HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2003)

by Mitch Albom

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: The Five People You Meet In Heaven (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
18,173392255 (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)
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 216 mentions

English (374)  Spanish (5)  German (3)  French (2)  Portuguese (Portugal) (1)  Dutch (1)  Hungarian (1)  All languages (387)
Showing 1-5 of 374 (next | show all)
A delightful and thought-provoking story !
  MenoraChurch | Sep 10, 2023 |
A delightful and thought-provoking story!
  MenoraChurch | Sep 10, 2023 |
58071
  WBCLIB | May 5, 2023 |
Recently re-read with my 12 year old daughter.
It's simple and wise at the same time.
We just don´t know how our actions may impact others.
If only human beings thought more about it, not only in relation to other people but to all creatures and the planet, we would not live in a world with so much suffering as we do. ( )
  Acia | Apr 28, 2023 |
5th edition fine
  dgmathis | Mar 15, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 374 (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
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Awards and honors
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.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

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?".

No library descriptions found.

Book description
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.
Haiku summary

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.68)
0.5 24
1 168
1.5 30
2 395
2.5 87
3 1062
3.5 197
4 1344
4.5 127
5 1191

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

Poolbeg Press

An edition of this book was published by Poolbeg Press.

» Publisher information page

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 194,990,035 books! | Top bar: Always visible