Rating: Summary: Inspirational Review: Inspirational journey in to heaven as the author percieves it. filled with lessons to learn and thoughts to contemplate. What will we see on the other side? Will or lives have had meaning? Did we mean something special to someone while we are here? This is truly a fantastic book to breathe in to your soul. I would like to also mention a couple of books I have read lately that brought me inspiration as well: Running With Scissors,One Child,Nightmares Echo
Rating: Summary: Sip. Don't gulp Review: Not many pages. Easy reading font Double spaced. One could read this book waiting for a bus. Gulp it down. BUT DON"T! This is what us Southern folk call a "sippin' book". You'll read a few pages, put the book down, ponder... Its like slowly eating Swiss creme--filled chocolate by a mountain stream compared to chowing on a Hershey in the car. I won't spoil the plot. Its a very simple plot but has a few twists.
Rating: Summary: Just what I needed, when I needed it. Review: An acquaintance of mine suggested I read "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" just a few weeks after my father unexpectedly passed away, at much too young an age. I bought it and began reading and thought my emotions were still too raw and put it away. However, being on a much-needed break in Miami, what is one to do when the rains come? So, I picked it back up and could not put it down. While it's true that this is just one persons perspective on where we might be once we are gone from this world, I personally took great comfort in an image of where my dad may be now and who he may be with.In short, I found it to be a blessing. I felt much more at peace with dad's sudden death.
Rating: Summary: The Five People You Meet in Heaven vs. Tuesdays With Morrie Review: I thought that both of Mitch Albom's novels, Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven were written extremely well. Both were touching stories, which describe life moving onto death. Morrie was the main character in Tuesdays with Morrie, who gave an enlightenment to death. A true storie, Morrie is diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), a virus that slowly takes over your body, starting with your feet. Mitch Albom was Morrie's college student, who took many of Morrie's courses on "The Meaning of Life" and eventually reconnects with Morrie. The two were out of touch for a while, but Mitch decides to commute from Detroit to Boston every Tuesday, "always their day", to talk with Morrie about life. Morrie has gains many fans along with fanmail and is now a very bust person. When Mitch comes, he records their sessions. Morrie dies later and Mitch gathers all of his notes and audiotapes to write his book that Morrie titled while still living, "Tuesdays With Morrie". I really enjoyed this book because there were many lessons and theories that Morrie told Mitch that should be learned. For example, "Here's what I mean by building your own subculture...The little things, I can obey. But the big things--how we think, what we value--those you must choose yourself. You can't let anyone--or any society--determine those for you." Morrie is an inspirational character with a heart of gold, and a powerful mind. He gives up many things in the course of his death, but does not complain at all. Morrie gets to the point where he can't move his arms, eat food, and even breath on his own, but he still takes everything in with a positive attitude. Mitch's perspective of life is drastically changed when he reunites with Morrie. He realizes that he really doesn't lkike where his life is going right now, and Morrie helps him change for the better. Morrie is very motivating person and has many great lessons to be shared. The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a fictional story about a man named Eddie. The novel starts out with the ending. Thatis, the ending of Eddie's life. It is Eddie's last hour alive, yet he doesn't know it. Eddie works as a maintenance man at Ruby Pier, an oceanside amusement park. He is in his early eighties and dies in a tragic accident: trying to save a little girl from a broken ride, and the ride crushes him. Eddie wakes up in Heaven and is told that he will meet five people there, they might be a complete stanger to him, or a very familiar person, but every one had an impact on his life. The first person he meets is a blue man. Eddie learns that he actually killed this man (indirectly and unknowingly) on accident as a little boy. The next person Eddie sees is his Captain from the Vietnam War. Here, Eddie discovers that one night in the Phillipines, when he and his group were POW's and they escape, Captain shot Eddie. This was because as the men were escaping, Eddie was in a trance, walking into a fire. Eddie's captain shot his leg in a final effort to stop him, which saved Eddie's life. Eddie never knew how he got shot, because he was unconsious for several days. Captain tells him that he shot him and why. Eddie is very confused, but then calms down and Captain disappears. The reason why Eddie is so mad is that his leg was permanently damaged, and he couldn't do many things afterward. When Eddie started off in heaven, he was a little boy: young, active, and free of pain, but as he meets these five people, he grows older, and has more pain, and relives events of his life. The third person Eddie meets is an older woman named Ruby. She walks out of a diner where Eddie's dad is and she starts talking to him. Eddie had never met her before, she was never a part of his generation. The purpose of Eddie meeting her is so he can get a better understanding of his father. Eddie's father was a maintenance man at Ruby Pier before Eddie, and Ruby is the person Ruby Pier was named after. She shows him stories about his father, showing his kind and loyal side. Eddie had not talked to his father for years before he died and finally gained more of an understanding of him. The two other people Eddie meets in Heaven are his wife, who died at the young age of fourty-seven, and a little girl from the Phillipines. This girl was the person he saw in the fire, while his troop was escaping and Eddie was in a trance. When Eddie was shot, he never got to save Tala. She was burned to death and in Heaven, she lets Eddie know what really happened. Now that Eddie has met his five people, he is cleansed and can move on in the afterlife. Although I really enjoyed both books, they are both MUST-READS, I enjoyed The Five People You Meet in Heaven a little more. I think that it was a very creative concept, an author talking about something he had never experienced, making everything up completely. It was very interesting reading about a character's life and afterlife in a different perspective. Most people imagine Heaven as a beautiful garden or clouds with angels, but Mitch Albom gave a totally different description of Heaven. I like that a person can take a completely imagined, but stereotyped, place and give it a different feeling to make people think. The author's theme is that you must be able to release all anger, understand why we ever felt it, and why we no longer need to feel it. This is how we cleanse ourselves when we get to Heaven, and how we move on into the afterlife. It was very well-written and deserves five stars for such a brilliant theory.
