

by Mitch Albom

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Heaven Books (1)

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18,655393256 (3.68)216
Fiction. Literature. 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?".… (more)
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» See also 216 mentions

English (376)  Spanish (5)  German (3)  French (2)  Portuguese (Portugal) (1)  Dutch (1)  Hungarian (1)  All languages (389)
Showing 1-5 of 376 (next | show all)
I've read several books lately with circuses, theme parks or museums of oddities in them (Night Circus, Virgin Earth, The Museum of Extraordinary Things) so that theme in this book stuck out more for me. In this book the focus is on a man who has spent his whole life working or living around an amusement park where his father worked as well. His father was the maintenance man for the park, and when he died, the son took over that job. Now at the end of his life he dies trying to save a child from a falling compartment, and as he makes his way through a sort of induction into heaven, meeting 5 people linked in some way to his life, he can't stop wondering whether he succeeded in saving the child. If I wanted to believe in a heaven, the one described in this book is a pretty neat concept, and the story is fun and thought-provoking regardless. ( )
  JBarringer | Dec 15, 2023 |
Here's what I wrote in 2012 about this read: "An OK read. May provide hope for those who may feel their living is without purpose. Reminds that we all touch others, in often unknown, and either positive or negative ways." ( )
  MGADMJK | Dec 12, 2023 |
A short, sappy read - not incredibly deep or profound or enlightening, just a quick feelgood story. ( )
  Yggie | Oct 12, 2023 |
A delightful and thought-provoking story !
  MenoraChurch | Sep 10, 2023 |
A delightful and thought-provoking story!
  MenoraChurch | Sep 10, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 376 (next | show all)
''The Five People You Meet in Heaven'' can be reduced to a string of.. reassuring verities and a list of who Eddie's five people turn out to be... But that would do an injustice to a book with the genuine power to stir and comfort its readers.
 

» Add other authors (10 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Mitch Albomprimary authorall editionscalculated
Rivela, FranciscoNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Singer, ErikNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
Dedication
This book is dedicated to Edward Beitchman, my beloved uncle, who gave me my first concept of heaven. Every year, around the Thanksgiving table, he spoke of a night in the hospital when he awoke to see the souls of his departed loved ones sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for him. I never forgot that story. And I never forgot him.
Everyone has an idea of heaven, as do most religions, and they should all be respected. The version represented here is only a guess, a wish, in some ways, that my uncle, and others like him—people who felt unimportant here on earth—realize, finally, how much they mattered and how they were loved.
First words
This is a story about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun.
Quotations
Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from the inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.
All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair.
There are no random acts...We are all connected...You can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind...
Love like rain, can nourish from above, drenching couples with soaking joy. But sometimes, under the angry heat of life, love dries on the surface and must nourish from below, tending to its roots, keeping itself alive.
This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. To have it explained. It is the peace you have been searching for.
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Fiction. Literature. 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?".

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On his 83rd birthday a man dies trying to save a little girl. He wakes up in heaven, where a succession of five people are waiting to show him the true meaning and value of his life.
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Poolbeg Press

An edition of this book was published by Poolbeg Press.

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