The Five People You meet in heaven By Mitch Albom (A Book Review

by Mustafa Tareen)
The hereafter, the ever eluding enigma of the human intellect since the very
inception of life. Every mind in its own perception tries to uncover this labyrinth
of philosophy; A Times, failing while at others coming close to be convinced.
Nevertheless, attempts are made over and over again with or without reasoning
.In the nutshell , “The Five People you Meet in heaven” is an attempt to
understand and ponder upon a novel concept .The Writer breathes in the idea
that perhaps the greatest gift from the Almighty to His beloved might be
something trivial , something we all yearn for, life, stumbling and gazing for it in
this vague world; Answers.
We are presented with the idea that Heaven may be the very place for
interpretation of everything and everyone that happened during the course of our
lives. We sail through the journey of revelation with protagonist. Eddie, his story
beginning with death and ending with serenity. It seems as if we`ve been
projected into every page of his life, flinging from one scenario to another.

The reader is taken alongside Eddie and the five people explaining their life
changing events while we glean a lesson from every person he meets. The book
may very well be called as an integration of five distinctive stories knitted
together to advocate a bigger picture. The writer chooses a character and shows
us the very essence of life “Change”. Not only Eddie but the people around him
mold into different personalities. He is damaged, revived and crushed by the
brutal tides of time, however the answers presented to give another dimension to
his chronicle. The five individuals, their sides of the same segment of life, the
lessons and thoughts are presented with the utmost simplicity.
The author continues with his elementary approach, meanwhile conveying
complex ideas that work in some parts of the story but fail in the rest. One
distinctive aspect that blends in the favour of the book is the multi-layer structure
of the stories, all building up to an ulterior aspect to the last chapter. We see our
hero going through different phases of life and the people at Ruby Pier, some
farfetched while others end up being acceptable at best. The progression of
Eddie`s tale builds up well and grows accordingly with the other characters. The
pacing may be bit fluctuating but it fits to the flow in the long run. The emotions
are well brewed with the setting and the all-American style compliments the
different era in which everything takes place.
The ideas presented in the book are enlightening. The story is well fabricated and
in very regard complete and will leave you reflecting on its unique presentation.
With a pinch of spiritualty and the austere insight of the words and the story, it is
no doubt a page turner for anyone …