.: ShaolinTiger - Kung-Fu Geekery :.

Book Review - The Five (5) People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

The 5 People You Meet in Heaven

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.

I don't usually read books from the best sellers or top 10 list, I tend not to be a sheep, reading completely different stuff from an eclectic range of genres.

My bookshelves are filled with hardcore hacking tomes, fantasy, sci-fi, biographies, crime books, martial arts manuals, health and philosophy books and so on.

For once the last few months when I was traveling so frequently I decided to devour some of the tops picks, the best sellers..

The first I chose was this, The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I thought it was some kind of sappy self-help book, but I wanted to know why fairly sane people kept raving about it.

Mitch Albom got famous with his previous book Tuesdays with Morrie, another massive hit. I might read that too given time.

It's a cute story, it's easy to read and it's enjoyable. It's well paced, not patronising and kind of sweet in a non-sickly way.

Really though it's the same old tale, what goes around comes around, karma and all that but told in a slightly different way.

Definately worth a read, easy to pick up and finish in one shot.

It's not ground-breaking, or fantastic, but it's good. It's beauty is in its simplicity, yeah there's pages of cliches, but its straightforward it's not pretending to be artsy or intellectual or bourgeois.

It is nice to read a book now and then that is just easy to read and enjoyable.

Worth a try, I give it a good solid 7/10 - A good one to put on the xmas list for people you care about.

Tags: , , , , ,

Posted in Books, Theatre & Literature | -

Related Posts:
- I’m Back from Sabah - Meet Jackie
- Book Review - Blah Blah Black Sheep by Maggie Gibson
- Red Book - The Police and Your Basic Rights in Malaysia
- Book Review - Sorting Out Billy by Jo Brand
- Visting Masjid Ubudiah - Kuala Kangsar Mosque
- Reviewing Reviewme

14 Comments so far

  1. ks  on December 21st, 2006 at 12:21 am
    Using Internet Explorer Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows Windows XP 

    i fall in love with mitch albom because of this! :D

  2. Reuben  on December 21st, 2006 at 11:05 pm
    Using Internet Explorer Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows Windows XP 

    Good book, ending sucks.

  3. EF  on December 22nd, 2006 at 8:32 am
    Using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.1 on Windows Windows XP 

    Have you read Tuesdays with Morrie?

  4. Chen  on December 23rd, 2006 at 5:08 pm
    Using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.9 on Windows Windows XP 

    latest book for one more day is teh ons too. can cry one.

  5. lionel  on December 23rd, 2006 at 11:43 pm
    Using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0 on Windows Windows XP 

    Gave one of these once upon a Christmas.

  6. earl-ku  on December 24th, 2006 at 7:57 am
    Using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.1 on Windows Windows XP 

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
    Wishing you nothing but the best ...

  7. Matthew  on December 24th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
    Using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.1 on Windows Windows XP 

    Wishing you a blessed Christmas in advanced!

    Please drink responsibly.

  8. Dabido (Teflon)  on December 24th, 2006 at 8:59 pm
    Using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.9 on Windows Windows XP 

    Merry Xmas ST. :-)

  9. Prof Scrub  on December 25th, 2006 at 1:14 am
    Using Internet Explorer Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows Windows XP 

    The five people I would like to meet in heaven are:

    Gandhi
    Genghis Khan
    Garfield
    Gandalf
    Graham Taylor - I dont want to meet him on earth, do I not like that.

    Yours gratefully,
    Prof Scrub
    http://www.scrubbingup.com/blogs/profscrub/blog.asp

  10. Slinky  on December 25th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
    Using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.9 on Windows Windows XP 

    On an unrelated note,

    MErry Christmas to you, ST !!

  11. ShaolinTiger  on December 25th, 2006 at 3:11 pm
    Using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0 on Windows Windows XP 

    EF: Not yet, but I might check it out.

    Chen: Hehe cool will look out for that too..

    Prof Scrub: Interesting choices, and all G's

    earl-ku, Matthew, Dabido and Slinky: Thanks! Merry Xmas to you guys too, going to update now, Streamyx was down for past 8 days..

  12. Pinky  on December 30th, 2006 at 11:39 pm
    Using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.9 on Windows Windows XP 

    i think Tuesdays with Morrie is a much better book than the 5 people you meet in heaven. i bought tuesdays with morrie for a best friend who has terminal disease to boost her moral. she said it truely helped her too. :) you should definitely read it.

  13. myba7p  on January 11th, 2007 at 11:23 am
    Using Internet Explorer Internet Explorer 7.0 on Windows Windows XP 

    nevertheless thanks shaolin tiger!
    i got the book and truly enjoyed it, i dont think one should compare an author's present and previous works.
    a man's honey is another's poison, the sentiments that he was trying to convey in different books are not similar.
    id feel this is one of his good one.
    cheers

  14. ShaolinTiger  on January 12th, 2007 at 1:20 am
    Using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.1 on Windows Windows XP 

    Pinky: Will have to check that out.

    myba7p: Really glad you enjoyed it, will try to review some other books soon if I can get back into reading.

Leave a reply