The Five People You Meet in Heaven
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The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Mitch Albom (2004)
"But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time."
This was the last novel I read before I went to Korea. Being a short one, I was able to finish it within a few days. This was still quite unusual for me since I tend to abandon novels even if I have read a significant number of pages, most often because I later find out that the text is not well-written or when I feel that the story is weak or boring. This one was different as it struck me from start to end. The Five People You Meet in Heaven is one of the best-selling novels from the popular inspirational author Mitch Albom (other notable works include Tuesdays with Morrie, For One More Day and Have a Little Faith). It recounts the life of an old man who just died and his encounters with five people special to him in his afterlife. This story was inspired by the author's real life uncle who served as a soldier during WW2. This was adapted to into a hugely successful TV film in 2004.
The story starts off when the main character Eddie, maintenance head at a certain amusement park called Ruby Pier, died in saving a little girl from an accident. He later found himself in heaven wherein he met five people that already died which had significance in Eddie’s life, knowingly and unknowingly. These people are the following: The Blue man who was killed inadvertently by Eddie when he was still a child; the Captain, Eddie’s commanding officer when he served as a soldier during WW2 and who also died because of Eddie; Ruby, the wife of the founder of Ruby Pier; his wife Marguerite and Tala, the little girl he tried to save inside a cave in the Philippines.
During the course of the book, Eddie’s life was reminisced, from the time he was only a kid, the memories of the war, his agonizing experiences with his family, and the bitter-sweet love story with his wife. The last person, Tala, explained the final moments of the accident - that he has saved the girl in the accident and it was her hand that Eddie had touched. She made him realize that Eddie, who thought he had lived a very unfulfilling life, actually saved the lives of many people being the head of maintenance in the amusement park. By meeting these five people, Eddie had learned the answers to the mysteries in his life like how once he almost died but was saved and the confrontations of his father. Although Eddie has some regrets on how he lived his life, he learned how to appreciate every person that he has met. In the end of the story, he happily reached his home with his wife in the pier.
This book was remarkably well-written and profoundly interesting. I believe this is the reason why this novel became a hit in the Philippines and all over the world. I am a Catholic Christian and I accept the notion of “heaven”, but I realized that one doesn’t have to believe that there is heaven to love this novel. Every person Eddie met gave his/her story and from there a significant lesson in life is explained. It was great how much his short journey have made him realized so many things and reflect on what he has done. My favorite chapters are the ones about the Captain and Marguerite since they highlighted and showed the importance of trust.
This book showed me the value of being grateful for being alive every single day and making the most of what life has to offer. I was also reminded on being appreciative of having the opportunity to meet different people and somehow touch their lives. Some of us who are still lost and dumbfolded may think that we are insignificant to this world, just as Eddie thought of himself initially, but I believe each one of us has his/her purpose, as time will reveal later on. I also valued and learned to trust in God even more, for his plans for us. We may be struggling at the present but these challenges help us to become ready for the future. Lastly, I learned to live a life to the fullest - to touch lives, to value people around you, and doing good deeds. We may be hindered by our assumptions that our actions are small and insignificant but one can never tell, it may have a big impact to others.
"Each affects the other, and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one."
Mitch Albom (2004)
"But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time."
This was the last novel I read before I went to Korea. Being a short one, I was able to finish it within a few days. This was still quite unusual for me since I tend to abandon novels even if I have read a significant number of pages, most often because I later find out that the text is not well-written or when I feel that the story is weak or boring. This one was different as it struck me from start to end. The Five People You Meet in Heaven is one of the best-selling novels from the popular inspirational author Mitch Albom (other notable works include Tuesdays with Morrie, For One More Day and Have a Little Faith). It recounts the life of an old man who just died and his encounters with five people special to him in his afterlife. This story was inspired by the author's real life uncle who served as a soldier during WW2. This was adapted to into a hugely successful TV film in 2004.
The story starts off when the main character Eddie, maintenance head at a certain amusement park called Ruby Pier, died in saving a little girl from an accident. He later found himself in heaven wherein he met five people that already died which had significance in Eddie’s life, knowingly and unknowingly. These people are the following: The Blue man who was killed inadvertently by Eddie when he was still a child; the Captain, Eddie’s commanding officer when he served as a soldier during WW2 and who also died because of Eddie; Ruby, the wife of the founder of Ruby Pier; his wife Marguerite and Tala, the little girl he tried to save inside a cave in the Philippines.
During the course of the book, Eddie’s life was reminisced, from the time he was only a kid, the memories of the war, his agonizing experiences with his family, and the bitter-sweet love story with his wife. The last person, Tala, explained the final moments of the accident - that he has saved the girl in the accident and it was her hand that Eddie had touched. She made him realize that Eddie, who thought he had lived a very unfulfilling life, actually saved the lives of many people being the head of maintenance in the amusement park. By meeting these five people, Eddie had learned the answers to the mysteries in his life like how once he almost died but was saved and the confrontations of his father. Although Eddie has some regrets on how he lived his life, he learned how to appreciate every person that he has met. In the end of the story, he happily reached his home with his wife in the pier.
This book was remarkably well-written and profoundly interesting. I believe this is the reason why this novel became a hit in the Philippines and all over the world. I am a Catholic Christian and I accept the notion of “heaven”, but I realized that one doesn’t have to believe that there is heaven to love this novel. Every person Eddie met gave his/her story and from there a significant lesson in life is explained. It was great how much his short journey have made him realized so many things and reflect on what he has done. My favorite chapters are the ones about the Captain and Marguerite since they highlighted and showed the importance of trust.
This book showed me the value of being grateful for being alive every single day and making the most of what life has to offer. I was also reminded on being appreciative of having the opportunity to meet different people and somehow touch their lives. Some of us who are still lost and dumbfolded may think that we are insignificant to this world, just as Eddie thought of himself initially, but I believe each one of us has his/her purpose, as time will reveal later on. I also valued and learned to trust in God even more, for his plans for us. We may be struggling at the present but these challenges help us to become ready for the future. Lastly, I learned to live a life to the fullest - to touch lives, to value people around you, and doing good deeds. We may be hindered by our assumptions that our actions are small and insignificant but one can never tell, it may have a big impact to others.
"Each affects the other, and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one."
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