Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It's a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie's five people revisit, their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his "meaningless" life and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: "What was I here"
The Five People You Meet in Heaven
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
From Amazon
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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
This life-affirming fable ironically opens at the end of the life of a seemingly ordinary man. Known as "Eddie Maintenance" to those he works with at Ruby Pier, Eddie led what he saw as a disappointing life working as head of maintenance at a seaside amusement park. Upon his death, he learns that heaven is a place to make sense of his time on earth and that he will meet five people from his life who will help him understand its greatest lessons. Accompanied at times by music that sounds psychedelic rather than heavenly, reader Singer conveys this uplifting story in an earnest manner. However, the soft-spoken intonations he employs for women and the gruff but bashful voices he uses for men add an extra dose of sweetener to this already sentimental tale, as does Singer's plaintive rendition of Eddie and his wife Marguerite's song, "You made me love you." Still, those who turn to this audio book for Albom's (Tuesdays with Morrie) musings on the meaning of life will not be disappointed by his message-each of our lives are inextricably connected to those around us-or his compelling vision of how we might view life after death.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
This is a story about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
This is a story about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By G. Petec
Format:Audio CD
(...)Hmm. It is not as cheesy I thought it could be, and not as life changing as many make it out to be. There are a few ideas that are beautiful and could have been exploited, as well as quotation material that could have been brought farther with a bit more imagination. I'm not saying Mitch is not imaginative, he is just not as imaginative as he could be, which leads to a bit of boredom for a reader like me who' is looking for challenges.
All the way through I kept waiting for that wonderful momentum, the paroxysm where you discover that everything was actually a lot more intricate than it initially had appeared to be, whilst all is being revealed to you, leaving your heart content or there to debate the choice of the author. Not the case. The climax comes early, as I believe that the people that Eddie meets at the beginning are far more interesting and wise than the ones met at the end.
The voice of Eddie is extremely annoying (Thank you Mitch for having other characters speak, nice breaks they were). It took stubbornness on my part to get through to the end. Mitch explains the voice as being similar to his uncle's voice, as he wanted to bestow credit to his uncle; he apparently tried very hard to reproduce his uncle''s unique husky strong speech.(...)
To see the rest of the review as well as many more interesting ones go to allwords.ca.
All the way through I kept waiting for that wonderful momentum, the paroxysm where you discover that everything was actually a lot more intricate than it initially had appeared to be, whilst all is being revealed to you, leaving your heart content or there to debate the choice of the author. Not the case. The climax comes early, as I believe that the people that Eddie meets at the beginning are far more interesting and wise than the ones met at the end.
The voice of Eddie is extremely annoying (Thank you Mitch for having other characters speak, nice breaks they were). It took stubbornness on my part to get through to the end. Mitch explains the voice as being similar to his uncle's voice, as he wanted to bestow credit to his uncle; he apparently tried very hard to reproduce his uncle''s unique husky strong speech.(...)
To see the rest of the review as well as many more interesting ones go to allwords.ca.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By C. Kim
Format:Hardcover
I did a lot of research before buying this book. This was on the NY Times best-seller list, and I read about 20 reviews from amazon.com before purchasing. I had heard great reviews about this book and Tuesdays with Morrie. I am a girl who enjoys a great heart-warming and touching book. However, I found myself literally rolling my eyes while reading this book! It was incredibly corny and what would be called a typical "chick's book". I suppose the only reason that Tuesdays with Morrie was a lot better was because it's supposed to be a true story. Although this is based on a true character, the storyline is a bit far-fetched. Sorry, but this is a no-go for me.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By G. Wong
Format:Hardcover
I simply do not understand how this book is getting so much praise. I enjoyed Tuesdays with Morrie because of the wisdom Morrie Schwartz shared with the rest of us. Looking back Tuesdays with Morrie is really a book by Schwartz which Albom edited. In Five People You Meet in Heaven Mitch Albom strives very hard to make this a tear-jerker and becomes overly preachy in his story telling. Over-rated.
Want to see more reviews on this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 2,153 reviews
4.1 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing
This story may be fiction, but it's extremely entertaining. The main character continually learns from the beginning of the story through the end of the story, and helps you think... Read more
Published 21 days ago by Torstang
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful
This was wonderful read just when I needed it. Though Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom is still my favourite.
Published 2 months ago by Elaine
5.0 out of 5 stars
Most worthwhile read!
Would highly recommend this book to everyone!
Beautiful heart warming story with lessons to be learned.
a book you could read over and over again.
Beautiful heart warming story with lessons to be learned.
a book you could read over and over again.
Published 3 months ago by Mary Mulvihill
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thought-proving story that captured my heart
Good stories have a place in my mind and heart.This is one of the most beautiful books about man's pilgrimage through life. The plot is amazing. Read more
Published 3 months ago by John T C
5.0 out of 5 stars
The twist you just didn't see coming!
I love the unexpected. My friend sent me this book and then I bought one to share with others. 8 of my peeps have read it now. Read more
Published 5 months ago by EstherBunny
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic
It has been some time since I've been so deeply and profoundly moved by a novel, indeed moved to a shattered state and uncontrolled weeping. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Lorina Stephens
5.0 out of 5 stars
Disagree with the theology but love this book
I don't agree with the theology behind this version of heaven and the afterlife, but honestly, I'm pretty sure that the technical details about our eternity is not what this book... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Lil'Lyssa
4.0 out of 5 stars
the five people you meet in heaven
The book arrive within the designated time and was in the condition described by the seller. I would buy from this seller again.
Published 18 months ago by Africa
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Book
After recently losing my father-in-law I sought literature to make meaning of his death. After reading a great deal about the afterlife I found "The Five People You Meet in Heaven"... Read more
Published on May 1 2011 by ie.zicap
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Five People You Meet In Heaven
This is an absolutely AWESOME book. Even being an atheist. But you don't have to believe in anything to enjoy this one. Read more
Published on Aug 9 2010 by Guru
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Audiobooks > General
- Books > Audiobooks > Literature & Fiction > Religious
- Books > Audiobooks > Religion & Spirituality > Fiction
- Books > Audiobooks > Religion & Spirituality > General
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Religious & Inspirational
- Books > Literature & Fiction > United States
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > Fiction
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
