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ellenhong |
the Five people you meet in Heaven
Sep 27 2008, 8:32 AM EDT
I was introduced to this book by my friend. I started this book around the beginning of the year, and I think this is the best book I have read in my life. As soon as I opened up this book, I was pulled into the story. It It was very interesting how the author began the story with an ending of the main character's life. Eddie, a very old man, died in an amusement park where he was working. After his death, the real stroy begins.The author, Mitch Albom, tells us that you will meet five people, who you have met in your life, in heaven. The five people Eddie meets in the heaven are very interesting. Some of them are people who had strongly affected Eddie's life. Everytime Eddie meets the people, he learns a lesson, looking back to his life. He learns about his family's stories that he has never known before, such as, his father's death. When I was reading about Eddie's lessons, I realized that there are so many things happen in my life that I may not even notice. "I was sad because I didn't do anything with my life. I was nothing. I accomplished nothing. I was lost." Eddie said this almost at the end of the book. When I read this, I was wondering what I might say about my life. Will I be able to say that I have done everything I want in my life so that I can leave this world comfortably? The book made me think who will I meet when I go to the heaven. Who have been affected by me and how? Have I been helpful to them? or harmful? I hope that I can be remembered by many people as a helpful person, but I know that from now on, it is my duty to improve myself since I still have many years to live. I think 'the five people you meet in the heaven' is an excellent book that lets a reader to look back to own life, and also to look forward, so that one can live more treasured and more valuable life. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?
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yapster |
1. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Oct 2 2008, 2:22 PM EDT
Oh gosh I think I'm having a love affair with this author's books. They are just too riveting to put down and too profound to pass as the typical novel. I have also read this book and yes, I admit, found myself contemplating the five people I would meet after I pass away. I have recently discovered that the story has this uncanny ability to make us ponder this possibility that this type of heaven actually exists, allowing the cynical to become the fanciful, if only temporarily. I have talked to other friends who have also read this book, and we have discussed notions of the chosen few. I think that's the beauty of the book, because it allows us to think beyond the mundane events of everyday life. The fact that we were actually thinking aloud about heaven and life after death shows the influence Albom is able to extend over us. By starting at the end, Albom makes it all the more enrapturing. I believe this to be Albom's signature streak, as he follows a similar pattern in his other books, such as "One More Day" and "Tuesdays with Morrie", where the former starts off with a suicide attempt, and the latter recounts the dying days of a great mentor. It seems that Albom is has oriented himself strongly around the topic of death. But the more I think about it, the more I find that he is keen on taking the taboo subject of death and transforming it into lessons of life, and the mere irony of this astounds me. Do you find this valuable? |
TheElSamo |
2. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Oct 6 2008, 6:56 AM EDT
I read this book a while ago and I didn't find it particularly gripping but it did make me wonder who I would meet in heaven... interesting that it seemed to do that to a lot of people. Has anyone seen the movie? Do you find this valuable? |
jeremywong |
3. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Oct 8 2008, 6:24 AM EDT
I was intrigued by this book as well. The way Mitch Albom writes his stories are much different than other authors but I guess it is special. I am actually reading another one of his books called "For One More Day". If you have not read it before I would highly recommend this book especially to you since you seem to be enjoying his first book. As I have read the book before I will try not to spoil the meaning or purpose of it but you are absolutely correct. When I read the book, each and every question that Eddie came up with made me think of my own life, and this I believe is what Mitch Albom wants us to feel. Many a times a thought to myself "is this happening to me right now?" or "what if this happens to me?" Although Eddie's attitude is rather pessimistic in the end as you quoted, I think that Albom wants us to learn from his pessimism. We should live our lives to the fullest so that when we end up in Eddie's position (if it is even possible), we can at least look upon our lives and say to ourselves that we have accomplished something. The book also made me reflect on my life and wonder if what I am doing right now is the right direction for me to lead my life. I realized that you only truly know whether you have accomplished or not after the time has passed as that is the best time to look back and regret. Its good to know that you have learned something from this book! I did too and if you read more of his books you will see that he has many other lessons to teach readers. Do you find this valuable? |
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kogarming |
4. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Oct 12 2008, 7:56 AM EDT
I've only started reading this book recently. I will have to agree with what Jeremy is saying about the purpose of this book, how it makes us question our own life. We are finally in our senior year and we are about to make the most critical decisions of our life. It is time for us to choose the path we want to go on for the rest of our life and from reading this book, I realized how hard it is to make a choice. I keep asking myself "what if"questions like what Jeremy did and there are just so many unanswerable questions. Eddie is a character i admire, I can feel a connection with this character, as if I empathizes him. The pessimistic attitude of his actually affects me when I read the book. The first few chapters were a bit boring but after reading these responses, I am sure I'll continue reading this book. I hope I can enjoy this book as much as most of you guys did.
