Book: The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Author: Mitch Albom

Publisher: Sphere

Pages: 240

Price: Click the link

Introduction:

Everyone is born, lives and dies, and in this eternal cycle of birth and death our lives demand the only answer- ” Is it worth living?” In search of that philosophical answer I get the book- The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom.  Therefore, my book review is the answer to that eternal query lurking in every human heart. This book permeates a positive spirit, a philosophical overtone and a deep-rooted realisation for the readers.

Timeline:

The book begins from the end. It is as if a reel rewinding itself – from Eddie’s death. The plot is divided into three-time phases- Real-Time, Heaven’s Time, Eddie’s Birthday. Real-time relates Eddie’s death and funeral. Heaven’s Time covers most of the story and it conveys the main theme. Here the protagonist meets five people who teach him different lessons regarding life. In between Eddie’s encounters with different people in heaven, there are the chapters where Eddie’s Birthday is celebrated. Each birthday proceeds to Eddie’s growth.

In a Nutshell:

The story starts in real-time. Eddie is a maintenance guy in a seaside amusement park called Ruby Pier. It was his 70th birthday. Unfortunately, disaster happens when one of the rides gets its cart stuck and there are few people in danger. In the course of managing the situation, Eddie finds a little girl, stuck in the path of the falling cart. Sometimes before, the girl came to him and requested to make a toy for her with his pipe cleaning things. Eventually, Eddie found her in that situation and tried desperately to save her. But he falls in the sea and died. Before entering heaven he meets five persons.

Encounter with the Ist person:

In heaven, Eddie meets five persons whose lives were related to Eddie in some way. More appropriately, it was their deaths. Anyway, the first man Eddie meets is a man with blue skin. He died due to Eddie. One day little Eddie while playing baseball on the road came in front of his car chasing the ball and the man who was driving the car got a heart attack in sudden anxiety and died.

Encounter with the 2nd person:

The second person Eddie meets is the general from the Military where Eddie was appointed as a soldier. Throughout his whole life, Eddie cursed the man who shot his leg and damaged it. Then Eddie comes to know it was no other than the general who shot him to stop him from entering a burning house. But in the process of saving Eddie, he died.

Encounter with the third person:

Next Eddie meets Ruby, who is a woman married to a rich man and upon whose name Ruby Pier was made. She talks about Eddie’s family, particularly about his father. Eddie always hated his drunkard father. But after hearing the lady he feels deeply about him.

Encounter with the fourth person:

The fourth one is Eddie’s wife Marguerite. She died of a brain tumour. Together they recall their love moments and happy times.

Encounter with the fifth person:

Eddie meets a little girl of five years. It was the girl in that burning house where Eddie bombed. when he understood someone is stuck there he was rushing to rescue her. but he could not succeed as the general shot him in his left to save him. Eddie feels sorry for the girl. But the girl offers him solace saying that he couldn’t save her but God has given him another chance. He has saved the little girl in Ruby Pier. Hearing it, Eddie feels happy, at least his life is not waste. His death has some good reason.

The five lessons: Each person in heaven teaches a lesson to Eddie.

1. The lesson from the blue man: All lives are interconnected. One life is not separate from the other.

2. The lesson from the general- “When you sacrifice something precious, you are not losing it. You’re just passing it to someone else.”

3. The lesson from the lady- forgiveness and loyalty. “Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from 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.”

4. The lesson from wife- blessings of love. ” Lost love is still love,” Life ends but love does not end.

5. The lesson the little girl preaches- Every life has a purpose.

Alvina’s Verdict:

The book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, is written in a unique style. It is charged with a positive spirit as well as make one feel grateful for the life we are anointed in this earth. For this reason, the book is like a gospel, a philosophic treatise on the ethics of human existence. His other novel, Tuesdays with Morrie, bears the same eloquence of motivation.