“Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you’re not really losing it. You’re just passing it on to someone else.”

Have there been any situations where you have no idea why a certain result occurred throughout your life? Reading this book can definitely help you answer these kinda questions.  This book deals with the life story of Eddie, an 83-year-old who dies and goes to heaven. It also shows how many threads are used to weave the quilt of life.

There is such meaning in this book that will leave everyone wondering how his or her personal heaven will be. I was delighted by the author's progression through the five characters while including real-life occurrences. The tone of the writing is distinct. It's not hefty, but it's also not light. You won't tear buckets, and you won't be unaffected by the characters' suffering. The plot is non-linear, and it jumps back and forth depending on who Eddie encounters in heaven. The opening sequence starts at the end, announcing Eddie's death, and then jumps forward in time to the beginning of the day, with Eddie's birthday celebrations in the present tense. Each section depicts how his life changed from year to year. It also has a sequel called "The next person you meet in heaven", looking forward to reading that soon.

It will affect the way you think about life after death and the meaning of lives on this planet. Every action you take and every interaction you have has an effect on others.

My takeaway is that we should be intentional in our interactions with people in order to improve the world.
 
n  You might like to check out more similar books here.n

Review to follow..

•هیچ عمری هدر نمی رود. تنها زمانی که هدر می دهیم، زمانی است که فکر می کنیم تنهاییم.
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•مردم می گویند عشق را پیدا می کنند ، گویی عشق شیئی است که پشت سنگی پنهان شده اما عشق شکل های گوناگونی به خود می گیرد و برای هیچ مرد و زنی هرگز یکسان نیست.
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•عشق از دست رفته هنوز هم عشق است . فقط شکلش عوض می شود ، همین . دیگر نمی توانی لبخند عشقت را ببینی یا برایش غذا ببری یا موهایش را نوازش کنی و یا با او برقصی . اما وقتی این حس ها ضعیف می شوند ، حس های دیگر قدرت می یابند . خاطرات . خاطرات شریکت می شوند . تو آن را غذا می دهی . بغلش می کنی . با ان می رقصی . زندگی باید به پایان برسد ولی عشق نه .
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• تمامی پایان ها خود سرآغازی دیگر هستند . تنها مسئله این است که ما تا لحظه پایان این را نمی دانیم .

Eddie was a veteran soldier who works in the maintenance at the carnival, making sure the rides are safe and in good condition. For years, his life was a routine and it's almost boring. On his 83rd birthday, an accident happened as he attempts to save girl falling from the roller coaster which took his life. Then he wakes up in heaven where his new journey begins. He meets five people that became part of his life. Some are related to him and some he barely knew until he was enlightened by their connection to him.

Mitch Albom writes great inspirational stories and always leaves his readers with life lessons. Five People You Meet in Heaven was an easy yet slightly emotional read. My tears welled up when Eddie met the last three persons in this book where he learned about forgiveness, long lasting love and peace. Overall, I really enjoyed this one but it's not my favorite (I still love his other book: For One More Day)

How in the history of time was this book on the Bestseller list for over ninety weeks?

I probably would have 5 starred this if I didn't listen to this in the course of 3 hectic exam weeks on audiobook, making me miss like 30% of the narration because my mind was simultaneously going over my presentation lines, but I digress. the audiobook for this was pleasantly dynamic with music, sound effects, voice/accent changes, and then some.

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I started reading this story four years ago on a backpack trip across Europe. I remember getting halfway through the book and really enjoying it, on my way to Switzerland, before I committed book blasphemy and lost the book somewhere. I'd like to think someone picked it up and read it and cherished it the way that I never could, with the Swiss Alps as a view as they read it, but realistically speaking it's probably in a landfill somewhere. all this to say that this book has been "on hold" for FOUR FREAKING YEARS and I'm a terrible reader. but I'm here to repent.

One of the great things about checking out audiobooks from the public library is that I can take a chance on something I normally wouldn't buy, and I end up loving it. And then, of course, there are the times I take a chance on something I wouldn't normally like and end up really hating it as predicted. See if you can guess which is the case here by the end of this post.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven is about Eddie, an amusement park maintenance guy who dies and goes to heaven. Spoiler alert, I guess, though you could probably figure that out from the title. From there he meets five people whose lives touched his and learns why he was such a unique and special little snowflake while on Earth. The book's main shortcoming is that I only get to enjoy seeing something kill Eddie on one occasion. And that was over within the first few pages.

