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‘The Five People You meet in Heaven’ is written by Mitch Albom. It is published by Time Warner books.
Heaven is a word without an exact definition. Before reading ‘The Five People You meet in Heaven’, heaven in my view was a peaceful place where we lie on clouds and enjoy the scenes below. However, my understanding towards heaven changed entirely after reading this inspirational fiction. The author, Mitch Albom has illustrated his own version of heaven to the readers, where you will find a treasure chest of morals of life.
The story began with a sad ending. Eddie, a maintenance worker at an amusement park, was only minutes away from his death. The ‘ending’ attracted me with a countdown of how Eddie spent his last moments doing his work as his days were enduring. It happened in a flash when Eddie was trying to save a little girl from a falling cart of the Ferris Wheel. But before Eddie could figure out what was happening, he arrived at a place that he had never expected—the heaven.
The story became the most exciting when it truly unfolded itself. In the heaven, Eddie met five people who were important to his life, the Blue Man, the Captain, Ruby, his wife marguerite and Tala. They were Eddie’s old friends, his loved one, oand someone he had never heard of. However, every single one of them had an significant role in Eddie’s life, though he didn’t know it. Stories were told by the five characters from their experience and they helped Eddie to understand the true meaning of his life.
Through the five stories, Eddie learnt about the power of sacrifice and forgiveness and the destruction caused by hatred and jealousy. And from the stories Eddie had learnt not to look back. It is the same for us. We should also free ourselves from the past and look ahead optimistically into the future.
Life value is one of the lessons that I have learnt from the book. When Eddie met the Blue Man, who had died because of him, he reacted instinctively with guilt. On the contrary, the Blue Man didn’t care about his death .It was because he had already understood the true meaning behind life and death. Death is sad and may be a tragedy to most people. Yet, death could be something meaningful if someone’s death keeps another person alive. The Blue Man died because of Eddie, and similarly Eddie died when he saved the little girl. I also learnt that life is never meaningless as long as we have faith and hope with everybody. We should understand how important we mean to people around us and how much we are loved.
The part I like most in ‘The Five People You meet in Heaven’ is the chapter—Epilogue. This chapter was written with the scene of the amusement park when Eddie saved the little girl. The author emphasized again on how life and death form parts of the whole life and he ended the chapter with my favourite sentence—“The world is full of stories, but stories are all one.”
This book is particularly good for those who feel lost and confused in his/her life. This book shows people with great ideas and gives advice to your life. It will help you to shape your character and your attitude towards life and people around you. At last, I want to say, “There are no regrets in life, just lessons to be learnt in life.”