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The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
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The Five People You Meet in Heaven

by Mitch Albom

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7,703175184 (3.69)85
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English (173)  French (1)  Hungarian (1)  All languages (175)
Showing 1-5 of 173 (next | show all)
Mitch Albom's books all have the same peaceful quality to it. While some events in the books he wrote might appear to be quite violent, you as the reader is viewing the events from a tranquil position - such as the afterlife.

This story is about a man who has passed on and met 5 people in his afterlife, each of whom made some what of an impact to his eventual identity. The story, while fictitious, reminds the reader gently that every little thing can count towards something big.

very beautifully written and poignant. ( )
  anivyl | Nov 6, 2009 |
This is an interesting concept, if a tad glurgey. It could make for a good writing exercise for character development. It was also a very quick read: just shy of 200 pages with frequent chapter breaks. In short, I enjoyed it, even if it wasn't the normal sort of book I like to read. ( )
  melydia | Oct 28, 2009 |
Poor writing. Writers say "show don't tell," obviously Mitch Albom hasn't heard that advice. ( )
  middkidd | Oct 21, 2009 |
After reading and enjoying, Tuesdays with Morrie, was keen to read 'Heaven'. This one struck a chord. I gave it to my bookclubbers for christmas the year it was published. LOVE IT!! ( )
1 vote jaseD | Oct 13, 2009 |
The book "the five people you meet in heaven" by Mitch Albom fascinated me, and is not only enlightning but makes you reflect on your life and live each moment such that you are answerable in your afterlife. The lead character dies and meets 5 people who have crossed him in his real life.

I particularly liked the part where he meets his father and develops a bond, which even though he was yearning could not accomplish in real life. Think of the 5 meetings )- like 5 gates you have to cross, or 5 examinations you have to pass, to attain entry in Heavan. Somewhere in the middle, I had this gut feeling that this is a perfect script for a family Hindi movie, which can be a hit if well made.

As I said, at various points of the book, it leads you to refelect, and during once such moment, I thought of another book closely related to this topic - "Man's search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl, which talks about a real life story of a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camp, and how he managed to survive the harsh punishment only because he had a "purpose" or "meaning" to live. Both these books one of which is fiction and the other based on a real life story, are deeply moving and have taught me the importance of having a purpose, vision and mission of our lives. ( )
  lrbhat | Oct 5, 2009 |
Showing 1-5 of 173 (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.
 
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Series (with order)
Canonical Title
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
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.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original publication date2003
People/CharactersEddie, The Blue Man, The Captain, Ruby, Marguerite, Tala
Important placesHeaven
Awards and honorsWaterstones top 25 books of the last 25 years (2007, No 16), New York Times bestseller (Fiction, 2003)
First wordsThis is a story about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun.
QuotationsHolding 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.
Last words(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Description“All ending are beginnings. We just don't know it at the time..." From the author of the number one New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie comes this long-awaited follow-up, an enchanting, beautifully crafted no... (show all)
Book description
“All ending are beginnings. We just don't know it at the time..."

From the author of the number one New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie comes this long-awaited follow-up, an enchanting, beautifully crafted novel that explores a mystery only heaven can unfold.

Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. As the park has changed over the years -- from the Loop-the-Loop to the Pipeline Plunge -- so, too, has Eddie changed, from optimistic youth to embittered old age. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret.

Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his -- and then nothing. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people who were in it. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever.

One by one, Eddie's five people illuminate the unseen connections of his earthly life. As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still-unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources, is as inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself.

In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom gives us an astoundingly original story that will change everything you've ever thought about the afterlife -- and the meaning of our lives here on earth. With a timeless tale, appealing to all, this is a book that readers of fine fiction, and those who loved Tuesdays with Morrie, will treasure.

Albom has said that the book was inspired by his real life uncle, Eddie Beictchman, who, like the character, who was also a World War II veteran, who also died at 83, and also lived a life like that of the fictional character, rarely leaving his home city, and often feeling that he didn't accomplish what he should have. The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a tale of a life on earth. It’s a tale of life beyond it. It’s a fable about love, a warning about war, and a nod of the cap to the real people of this world, the ones who never get their name in lights.

Selling over 10 million copies in 38 territories and in 35 languages, The Five People You Meet in Heaven is the bestselling hardcover first-time novel ever.

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0786868716, Hardcover)

Part melodrama and part parable, Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven weaves together three stories, all told about the same man: 83-year-old Eddie, the head maintenance person at Ruby Point Amusement Park. As the novel opens, readers are told that Eddie, unsuspecting, is only minutes away from death as he goes about his typical business at the park. Albom then traces Eddie's world through his tragic final moments, his funeral, and the ensuing days as friends clean out his apartment and adjust to life without him. In alternating sections, Albom flashes back to Eddie's birthdays, telling his life story as a kind of progress report over candles and cake each year. And in the third and last thread of the novel, Albom follows Eddie into heaven where the maintenance man sequentially encounters five pivotal figures from his life (a la A Christmas Carol). Each person has been waiting for him in heaven, and, as Albom reveals, each life (and death) was woven into Eddie's own in ways he never suspected. Each soul has a story to tell, a secret to reveal, and a lesson to share. Through them Eddie understands the meaning of his own life even as his arrival brings closure to theirs. Albom takes a big risk with the novel; such a story can easily veer into the saccharine and preachy, and this one does in moments. But, for the most part, Albom's telling remains poignant and is occasionally profound. Even with its flaws, The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a small, pure, and simple book that will find good company on a shelf next to It's A Wonderful Life. --Patrick O'Kelley

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:15 -0400)

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