My book review on THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN
The five people you meet in heaven
I always believe that everyone has his heaven. It is a belief. But what is heaven for? Some people think it’s for entertainment. Some say it is for rest. Some take heaven for havens… Mitch Albom introduced the idea that “Heaven is for understanding your life on earth” in his book called The Five People You Meet In Heaven. What’s the book for? It is not a science fiction to unfold our wings of imagination about the heaven. It is not a treatise to convince you to change your heaven to his. It is not a story to make you addicted to the plot or crazy about the character etc. In my opinion, it’s more like a fable to help you understand your life before you lose it.
This life-affirming fable ironically begins at the end of the life of a man called Eddie. He is the head of maintenance at Ruby Pier which is a big amusement park. He feels lonely because all of his relatives have died. He feels very disappointed about his dull work and he thinks his life is meaningless. On his 83rd birthday, he dies of trying to save a little girl in an accident. When he wakes up, he is in heaven. He learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden but a place where you meet five people to tell you stories, teach you lessons so that you understand your life.
Word does not make sense, what makes sense is your thoughts. When I follow the pace of Eddie to meet person one by one, the anxiety and curiosity to see the person becomes an exam in which I raise questions and seek for answers. Who will my five people be? What will they tell me? Who dies because of me? Who do I misunderstand? … I become the other student, taking lessons with Eddie and cook the soup of my own life. In my understanding, life is like a bowl of soup. We have 5 ingredients: sugar, salt, chili pepper, vinegar and bitters. In each stage of life, the taste is different because you put different ingredients in the soup.
Salty
Eddie’s first person is the blue man. When little Eddie is playing in the street, he rushes across the street to get his ball. This action scares the blue man who’s practicing driving, and luckily he slams on the brakes so it doesn’t cause accidents. But unluckily, the jolt of adrenaline has forced his weak heart to pump furiously. At last he dies of heart attack. He teaches Eddie that “We are all connected.” And “No life is a waste, the only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone.”
Finishing the first lesson, I put salt in the soup. The tasteless soup becomes salty. I recall my childhood. I was always alone at home. At that time I couldn’t afford to buy snacks when I was alone at home. Children were always hungry. So I developed the habit of eating salt, of course just a little each time. When I had salt, I thought of dishes. When I thought of dishes I thought of the scene that my family eat together happily. So when I had salt I felt as if I was together with my family and my loneliness was gone. Now I will not waste time crying for my loneness. Because I know that people around the world are connected and strangers are just family I have yet come to know.
Sour
Like many young men, Eddie becomes a soldier. Before the army escapes, they burn the houses. Eddie finds a child in the house and he tries to save her. This behavior delays their plan, so the captain shoots Eddie in his leg to take him away. The captain dies when opening doors for the army. Eddie’s leg is so badly hurt that it’s incurable. During the rest time of Eddie’s life, he keeps thinking about what he loses in the war so he is blind to happiness. The captain makes him understand that sacrifice is something to aspire to as a part of life and when you sacrifice something precious you are passing it to others.
For the second lesson, I put vinegar into the soup. When sacrifice is mentioned we can think of a lot, but we always forget the one that is nearest to us, the mother’s sacrifice. My mother sacrifices her time and passes it to me. She has to go out to buy ice-cream for me so that I can have time to watch TV. She cancels her appointments so that I have someone to play badminton with. She has to get up earlier to prepare meal for me… I grow up but she grows old. The soup is sour. I am moved and sad. Time is life, so my mother not only gives me life but also sacrifices her life for me. How generous a mother can be! I will live my life well, for us.
Hot
The third person Eddie meets in heaven is Ruby who’s the wife of the original builder of Ruby Pier. She happens to be in the same sickroom with Eddie’s father. Eddie admires his father although his father treats him badly. But they finally break after a quarrel. Ruby shows what his father is suffering to him witch makes his misunderstanding towards his father melts. She teaches him that “Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair.” And “Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.”
The ingredient I choose is chili powder. Child is of course affected by their parents. But I believe that when parents smudge, crack or shatter, they get hurt too. Reading the description of his father, I think of mine. It was hot between us. Things too hot can not only hurt the stomach but also heart. Every time my father is yelling at or scolding me, I know we are both hurt. I used to hate him but I gave in. Because I find that anger is like a snake. It only eats you, only twists around you. Hating is a weapon that defeats you. I learn to minus anger instead of pulsing it, as well as my father. I believe that no one in the world should be hurt by my anger and I should be hurt by no one’s anger.
