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Summary: I can't wiat for my "Five People I Meet in Heaven"
Review: I thought this was an exceptionly enjoyable book. Light and easy reading yet really give you something to think about and ponder on. I found it to be uplifting!! I guess it really is a small world after all... you will know what I mean when you read this book.
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Summary: Great Morals, Makes you think about your life.....
Review: This was a well thought-of book. It really makes you reflect on life, purposes, and it's meanings. It was worth reading, but the only reason why I gave it a three was because I HAVE read better. But I definatly recommend it- it's really worth your time!
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Summary: It's really not the best...
Review: I was excited to read this book b/c it's been given so much praise, but I was so disappointed. It's a semi-sweet book which, from start to finish, was superficial. Superficial is fine if a book is entertaining as it goes on, but this was just sort of a dull story in my opinion. I can appreciate Albom's idea of this man's journey to heaven, but his version pretty cliche and trite. I was excited to read this, but was really let down...sad.
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Summary: A Brilliant and Powerful Book
Review: Mitch's first effort at fiction is a masterpiece. I just finished the book, and once I got started, I could not put it down! My wife is also reading the book and we are finding it has created a lot of meaningful conversation in our marriage. :) The book is an easy read, it is marvelously descriptive and paints the picture Albom intended with unconditional positive regard for the human condition and the good that is present in all of us. I hope Mitch wins many awards for this book. Like Mitch, I am currently writing fiction for the first time. Writing is tough and big successes are to be applauded. If my effort at fiction is half as good, it will be a huge personal and professional success. Jeffrey McAndrew
author of "Our Brown Eyed Boy"
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Summary: Unique and Pointless
Review: This book is not this reader's genre of book, but it was recommended to me and left within my reach. The first few pages and I admit I was hooked. It is almost a single sitting book. The style was very interesting and it being a short book, it moves right along towards the ending. Except the ending appears, the book is over, and you are left scratching your head saying what was the point of the story.
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Summary: Good heavens!
Review: The good intention of "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" is to show that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things. Unfortunately, the novel doesn't make an entirely convincing case. The novel--Mitch Albom's follow-up to his acclaimed "Tuesdays with Morrie"--introduces us to Eddie, an 83-year-old amusement park maintenance man, shortly before he dies. When a malfunctioning park ride inadvertently kills Eddie, he quietly, painlessly ascends to Heaven, where he meets the persons referenced in the book's title. Eddie recognizes some of those people instantly; others are strangers who seem only vaguely connected to Eddie's life. The point of these encounters will be obvious to anyone familiar with "A Christmas Carol" or "It's a Wonderful Life": all of our actions, however minor they seem, have profound impacts on everyone around us. Some of the book's imagery is very striking and memorable. The trouble is that the book doesn't always succeed in its intended sense of uplift. Suffice to say that some of Eddie's encounters seem to exist solely to give him guilt trips about actions which unintentionally caused pain to other people. And the book's concept of Heaven is a very strange one. Eddie travels through metaphorical situations from his past in order to meet others who have also died. The way the book explains it, these dead people have waited in Heaven for Eddie's death for years, for the sole purpose of meeting Eddie, delivering a message to him, and then moving on. The result, to paraphrase the Talking Heads song, is that Albom's Heaven is a place where nothing much happens. "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" is a relatively painless read, and most readers would probably welcome its message of every human life being purposeful. But ironically, what Albom's Heaven most resembles is the celestial law room of Albert Brooks' comedy "Defending Your Life," where afterlifers have to justify their lives on Earth as though pleading a court case--not a terribly hopeful message.
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Summary: Mixed feelings: more sappy than enlightening
Review: The premise is that most of our pain and suffering is due to lack of knowledge, and that knowledge will be given us upon our death. In heaven we will learn one life lesson from each of five people. I found the story quite enjoyable. The characters held my interest, though to my taste they could've been more rounded out. However, two things didn't sit right with me. First, to a substantial degree, the story seems intended to ease our fears about death; to comfort us and give a happy version about what happens when we die. Second, the lessons themselves are mostly disappointing. One lesson is outstanding! If only more people could truly understand this and make an effort to incorporate it into our lives. The other four, while there may be some truth in them, are little more than comforting beliefs. Bottom line: If you can buy into the premise, this book may lift your spirits a bit, and there ain't nothin' wrong with that. But if you're looking for more substance, at best this book could be a starting point to get you thinking about your life. In the end, it doesn't quite live up to its promise.
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Summary: Amazing Book
Review: A thought provoking book. It's a very different view of heaven than is given to us by most religious teachings which is why it is causing resentment amongst some people. Keeping the actual concept of heaven intact the book beautifully describes who you would encounter in heaven and how they would proceed to explain to you how your life was changed on earth by the actions you or sometimes they took. I felt this was refreshingly different from the good/evil view of heaven and hell we are accustomed to hearing i.e paradise to people who are good and hell with the Devil and the burning fires to those who are bad. Here the soul of the protagonist is taken through five "pockets of heaven" as the author describes it and he is given explanations to both his good actions as well as bad in his time on Earth. Surprisingly the book also shows him redeeming himself for some bad he did on Earth although unknowingly. All in all the book reinforces what we often hear from people or try to convince ourselves with when we cannot find explanations to why certain events are taking place in our lives, which is "Whatever happens is for the best". Some people figure this out(most of the times to keep themselves from rebelling against their circumstances) in their time on Earth and some people as the book shows come to know of the reasons in the afterlife. Read the book with an open mind and you won't be disappointed.
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Summary: How could people be raving about this book?
Review: this was a boring, cliched, predictable, Not Well Written bundle of aphorisms.
Not spiritual in the least. Thin.
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Summary: Political Correctness at its Best
Review: It is hardly surprising that this book is so widely read and that it has received such unanimous critical acclaim. Albom may not have written it with the intention of topping the bestseller lists, but he undoubtedly targeted an incredibly broad audience. As a moralist, he presented an interpretation of heaven designed to please people of all religions and cultures. Nothing in the book suggests partiality for Christianity or any other major religion, and there is little reason for anybody to object to what Eddie perceives as heaven. Albom has produced a work of unparalled political correctness. His book raises no controversy; it does not reinforce the ideals of traditional theology, and it presents few new ideas about the nature of the afterlife. Albom merely wrote what Americans want to read, and he made little effort to construct a creative, memorable work. His book is immensely popular, but it lacks originality and literary value. Albom would be a much more effective writer if he worried less about offending his readers. The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a book designed to make Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, and everyone else happy. Next time, the author should write according to his own beliefs rather than cater to those of his audience.
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