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Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet In Heaven starts with an ending and not a beginning, with the death of the protagonist, an eighty-three year old man named Eddie who works at a seaside amusement park. Eddie grows up alongside a gloomy ocean that is adorned by an amusement park, albeit a rundown one, Ruby Pier. He stays here his whole life except for his military service in Vietnam. When Eddie is killed by a falling cart while trying to save a little girl, he wakes up in a supposed heaven and encounters five different people who have impacted or been impacted by his life.

Albom explores the purpose of life and of how an individual’s actions affect those of another through Eddie’s journey in heaven. After Eddie meets the Blue Man in Heaven, he feels guilty that his actions unintentionally resulted in the Blue Man’s death. Yet, the Blue Man reassures Eddie that life is often unfair: “...death doesn’t just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed.” This, to me, highlights the randomness and unpredictability of life–how a moment can shape destinies. It also prompts some to ask why they get to live.

The concept of love also emerges and how it can endure the most despairing times. Eddie reunites with his wife Marguerite following a difficult marriage and painful death. “Love, like rain, can nourish from 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.” This refers to Eddie’s eternal devotion for Marguerite. In heaven, their dormant love is rekindled as they spend hours feeling their passionate love take over their minds and hearts. Though Marguerite had departed Earth before Eddie, their love never fades and transcends the boundaries of life and death. I realized that beneath the conflicts and challenges inevitable in relationships, be it with family or friends, love is still present, only waiting to emerge.

This is a novel that effectively illustrates the influence we have on others’ lives, no matter how big or small, as well as the idea that things are tightly bound by fate. Everything that happened to Eddie was meant to happen because it had been determined by the heavens. “Each affects the other and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one,” Albom says. All the unique people we meet in life and the valuable moments we experience are somehow destined. While I see what Albom means, I feel his idea could be interpreted into thinking that our fates are set in stone and if so, then this could potentially leave no room for growth or the freedom to make our own choices, which can be questionable.

Life is often difficult and can be filled with pain and sorrow, yet through Eddie, Albom shows how one person touched the lives of many others, with a single deed, word, or decision. The book is a reminder to readers about the power we have to change lives and impact others. The simple act of loving someone can bring immense joy and value to an individual, just as Eddie greatly loved Marguerite. In this modern day and time, it is easy to overlook the importance we hold in the universe. Nevertheless, Albom shows readers to not only value the people surrounding us, but also to cherish ourselves, because in the end, everyone can fulfill their purpose in life and leave behind a lasting legacy on another’s.

This significant lesson alone makes the novel worth reading.

Check out the Five People you Meet in Heaven at NBPL!