Bitter
Eddie meets his wife Marguerite in heaven as he wants. They love each other deeply. Like every couple they have contradictions and misunderstandings. But “Love, like rain, can nourish from the above, drenching couples with a soaking joy. But sometimes, under the angry heat of life, love dries on the surface and must nourish from below, tending to its roots, keeping itself alive.” Marguerite tells him that lost love is still love, love has no endings. When life ends, love takes another form called memory.
It’s always bitter for people when they can only have memory. It’s bitter because they lose their lovers so they have no choice but memory. It’s bitter because they have memory which keeps reminding them of who they lose, too. I always believe that love can grow, like plants do. When you begin to love someone, you plant the seed. If that person loves you, then the plant germinates. If the love is deep and develops well, the plant will bloom. If the love is complete and the conditions are suitable, the plant can have fruits. It is the time when love brings two people together and keeps them together forever. When your lover dies, love loses its nutrient so it dies in the ground. But Roots are always there.
Sweet
The last person Eddie meets in the heaven is the girl he burns and fails to be rescued in the fire in the war. The girl answers the question that concerns him. She tells him that he saves the little girl in the Ruby Pier. She points out the meaning of his life which is that: he brings happiness to children; he keeps children safe; He saves children’s life. Finally Eddie learns how much he matters and how he is loved.
I am happy for the happy ending and I pray that everyone has a happy ending. After reading I discover or I am reminded that I can make a difference to other people, that how deeply I am loved. So my heart is filled with sweetness. The soup of life is sweet, I hope everyone can taste their soup and finally cries out: “How tasty life is!” I always believe that one’s life is always meaningful to him and to others.
My life is far away from the end, so my tasting of life will go on. I believe whenever I read this book, I will always be reminded of something old and learn something new.
From my point of view, it makes no sense to understand your life in heaven because you will not go back to life again. So what matters is that you handle the knowledge before you have no chance to use it.
Life will make sense.
I always believe that everyone has his heaven. It is a belief. But what is heaven for? Some people think it’s for entertainment. Some say it is for rest. Some take heaven for havens… Mitch Albom introduced the idea that “Heaven is for understanding your life on earth” in his book called The Five People You Meet In Heaven. What’s the book for? It is not a science fiction to unfold our wings of imagination about the heaven. It is not a treatise to convince you to change your heaven to his. It is not a story to make you addicted to the plot or crazy about the character etc. In my opinion, it’s more like a fable to help you understand your life before you lose it.
This life-affirming fable ironically begins at the end of the life of a man called Eddie. He is the head of maintenance at Ruby Pier which is a big amusement park. He feels lonely because all of his relatives have died. He feels very disappointed about his dull work and he thinks his life is meaningless. On his 83rd birthday, he dies of trying to save a little girl in an accident. When he wakes up, he is in heaven. He learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden but a place where you meet five people to tell you stories, teach you lessons so that you understand your life.
Word does not make sense, what makes sense is your thoughts. When I follow the pace of Eddie to meet person one by one, the anxiety and curiosity to see the person becomes an exam in which I raise questions and seek for answers. Who will my five people be? What will they tell me? Who dies because of me? Who do I misunderstand? … I become the other student, taking lessons with Eddie and cook the soup of my own life. In my understanding, life is like a bowl of soup. We have 5 ingredients: sugar, salt, chili pepper, vinegar and bitters. In each stage of life, the taste is different because you put different ingredients in the soup.
Salty
Eddie’s first person is the blue man. When little Eddie is playing in the street, he rushes across the street to get his ball. This action scares the blue man who’s practicing driving, and luckily he slams on the brakes so it doesn’t cause accidents. But unluckily, the jolt of adrenaline has forced his weak heart to pump furiously. At last he dies of heart attack. He teaches Eddie that “We are all connected.” And “No life is a waste, the only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone.”