Seriously, this thing is so ham-fisted in its moralizing, so infused with cliches, so sentimental, and so naked in its attempts to manipulate emotions that I only finished it because it was blessedly short. The worst part about this last point is that the audiobook brings up violins --VIOLINS!-- in the background at the most supposedly sentimental parts. Which is to say, constantly.

Oh, and Albom apparently never heard of the "show, don't tell" rule when it comes to establishing character and showing reactions. I guess everyone in Heaven describes their mental processes in flagrant detail. There's also the issue of proclamations that sound wise at first, but crumble under any amount of thought. For example, there's a line to the effect of "Sometimes, when you sacrifice something you don't lose it. You just give it to someone else." Now, I haven't a dictionary in front of me to help me through this moral morass, but I fail to see the difference off the top of my head.

At any rate, I certainly wouldn't recommend this. If you really want to read a good book about the afterlife, pick up Dante's The Divine Comedy, read the first few pages, then throw it down in frustration and decide that there's no good middle ground.

I read this at Christmas but frankly after eating too many roasted vegetables, drinking too much merlot and making myself a comfortable nest out of discarded wrapping paper, I was disinclined to write a review. It's now six months later and I think I've finally worked off the last roasted potato so this seems like a timely juncture to write a review of The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

Eddie works at the amusement park on the Ruby Pier. He's 83 and probably due for retirement. On his birthday, our ever benevolent Lord / Fate decides that it's time for Eddie to take permanent retirement and so he is killed off in a freak fairground accident. Eddie's life force is not wasted though, as he spends his last moments attempting to rescue a little girl. And that is most definitely not a spoiler! Come on people, the books is called The Five People You Meet in Heaven which kind of presupposes that the protagonist is going to mostly be dead for a large part of the book. Really, it's not like heaven is the kind of place you go on a day trip unless you're Sam and Dean Winchester in an episode of Supernatural.

So Eddie is now Deaddie and can get on with meeting his five people. I'm not sure why the number five was chosen for this novel... convention has it that six is the magic number in this kind of life-algorithm with the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon having been scientifically proven. Perhaps the sixth person that Eddie was fated to meet was Kevin Bacon... we'll never know.

All five people have come into and out of Eddie's life during formative moments and have been affected by the very act of their meeting. None of the people might have struck Eddie as being particularly significant at the time and perhaps the events did not stand out as times which altered the direction of his existence but ultimately they've all led him to stand beneath that toppling ride car at the age of 83 thereby allowing him to save the life of a child. If I were a deeper thinking mammal I make take the opportunity to consider who the five people I might meet in heaven would be. But I'm not a deep thinking mammal so we'll just pass swiftly over that option for digression.

This is an easy-to-read story with a well written collection of short stories (vignettes of Eddies life) strung together behind the vehicle of his death (metaphorical not literal). It was gently appealing, perhaps even charming, without being schmaltzy and held my attention for the half day or so it took to read it. At no point did I feel the need to stick my finger in my mouth and make retching noises... always a positive sign. Perhaps not the most uplifting of all potential holiday reads but if it leaves you feeling tearful when you put it down, at least there should be a substantial amount of festive booze around to help bolster your spirits.

Got kind of slow in the middle, but overall I like the message of the story :)

It was short, easy to read, interesting and unlike anything I've read in a while. It had an unusual structure and a plot I didn't see coming. I really enjoyed it.

Note: it is widely labeled as "religious" and "Christian", but actually it's not about faith or religion at all. It's about Eddie's life like most literature is about human life. Granted, there is the word "heaven" in the title, but the book can be easily read as just a novel with a peculiar structure, and whether or not to bring in the religious connotation is up to you. To me, it was just an easy-read novel. But I guess if faith and/or Christianity play a role in your life, that context and angle will probably emerge by itself.

Mom and others passionate about this book were right that I’d appreciate it. Without animals, it couldn’t be a tearjerker for me. I wanted to behold Heaven’s final domain but what it entails is memorable. Our own relatives can raise a ruckus discussing the Afterlife. I applaud that this author published his ideas bravely. Genuine spirituality isn’t about a church. It’s about goodness and understanding our worth. Mitch Albom dedicates his book to his blue-collar uncle. We follow a maintenance man who wished his career had surpassed his hometown carnival. Circumstances detained him and when his wife died at age forty-nine, he lacked the zest to strive.