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colorsyn |
5. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Oct 13 2008, 5:57 AM EDT
I haven't read this book before, but from your descriptions of the book, I think the book is trying to let us reflect our own life, as many of you have agreed with. The assumption of the existence of Heaven is already very thoughful. If someone who didn't believe in Heaven read the book, what would his reactions be? The book is introducing people a permanant meaning whether or not they believe in it, although the book is rather focusing on how we should be in our lives. There are just too many people working just to keep themselves busy, and found that what they have done are meaningless. Are we people like them? what are we studying for? for a standard life? or for your dreams? what happened when your dreams were fulfilled? Or would your dreams ever be fulfilled? What would our (endless) desires brought us to? something meaningful? Would we still be doing the same thing as we're doing now if we are dying in the next second? I think people don't think about questions like these because it's our nature to keep on doing what we're doing as we made ourselves content; it's our nature to not acknowledge because acknowledgement not necessarily made us happy, as we usually found what we were doing meaningless. However, if happiness was what we were looking for, do we really need any acknowledge? The author wrote the book because there is one thing that everyone of us must face: death. That unavoidable and irrevcable acknowledgement are going to kill our minds. Afterall, does it really matter, if we are enjoying the present?Do you find this valuable? |
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wuclaudia |
6. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Oct 14 2008, 10:12 AM EDT
"If someone who didn't believe in Heaven read the book, what would his reactions be?"I think that it doesn't take a person who believes in the existence of heaven to find a connection with this book and Eddie. Because it is not just talking about religion. It's not just talking about God. It raises a lot of essential questions about life and death. (which is one of the reasons so many people find his books interesting). It makes people wonder what the life AFTER life looks like, or if there IS a life after life at all. And Heaven is just one of the many versions of this "after life". There is another big questions that I thought of when I was reading the book: Why does this concept of afterlife even exist? It is not like there is any prove of a life other than the one we are living in ourselves. Is it because it gives people the chance to HOPE that they will get a second chance to life? to correct their mistakes? to not be forever apart from their loved ones? But if they get the chance to live again, will there be more mistakes that can be made? and why is it that there is always something to regret in life? why can't a person die feeling content, without wishing that they might get a second chance to live? Do you find this valuable? |
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ellenhong |
7. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Oct 14 2008, 12:21 PM EDT
I also agree that the book is even more unique and interesting, because the author deals with 'heaven' without bringing up any religious ideas. When I first picked up the book, I guessed that the book might be somehow religious. However, while I was reading the book, I was just dragged into the 'story' without considering religion beliefs at all.I think claudia's questions are really interesting. I believe that the reason for the idea of 'afterlife' is because people want to have a second chance in life. Like you have mentioned, people might want to correct their mistakes or might not want to be apart from their loved ones. By the time people are about to die, they might have lingering desire or regret in their life, and this is why people want to believe in afterlife. If people think that there is no such thing as 'afterlife' then they will think that there is no purpose in life. This might lead to people not treasuring their life as much, and they might just waste their whole life. Therefore, I think religion is very important to people since religion gives people an idea of 'afterlife' and this is where the idea of 'heaven' has come from. Many religious people tend to believe that if you do many good things in present life, then you will be rewarded in heaven. However, how Mitch Albom has described heaven is totally different from how heaven has been pictured by people so far. 'Heaven' usually go with 'Religion', but Mitch Albom's story was very unexpected to me and that made me willing to read and find out more about the author's messages. Do you find this valuable? |
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wuclaudia |
8. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Oct 14 2008, 7:10 PM EDT
it is true that many people base their purpose of life on the prospect that there will be an afterlife. But according to the book, Eddie actually still has many things to looks forward to in his life that he chose to leave, he simply overlooked them. So I believe that there are many people, who believe that their purpose of life lies IN their lives, and not what comes afterward.