Finishing the first lesson, I put salt in the soup. The tasteless soup becomes salty. I recall my childhood. I was always alone at home. At that time I couldn’t afford to buy snacks when I was alone at home. Children were always hungry. So I developed the habit of eating salt, of course just a little each time. When I had salt, I thought of dishes. When I thought of dishes I thought of the scene that my family eat together happily. So when I had salt I felt as if I was together with my family and my loneliness was gone. Now I will not waste time crying for my loneness. Because I know that people around the world are connected and strangers are just family I have yet come to know.
Sour
Like many young men, Eddie becomes a soldier. Before the army escapes, they burn the houses. Eddie finds a child in the house and he tries to save her. This behavior delays their plan, so the captain shoots Eddie in his leg to take him away. The captain dies when opening doors for the army. Eddie’s leg is so badly hurt that it’s incurable. During the rest time of Eddie’s life, he keeps thinking about what he loses in the war so he is blind to happiness. The captain makes him understand that sacrifice is something to aspire to as a part of life and when you sacrifice something precious you are passing it to others.
For the second lesson, I put vinegar into the soup. When sacrifice is mentioned we can think of a lot, but we always forget the one that is nearest to us, the mother’s sacrifice. My mother sacrifices her time and passes it to me. She has to go out to buy ice-cream for me so that I can have time to watch TV. She cancels her appointments so that I have someone to play badminton with. She has to get up earlier to prepare meal for me… I grow up but she grows old. The soup is sour. I am moved and sad. Time is life, so my mother not only gives me life but also sacrifices her life for me. How generous a mother can be! I will live my life well, for us.
Hot
The third person Eddie meets in heaven is Ruby who’s the wife of the original builder of Ruby Pier. She happens to be in the same sickroom with Eddie’s father. Eddie admires his father although his father treats him badly. But they finally break after a quarrel. Ruby shows what his father is suffering to him witch makes his misunderstanding towards his father melts. She teaches him that “Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair.” And “Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.”
The ingredient I choose is chili powder. Child is of course affected by their parents. But I believe that when parents smudge, crack or shatter, they get hurt too. Reading the description of his father, I think of mine. It was hot between us. Things too hot can not only hurt the stomach but also heart. Every time my father is yelling at or scolding me, I know we are both hurt. I used to hate him but I gave in. Because I find that anger is like a snake. It only eats you, only twists around you. Hating is a weapon that defeats you. I learn to minus anger instead of pulsing it, as well as my father. I believe that no one in the world should be hurt by my anger and I should be hurt by no one’s anger.
Bitter
Eddie meets his wife Marguerite in heaven as he wants. They love each other deeply. Like every couple they have contradictions and misunderstandings. But “Love, like rain, can nourish from the above, drenching couples with a soaking joy. But sometimes, under the angry heat of life, love dries on the surface and must nourish from below, tending to its roots, keeping itself alive.” Marguerite tells him that lost love is still love, love has no endings. When life ends, love takes another form called memory.
It’s always bitter for people when they can only have memory. It’s bitter because they lose their lovers so they have no choice but memory. It’s bitter because they have memory which keeps reminding them of who they lose, too. I always believe that love can grow, like plants do. When you begin to love someone, you plant the seed. If that person loves you, then the plant germinates. If the love is deep and develops well, the plant will bloom. If the love is complete and the conditions are suitable, the plant can have fruits. It is the time when love brings two people together and keeps them together forever. When your lover dies, love loses its nutrient so it dies in the ground. But Roots are always there.
Sweet
The last person Eddie meets in the heaven is the girl he burns and fails to be rescued in the fire in the war. The girl answers the question that concerns him. She tells him that he saves the little girl in the Ruby Pier. She points out the meaning of his life which is that: he brings happiness to children; he keeps children safe; He saves children’s life. Finally Eddie learns how much he matters and how he is loved.
I am happy for the happy ending and I pray that everyone has a happy ending. After reading I discover or I am reminded that I can make a difference to other people, that how deeply I am loved. So my heart is filled with sweetness. The soup of life is sweet, I hope everyone can taste their soup and finally cries out: “How tasty life is!” I always believe that one’s life is always meaningful to him and to others.
My life is far away from the end, so my tasting of life will go on. I believe whenever I read this book, I will always be reminded of something old and learn something new.
From my point of view, it makes no sense to understand your life in heaven because you will not go back to life again. So what matters is that you handle the knowledge before you have no chance to use it.
Life will make sense.
posted by en2707mandy @ 12:23 PM
0 comments
