Rating: 
Summary: Great book, better movie
Review: Richard Matheson has written an excellent treatise here of what possibly may occur in the afterlife. His descriptions put you "right there" and his explanations of how it all works are very thought-provoking. After his main character, Chris Neilsen, dies in an auto accident, he has a difficult time letting go of his physical life and moving on into the afterlife because of the love and concern he has for his wife Ann and her grief in losing him. As he begins to move on and adjust, he learns his wife has commited suicide and has, by that action, confined herself into a type of Hell. Chris feels he must help her find her way out, but is continually blocked by her inability to believe that any kind of afterlife exists. In the end, his love for her saves her. What happens after he saves her, though a little disappointing, is very much in keeping with the theme of the story. The book draws from many ideas, religious, New Age, philosophical, and meditative. It does an excellent job of blending all these. Please read with an open mind, because I doubt that any one system of beliefs would be satisfied by what Matheson sets forth here.The movie however, gave more cohesive reasons for Ann's breakdown (the deaths of their children, which never happens in the book) and her inability to conceive of happiness in the afterlife. The relationships of Chris with his children and their presence in the afterlife help cement the reality and the continuity of it, which was also somewhat lacking in the book (animals being there is different than having loved ones there). The visual displays in the movie are fantastic, which really helped me imagine the descriptions in the book. Ron Bass did a phenomenal job writing the screenplay, making a difficult story more fluid, wrapped together more tightly. All the actors in the film excellently protrayed their characters, bringing depth of emotion and evoking tremendous sympathy. I highly recommend reading the book if you're intersted in theories on the afterlife, and I highly recommend watching the movie for greater understanding of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: For the first time, the movie is better.
Review: I bought this book when I saw such as great and powerful movie called What Dreams May Come. I'm a guy who likes to hear about afterlife and reincarnation. The book failed to measure up to how good the movie was. About the first 20 pages I noticed how different the book was from the movie. Say for instance in the book, Chris's kids never died. Also more religious propaganda: If heaven is real in this book, then the bible is real, then everything the bible says is real, but this book breaks that similarity. The bible says that no man can cross from heaven to hell, Chris did to find his wife, the bible says that everything is perfect, (meaning we'd be naked in heaven), Chris and everyone else always had clothing on, the bible says that hell would be a place of fire and torture, in the book it was just a depressing life, the bible says that no man can get out of hell to heaven, Chris's wife was there for only 24 years.
That's half the reasopn I rate this with three stars and the other is that I got pathetically confused from time to time. Overall this book was good, ok, but it could have been better!
Rating: 
Summary: Please Don't See The Movie
Review: Thank goodness I read the book before I saw the movie! The book was just so uplifting, so spiritually perfect - I loved it, I've recommended it - and I WILL read it again. (The movie is horrible - if you've seen the movie but haven't read the book - you just do not know the story - or its meaning)
Rating:
Summary: Unique Story
Review: Interesting and unique story throughout the book. 4 stars....
Rating:
Summary: It was just so beautiful
Review: The movie is one of my favorites. Every time I watch it, I almost come to tears. I heard that it was based on a book. I read it and was very impressed. It brought out new aspects of the movie and expresses so many new ideas.
I love it for the sheer fact that it was beautiful. I could not help but keep reading. I recommend this book to anyone who remotely liked the movie. It was a wonderful read.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Nearly as Good as the Movie
Review: It is a strange occurrence when a book is inferior to the movie, but this proves exception to the rule. I picked up this novel after experiencing amazing film starring Robin Williams. The first thing that struck me is how Richard Matheson seems to believe this story is true and also how many people were quoted as breathlessly claiming that this book changed there life. To consider this anything more than interesting fantasy, it to relegate this book to New Age psycho-babble. To make matter worse, the characters aren't nearly as developed as in the film. Matheson also removed the subplot about the death of their children. That makes the wife's suicide more selfish and disrupts the emotional power of the story. Matheson's descriptions can't begin to describe the amazing visuals the film supplied. So in my judgement, by the DVD. Not the book.
Rating:
Summary: What Dreams May Come
Review: In my opinion the book What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson is a well written and interesting book. I like how he really expresses some of the emotions of the character that a person woulod really feel and some of the hard times a person would go through if they had lost a loved one. He really brings out the characters emotions when he dies and when he is in heaven and he is all alone and without his one true love, knowing he could never be happy without her. It also makes you think how you should not waste any time in telling people how you feel, because in the book the main character didn't take the chance when he had it to tell his wife that he loved her and he never got a second chance to tell he.
Rating:
Summary: Life changing..
Review: I first saw the movie, which is sometimes good thing to do and in other times bad.I think in this case it was good to see the movie first.Faces to match the words, worked better in this case. The movie was good, I admit, But compaired to the book, it was (bad).It changed my life, I know it sounds kinda corny, but it did. I wanted to be a better person. I think everyone should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: The most believable, appealing vision of life after death!
Review: I love this book! It often feels more like non-fiction than fiction due to the research done by Richard Matheson. It offers hope and food for thought about what happens to us after we leave this world. Even if you don't believe I'd be very surprised if you didn't think about the possibilities after reading this book. More than life after death, it's a love story. The love transcends death but doesn't prevent tragedy and despair. All-in-all, I find it a more "real life" depiction of love than the sugar-coated, all-is-perfect image so often promoted. Just a word of warning - if you've seen the movie, be prepared for something much better. If you haven't seen the movie, please don't. There is no way to successfully capture the tone of the book without losing much of the impact.
Rating:
Summary: read the book, forget the movie
Review: I saw the movie based on this book before reading it and really felt like the experience was lacking. Then, a couple years later, out of curiosity because I enjoyed Matheson's I AM LEGEND so much, I read this book. This is a beautiful book. Painted vividly and masterfully by Matheson. And, reading the book revealed why the movie was such a letdown. Basically, it's an un-filmable novel. Just forget all about that medium and read the book.
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