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nickyhu |
9. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Dec 1 2008, 6:06 AM EST
This was one of my all-time favorite books. After reading the book, I agree with 'wuclaudia' in saying that focusing on how you prepare for your afterlife is equally as, if not more, important than only spending all of your time trying to better your current life. This book really opened my eyes to the different possibilities of 'the afterlife' that humans don't consider or haven't bothered to explore. I really enjoyed Mitch Albom's perspective on how just the little things you do in life can hugely change another person's for the better or worse. It made me be more conscious about the little things that I do in life and try to persuade others to do the same. It reminds me of global warming, where humans nowadays are so oblivious to what their actions could potentially do to the lives of their very own children or grandchildren. In response to 'wuclaudia's question - I think that people believe in the concept of afterlife because they like to think that there is more than just completely disappearing after you die, that you will somehow be rewarded or punished based on your actions and contributions on Earth.
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100626 |
10. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Dec 3 2008, 12:47 AM EST
I agree with nickyhu that people are becoming more and more oblivious to the consequences of our actions. Humans tend to act without thinking how their actions affect others around them. The novel "Five people you meet in Heaven" shows how little things you do can affect other person's life and even your own future. Another theme I took away from the book is that you may not always appreciate the things people have done for you. In the book, Eddie realizes that he was only able to survive from war thanks to the captain (second person he meets in heaven). His gunshot wound was actually the reason he was alive. If everyone had a chance to look back at their life, they would realize how something seemingly small can have a huge impact.
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ttang |
11. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Dec 7 2008, 4:33 AM EST
i agree with danny that something so small will affect other people's life and our own future. in this book my favorite story was the one where Eddie met the blue man. in that story eddie survived the crash without a scratch but the blue man didn't. when eddie met him in heaven he taught him a lesson that we are all connected, and everything we do effects what will happen to another person. this lesson that the blue man taught eddie reminded me about Lion King how the lion said that we are all connected and about the circle of life. Do you find this valuable? |
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110725 |
12. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Dec 10 2008, 8:59 AM EST
What I found myself taking from this book had little to do the afterlife. It really made me consider how I was impacting other people's lives and wonder if my actions are making lasting influences on others. I also found myself relating this to the christmas movie A Wonderful Life. In the movie a man finds himself wishing he never existed and his wish is granted and he sees life without him in it. He is astonished by the changes, his office building is now a strip club and his family non existent. I struggle to think how changes like that could happen but I feel almost certain that we all have impacts like that, if not as dramatic.