Rating: Summary: not so good for me Review: I think the story is too simple and didn't satisfy my expectations.
Rating: Summary: The 5 People is a thought provoking view of life and heaven Review: The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a great book. Albom hits a homerun, it is touching, poignant, and thought provoking, the next logical step after Tuesdays with Morrie. Both Albom's uncle "the real Eddie" and Morrie would be proud of this work. Albom's writing skills are superb as Eddie flows from one scene to the next flawlessly making for a quick yet very enjoyable read. In the end the reader feels at once happy for, and sorry for Eddie, as he learns the meaning of his life and the part Ruby Pier played in that story. It is a gripping story, destine to become a favorite with book clubs and casual readers. I would highly recommend reading it to anyone searching for meaning in his or her life. This would be the perfect book for a cross-country plane trip.
Rating: Summary: Great sequel to "Tuesdays with Morrie" Review: "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" is a great sequel to "Tuesdays With Morrie" Mitch Albom is very creative and did a wonderful job explaining his thoughts on what happens after you die. This book is the only one that has ever made me laugh and cry at the same time! There are many lessons that I have learned from this book, and shall always remember. One is to understand sacrafices and why they are made. Eddie's sacrafice was his leg instead of his life. I also learned that everything happens for a reason. Mitch Albom is an inspiring writer who has touched and changed lives to many readers around the world. Another Mitch albom book that I recommend you to read is "Tuesdays with Morrie" which is about death and the meaning of life. I can hardly wait for Mitch's next bestseller to come out!
Rating: Summary: What happens when we die Review: This is a book I really couldn't put down. I felt Eddie's pain, I wanted him to be happy, I cared for him - I went thought his life with him , purely due to the eloquent and vibrant literary prowess of the author. It is a (dare I use the word) whimsical journey we all as human beings who love, who hurt, who get afraid, can share and relate. A treasure I will read again and again.
Rating: Summary: An enjoyable fable Review: This book is simply yet beautifully written. It is a fable that Mitch Albom heard from his uncle, who I suppose is now deceased since there was a photo of him next to an 80th birthday cake in the bake, dedicating the book to him. It is about a man named Eddie who works at a small amusement park. He has a hurt leg from the war (I suppose either the Vietnam war or the Korean War although it is not stated, but there are clues that say it was with Asian people), and he now works as a management technical person. He dies when one of the rides malfunctions and he pushes a little girl out of the way as the cart fell on him. The book has many flashbacks about the regrets of his life and then he meets five different people in heaven (not famous people as I had expected before reading the book, but people from his personal life). They tell him why certain things happened in life, such as injuries and the deaths of people, and he comes to understand his life on earth in heaven. He finally is able to forgive others and himself. It is a beautiful book about treasuring others and understanding that no happenings are random.
Rating: Summary: Sharing Life's Lessons Review: Upon recommendation at a Bookstore, I got this for a read and find it's about Sharing Life's Lessons. Three stories told about the same person 'Eddie' and in last, rying to save a girl, Eddie meets with an accident and dies. The author follows him to heaven where he meets five people of his life who had been waiting for him in heaven. Each one of them is a stranger yet they have in some way played a role in Eddie's life. The true meaning of life and the mystery of living is identified as they share the secrets, share the life's experiences. Mitch Albom has a great preaching sort of tale as each soul reveal the wisdom ways of living. Why am I here, What is the reason of living and all these puzzling questions meet the answers in Albom's meeting the five men in Heaven! People get lost in cultural obsessions and life drifts away with the mystery unfurled and the author has insightful thoughts on Living and Sharing the Life's lessons. Nice Book n a Nice Read.
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