Book Title: The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Author: Mitch Albom
Date Started: September 24th 2013
Date Completed: September 28th 2013
Genres: Fantasy
Rating: Four stars
Review:
If I was to have gone into a bookshop and see this book, I wouldn't have picked it up. It's not the sort of thing I usually read, but I'm very glad it was given to me as a gift for my birthday. This book really surprised me and I really enjoyed reading it.
Eddie works at the pier he grew up going to. After decades of trying to get away from the place, he's forced to move back and work in maintenance with all the new rides. And then one day one of the rides breaks, and during an attempt to rescue the stranded customers, Eddie dies saving a little girl from a falling cart. But when Eddie opens his eyes again, he still exists. He then meets five people, some of which he knows, some not; but all of them had changed his life dramatically: and now they are here to explain how and why.
The reason The Five People You Meet in Heaven didn't get five stars was mainly because of the writing. It was nice to read the book, because it was quite simple writing and that, along with the fact it is a short book, let me go through this novel reasonably fast. However, nothing really stood out to me in the writing. It was good enough, but there was nothing special about it. I found it hard to picture the setting and people because of the description and it wasn't until I started to know more about the character and his story that I started to feel a little for him (rather than the words moving me from earlier on in the story.)
Having said that, the story compensated for the simple writing. I've never come across this sort of concept before, where you meet people that explain a person's life when they die. It fascinated me, and I think was carried out very well during the book, too. I'm not religious, and I don't believe in any afterlife, but actually I found myself quite liking the idea that there are people that have changed us, and through that, everyone's story eventually merges into one.
The way it was set out was very well done as well. I liked the different parts, and the disorientation, confusion and denial Eddie faced in each one since it was quite believable. The way we were introduced to Eddie gave us very little information by the time he died, which then allowed us to gain facts about his life as we went through the books. It was almost like we were understanding Eddie's life along with him, as each element was explained. I don't know if that was deliberate or not, but I think it worked incredibly well and I really felt for Eddie at the end.
I have to admit, Eddie's last person really touched me. It wasn't the sort of situation that you might cry in, but if it had been, I think I might have shed a few tears.
There's only really one person I can talk about, since the only other people featured much are Eddie's five, and to describe them would ruin it for people that want to go and read this book.
Eddie. At first, we don't really know what to think about Eddie; we know very little about him but he's seems alright: just the 'typical' grumpy senior citizen. Then he dies and we're not quite sure what's going on. But then we learn more and more about him, and we start to understand. What I really like about Eddie was the fact that he was a normal person; he dealt with some bad stuff, and a lot of bad things happened to him. But none of it was unbelievable - it might be unimaginable to think about going through the things he did, but it was realistic enough for me to believe that those things might have happened to him. I think the character also was a good person who made mistakes and had to make decisions in bad times.
The pace wasn't fast, because of the genre, and way the story was intended to progress. But it wasn't slow. There was always something happening, and most of the time relevant information was being given to the reader.
I really liked The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and I think a lot of people would enjoy it, whether it's your typical genre or not. It's a mix between feel-good and actually quite sad, but I think it balances out well. If you like contemporary, you'll love it, but even if you don't; it's very interesting and quite touching to read anyway.
(Thank you Mia, for giving me this book for my birthday x)
Image Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/
MitchAlbom_TheFivePeopleYouMeetInHeaven.jpg
If I was to have gone into a bookshop and see this book, I wouldn't have picked it up. It's not the sort of thing I usually read, but I'm very glad it was given to me as a gift for my birthday. This book really surprised me and I really enjoyed reading it.
Eddie works at the pier he grew up going to. After decades of trying to get away from the place, he's forced to move back and work in maintenance with all the new rides. And then one day one of the rides breaks, and during an attempt to rescue the stranded customers, Eddie dies saving a little girl from a falling cart. But when Eddie opens his eyes again, he still exists. He then meets five people, some of which he knows, some not; but all of them had changed his life dramatically: and now they are here to explain how and why.
The reason The Five People You Meet in Heaven didn't get five stars was mainly because of the writing. It was nice to read the book, because it was quite simple writing and that, along with the fact it is a short book, let me go through this novel reasonably fast. However, nothing really stood out to me in the writing. It was good enough, but there was nothing special about it. I found it hard to picture the setting and people because of the description and it wasn't until I started to know more about the character and his story that I started to feel a little for him (rather than the words moving me from earlier on in the story.)
Having said that, the story compensated for the simple writing. I've never come across this sort of concept before, where you meet people that explain a person's life when they die. It fascinated me, and I think was carried out very well during the book, too. I'm not religious, and I don't believe in any afterlife, but actually I found myself quite liking the idea that there are people that have changed us, and through that, everyone's story eventually merges into one.
The way it was set out was very well done as well. I liked the different parts, and the disorientation, confusion and denial Eddie faced in each one since it was quite believable. The way we were introduced to Eddie gave us very little information by the time he died, which then allowed us to gain facts about his life as we went through the books. It was almost like we were understanding Eddie's life along with him, as each element was explained. I don't know if that was deliberate or not, but I think it worked incredibly well and I really felt for Eddie at the end.
I have to admit, Eddie's last person really touched me. It wasn't the sort of situation that you might cry in, but if it had been, I think I might have shed a few tears.
There's only really one person I can talk about, since the only other people featured much are Eddie's five, and to describe them would ruin it for people that want to go and read this book.
Eddie. At first, we don't really know what to think about Eddie; we know very little about him but he's seems alright: just the 'typical' grumpy senior citizen. Then he dies and we're not quite sure what's going on. But then we learn more and more about him, and we start to understand. What I really like about Eddie was the fact that he was a normal person; he dealt with some bad stuff, and a lot of bad things happened to him. But none of it was unbelievable - it might be unimaginable to think about going through the things he did, but it was realistic enough for me to believe that those things might have happened to him. I think the character also was a good person who made mistakes and had to make decisions in bad times.
The pace wasn't fast, because of the genre, and way the story was intended to progress. But it wasn't slow. There was always something happening, and most of the time relevant information was being given to the reader.
I really liked The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and I think a lot of people would enjoy it, whether it's your typical genre or not. It's a mix between feel-good and actually quite sad, but I think it balances out well. If you like contemporary, you'll love it, but even if you don't; it's very interesting and quite touching to read anyway.
(Thank you Mia, for giving me this book for my birthday x)
Image Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/
MitchAlbom_TheFivePeopleYouMeetInHeaven.jpg
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