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ttang |
13. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Dec 10 2008, 9:44 AM EST
"What I found myself taking from this book had little to do the afterlife. It really made me consider how I was impacting other people's lives and wonder if my actions are making lasting influences on others. I also found myself relating this to the christmas movie A Wonderful Life. In the movie a man finds himself wishing he never existed and his wish is granted and he sees life without him in it. He is astonished by the changes, his office building is now a strip club and his family non existent. I struggle to think how changes like that could happen but I feel almost certain that we all have impacts like that, if not as dramatic."i agree, because i am sure that i have affected alot of people's life already and without me knowing it. i might have even affected my friend's or my parent's life and i didn't even know that in the book Eddie does not realize that he had affected the five people in his life until he was dead. however, i hope in the future i hope that i would find the people that their life was affected by me so that i could help them for what i did to change their life. overall the book taught me a lesson, that we should not ' react, but to intercept' this means that we can not react after we have done than action. but we should intercept or to predict what we would have done and to prevent the action that we are about to do. Do you find this valuable? |
Daryl_Tong |
14. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Dec 11 2008, 7:02 PM EST
One of the themes that began Humanities II was a ‘hero’s journey’, like that taken by the Ithacan Odysseus in the famous /Odyssey/. What is little realized is that a journey can be taken both literally and figuratively (that Odysseus journeys to remote, treacherous islands is an obvious reference to a journey, but there is also character growth and, as such, a journey of the mind soul, which is equally important to the story).The fact that Eddie, the maintenance man, takes a journey into his past and learns things that he would never known as a mortal, is huge in the aspect of Journey. It was once said in the book that /”The greatest gift that God can give you is to learn who you are”/, or something similar. And what better way to learn than to Journey? Throughout the book, Eddie slowly begins to change as he sees the flip side of the coin, learning things that he never, in his lifetime, even would have thought about. One of the most remarkable aspects of the book, I think, is Albom’s style of writing. His character development and descriptive power is remarkable – it is not wonder that so many people seem to be drawn to his books! Do you find this valuable? |
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ChrystalC |
15. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Jan 7 2009, 7:01 PM EST
The 'Five people you meet in heaven' left me wondering if I ever made a different in someone's life. One person can make a difference in many other's lives (knowing or unknowingly) in countless ways. Sometimes, a simple deed may seem like it has no impact on anyone else, but Mitch Albom was trying to tell us that we should never belittle our lives. Eddie could have been anyone of us. My interpretation of the book is that we do not necessarily have to 'meet' the five people in heaven to recognize that our actions and how we choose to live holds a special meaning and purpose.
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ttang |
16. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Jan 10 2009, 1:55 AM EST
after i read this book, i realized that there is another book that's called "The Five People You Meet in Hell" this book seems similar to this book but i don't know how different it will be. i believe that the five people you meet in hell would be the people that cause them to either lose their job or ruined something in their life. but it still life me wondering: the blue man that Eddie caused to die was still one of the people he met in heaven. i would think that eddie would met him in hell. i might consider reading that book because i then could compare about who you will meet in heaven and who you will meet in hell.
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nicolatang |
17. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Feb 2 2009, 3:13 AM EST
The Five people you meet in hell is actually not written by the same author as the five people you meet in heaven. I don't think that book would be any good in the first place, since it probably won't have a good theme and flow. I wouldn't recommend it, but the book, the five people you meet in heaven, was really good. I read it a few years ago, but the life lessons there are unforgettable. I really enjoyed reading about how he effected other people's lives without even the slight's knowledge. It made me consider other people's feelings more.
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090730 |
18. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Mar 25 2009, 9:13 AM EDT
I still remembering reading this book just in the first quarter.. Through reading this book, I learned one thing. Sometimes you do something, you hurt someone without even knowing.. This help me so much in life because now when I do things, I don't know only think if it will affect people I know, I also have to consider if it will potentially hurt someone that I don't know.
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colorsyn |
19. RE: the Five people you meet in Heaven
Mar 25 2009, 11:56 AM EDT
I think the information we missed about our lives is really something worth thinking through. We might have missed some important information that totally change our values, and without these information, we might be going to an entirely diffferent or even wrong direction in our life. I think spending more time to understand the world or study philosophy is a good choice to make sure we are on the right path, although many people might say that we would have waste all the time we've got if we did that, but the truth is, many people ended up finding their life pointless after years of working or playing. The Five people you meet in Heaven gives me a real good perspective to reflect my life, is my life that meaningful if i look at it in another point of view?
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