This month we are discussing Mitch Albom’s the five people you meet in heaven.
This is a book I picked up in a box of books to read, left outside the apartment, while on a holiday where I had gone to write. I couldn’t put it down and I was deeply moved by the whole premise of the book which was unique, thought provoking and challenging.
The discussion/review is started by Lorraine Blencoe who has won a copy of my book for kicking off the Book Group discussion for June. Well done Lorraine.
I’m not a religious or spiritual person but even I could not fail to be touched by this book.
As a work of fiction it is a great premise, that just as you may be about to die you meet five people who have vastly affected your life, but they are not necessarily the people you think they might be. Your life can be affected by those you only touch upon briefly, yes it does all sound a bit like Frank Capra’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. But I think the real difference is the short snappy dialogue that Albom uses to move his story on so rapidly and so hook the reader. He writes with great effect and does impart the message that we need to treat everyone with a bit of respect as we pass through life, so powerfully.”
Questions to consider:
- Is the character of Eddie realistic? In what Way?
- Which person’ that Eddie spoke to did you find most moving and why?
- Which character do you think had the most to say to say to Eddie in terms of helping understand his earthly life better?
- Who do you think may be one of the people on your life that would be there at your last breath explaining to you your earthly life?
- What might they tell you?
About Lisa
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Lisa is the founder and owner of Lisa Cherry Ltd, an organisation that’s the culmination of all she’s passionate about.
This book is amongst the most profound I’ve read and the movie actually does the story justice.
Thanks Tamsen. I hadn’t realised that it had been created into a film….I shall look out for that x
On the surface, the main theme of the book would appear to be the interconnectedness of everything; the Butterfly Effect, if you like. The idea that a single event can trigger a chain reaction and that the triggers and the reactions become intertwined.
But really, I think this is more profoundly a fable about forgiveness: about how hard we often have to struggle to forgive the actions, or inactions of others. Harder still is the ability to forgive ourselves and for me, this is the central theme of the story. Perhaps it is a morality tale: remember how harshly Eddie regarded his father and how abhorrent to him, initially, was the notion that he might possibly be able to forgive him.
Finally, with the benefit of hindsight, he almost manages. And whilst he struggles with his half-hearted forgiveness he has to come to terms with his self-forgiveness as he realises, with abject horror, what happened in the fire.
For me, the two questions are almost left hanging in the air long after the apparent resolutions of his conflict-filled conscience are eased – can we ever really forgive others or, perhaps more crucially, ourselves?
I read this book way back in 2004 and it touched me profoundly. I still have the book, but it’s in a box in the garage till I sort out some bookshelves in our new house, so I cant read it again for the time being. However, I did review it when I first read it, so I thought I’d paste my review here.
The Five PeopleYou Meet In Heaven starts with a death, the death of Eddie, an old man who has spent his life fixing fairground lives. When a ride breaks, Eddie spots a young girl who is in danger and he tries desperately to pull her out of the way….
And then he’s in Heaven … but it’s nothing like the heaven he imagined. He meets the Blue Man, a circus freak who starred in a freak show on the pier. Blue Man is the first of five people Eddie will meet, through whom he will understand more about his life and why it happened like it did. Only when he understands the purpose of his life and is at peace with himself will he be allowed to enter heaven – which is wherever he chooses it to be.
I read this book in a day – I was lounging at home with a headache and bad stomach, and read some in bed, some in the bath and the remainder curled up on the sofa under a duvet. It really touched me – it made me think of all the people I have known and loved who are no longer here, and it made me reflect on what the purpose of my life is and why certain things have happened. Finally, I am now wondering just who the five people will be who are waiting for me (though obviously I hope they have a long wait :0) and who I will be waiting for – whose life will I have affected enough to be one of their five?
A heart-warming, inspiring, thought-provoking book – and one that I know I’m going to come back to again and again.
It’s a good fable. Ablom writes well and links the story nicely thru Eddie’s birthday.
However I didn’t feel the profound effects of the book as many others have. Despite the ‘happy ending’ I was left with a sense of frustration and disappointment that Eddie consigned himself to a life of frustration and silence.
The message for me was one I have already recognised and try to practice; don’t hang on to old hurts and injustice. Don’t allow another person’s actions to prevent your own happiness. Use those actions as lessons and find your way to personal fulfilment.
Or, more succinctly, shit happens so deal with it and move on and be the best you can be.
I’m really enjoying the comments/reviews coming in for the first Book Group.
The theme of forgiveness in this book is clear and is possibly why it resonates with so many readers. It can be one of the hardest concepts to grasp. I think my fascination lies in thinking about my 5 people as Alison has said. Who has touched my life (without necessarily knowing it) and who’s life have I touched.
I think one of the tragedies for Eddie has to be how he spent his life in the state of ‘not-knowing’ which rendered so many of his experiences wasted in a way. Imagine what a different life he would have led had he been in a state of ‘knowing’; knowing himself.