“Worth Thinking About” I appreciated this story a lot more after re-reading it. It does, at first, seem as sappy as many reviewers have said, but on a second look, the author does convey some strong ideas well. Behind every person that we brush past–sometimes without noticing–is a story. The main character, Eddie, of course, is the kind of gruff, broken old man that nobody notices, but we see he was once a war hero who ended up trapped in a dead end because of his duty to country and family.

Along those lines, I thought the two most impressive of Eddie’s “five people,” were the Blue Man and Ruby, primarily because he didn’t know either one of them. The Blue Man’s story is a tragic one–reduced to being a freak and basically losing his human dignity. Ruby reminds Eddie that the run-down amusement park in which he wastes his life was once a somebody’s grand dream.

The choice of a broken-down amusent park, which seemed pretty bizarre as a setting, I guess was a good choice. Both t…

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Part melodrama and part parable, Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven weaves together three stories, all told about the same man: 83-year-old Eddie, the head maintenance person at Ruby Point Amusement Park. As the novel opens, readers are told that Eddie, unsuspecting, is only minutes away from death as he goes about his typical business at the park. Albom then traces Eddie’s world through his tragic final moments, his funeral, and the ensuing days as friends clean out his apartment and adjust to life without him. In alternating sections, Albom flashes back to Eddie’s birthdays, telling his life story as a kind of progress report over candles and cake each year. And in the third and last thread of the novel, Albom follows Eddie into heaven where the maintenance man sequentially encounters five pivotal figures from his life (a la A Christmas Carol). Each person has been waiting for him in heaven, and, as Albom reveals, each life (and death) was woven into Eddie’s own in ways he never suspected. Each soul has a story to tell, a secret to reveal, and a lesson to share. Through them Eddie understands the meaning of his own life even as his arrival brings closure to theirs.

Albom takes a big risk with the novel; such a story can easily veer into the saccharine and preachy, and this one does in moments. But, for the most part, Albom’s telling remains poignant and is occasionally profound. Even with its flaws, The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a small, pure, and simple book that will find good company on a shelf next to It’s A Wonderful Life. –Patrick O’Kelley

Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret. Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever.

One by one, Eddie’s five people illuminate the unseen connections of his earthly life. As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still-unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources, is as inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom gives us an astoundingly original story that will change everything you-ve ever thought about the afterlife — and the meaning of our lives here on earth. With a timeless tale, appealing to all, this is a book that readers of fine fiction will treasure.

THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN
THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOK’S I’VE EVER READ.EVEN THOUGH THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION,MITCH ALBOM’S INSIGHT IS REMARKABLE.I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK….more info

Wonderful
I knew this would be good, and it was great. If you have extra time, read it….more info

who will be your five people?
when the movie previewed on tv one night my family and i all set down to watch it. i thought it was the greatest movie ever. then for a reading project my brother had to read the book, when he was finished i had to see if it was anything like the book. after reading the book i came to one conclusion, the book was better than the movie!!! this book makes you think about, if heaven is really like this, who would be your five people? my family and i all sat down and talked about this one night and it makes you think about life and who all you affect with out even knowing that you are affecting anyone. this is a great book to read if you want to think about life for a while…more info

Sappy emotionalism but difficult to put down
Despite myself I could not put it down. It is the message of the holiday favorite, It’s a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition). Only this telling delves deeper into many philosophical questions concerning life. It follows a man who has died and must pass through 5 people (as everybody does in heaven) who explain the meaning to his life. What seemed pointless and a waste to him is revealed to be poetic justice with rich meaning. Yes, it is sappy and emotional. But the story is gripping and the writing style is an enjoyable and rich telling. An emotional but worthwhile tale in lovely pros. Very well done….more info