The author’s foreword summarized best: part of Heaven’s purpose is to learn how much we mattered in physical life. It was touching to see the joy, generations of memories, and safety that this maintenance veteran held on his shoulders. I can enjoy a book for what it is, even if it doesn’t cover what I expected. Instead of our eternal rest: “The Five People You Meet In Heaven” is about our orientation into Heaven. To my surprise, you don’t necessarily know the people, or they aren’t the favourites you would choose as greeters and educators. You have a connection in some poignant way, such as the lady for whom ‘Ruby Pier’s Fairground’ was named. Some greeters were linked to Eddie’s death or he to theirs. After these revelations, we retire somewhere blissful.

This was neatly laid out in pivotal moments, usually birthdays, followed by an educator explaining their meaning. I note one misrepresented portion. Eddie wasn’t at fault in the controversial event. It was those who dragged him out. However that day was responsible for his most deeply-suppressed doubt and I see why people cried over it. I will cherish Mitch’s empowering message.

* I take my writing and polishing seriously, for the reward of comments. Please do not leave "like button" clicks, until you are accompanying them with remarks for me. *

ادی یک عمر زندگی را با حس پوچی و بیهودگی پشت سر گذاشته و فکر می‌کرده که هیچ‌کار مهمی در زندگی نکرده و زندگی را تکراری و بیهوده گذرونده. (خب من چون این تفکر را پشت سر گذاشتم، و باور دارم یه زندگی معمولی و تکراری هم می‌تونه خیلی مثبت و ارزشمند باشه، یه مقدار این حس‌های ادی رو اعصابم بود و دلم میخواست کتاب را پرت کنم اونور) ولی در آخر کتاب می‌خواد ثابت کنه این زندگی بیهوده و بی‌ثمر نبوده و همون زندگی تکراری و معمولی هم روی زندگی دیگران تاثیرات مثبت و منفی داره. همه زندگی‌ها روی هم تاثیرگذاره. و این یه واقعیته. و همین واقعیت باعث شد که من این کتاب خیالپردازانه (کلا من زیاد با کتابهاب خیال‌پردازانه حال نمی‌کنم) را دوست داشته باشم.
البته با یه جاهاییش مشکل داشتم. مثلا به اصرار روبی که کاش اون شهربازی ساخته نشده بود. این به نظرم مسخره بود.


- ما همه به هم وصلیم. نمی‌توانی یک زندگی را از زندگی دیگر جدا کنی، همان طور که نمی‌توانی نسیمی را از باد جدا کنی.

- جوان‌ها به جنگ می‌روند. گاهی به اجبار، گاهی به میل خود. همیشه، احساس می‌کنند وظیفه‌شان است. این موضوع از داستان‌های غم انگیز و چند لایه‌ی زندگی می‌آید. قرن‌ها، بشر شجاعت را با برداشتن سلاح، و بزدلی را با زمین گذاشتن سلاح یکی گرفته است.

- در جنگ یاد گرفت گاهی می‌شود غر بزنی، و لحظه‌ای بعد صدای فش و دوستت ناگهان می‌افتد و دیگر گرسنگی او مسأله‌ای نیست.

- کاپیتان همیشه قول می‌داد: «کسی را پشت سر جا نمی‌گذارم». تحت هر شرایطی، مردها از این حرف تسلی می‌یافتند.

- جنگ می‌توانست مثل آهن ربا مردها را به هم نزدیک کند و یا مثل آهن ربا آن‌ها را از هم براند. چیزهایی که دیدند، کارهایی که کردند، گاهی فقط می‌خواستند فراموش کنند.

- آدم در یک جنگ بزرگ، دنبال چیز کوچکی‌ست که به آن اعتقاد پیدا کند. وقتی آن را پیدا کرد، نگهش می‌دارد. مثل سربازی که در یک سنگر موقت، صلیبش را موقع دعا محکم می‌گیرد.

- گاهی وقتی چیز گرانبهایی را قربانی می‌کنی، واقعا آن را از دست نمی‌دهی. فقط آن را به کس دیگری می‌بخشی.

- آنچه قبل از تولد تو اتفاق می‌افتد، بر تو اثر می‌گذارد، همینطور مردم قبل از تو هم بر روی زندگی تو اثر می‌گذارند.