In my middle school days, I was never a voracious reader. I slowly started to lose my touch with literature because it was just plainly too boring. Staring at words on a piece of paper for hours on end was not my cup of tea in any way. Although I loved reading as a child, and even devoured Crenshaw, a 300-page fantasy-fiction novel by Katherine Applegate, in one sitting, reading lost its magic to me as I reached my teenage years. It simply demanded too much of my time and focus, which I wanted to put into something else more active, such as video games or just socializing with my friends. This, compounded with the fact that more and more books were being forced onto me in school, and my loss of imagination over time, made me resentful towards this hobby that I once used to love so dearly. There was, however, one book I read during this period of time that stands out in my memory: Mitch Albom’s; The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

Although it may seem insignificant, the method by which I acquired this book was quite random. One day during our conversation about literature, my old math tutor offered to bring his own books to next week’s class. Apparently, he felt that I was “suited” for the book, a description that I was not expecting in the slightest when I heard about these works of fiction that my tutor had in mind for me. His recommendation for a book, which was specifically catered to my personality during one of my life’s most dreary reading droughts, intrigued me. All there was to do was wait.

After receiving the book around a week later, I was confused by the somewhat bland and ambiguous cover. A beige background with mahogany borders and a small but noticeable Ferris wheel awaited me on the cover as my tutor handed the books he recommended to each of the three students in his class. However, this lack of visual graphics on the cover piqued my interest even more, as it reflected the clean slate of my own journey of rediscovering the world of literature again. 

The aptly named novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven begins with the death of Eddie, an eighty-three-year-old amusement park mechanic, who passes away on his birthday while escorting a young girl from a malfunctioning ride that unfortunately kills him. After being transported to the dimension of heaven, Eddie meets the five most influential figures of his life on Earth, one person at a time. Immediately, Eddie’s first encounter is with someone he calls the “Blue Man,” who is essentially Eddie’s guide through the entire heavenly realm. After asking how he knows the Blue Man, Eddie is told that he, as a child, is the Blue Man’s cause of death. This is because, during Eddie’s childhood, he gets in the way of the Blue Man’s car as he is driving, causing him to get into a fatal accident. At this moment, Eddie realizes that his life is inherently connected to others. As the novel progresses, Eddie meets four other people who reveal more lessons bound to his life: the importance of sacrifice, the power of forgiveness, the value of true love and letting go despite the loss of it, and the freedom that one could gain from atonement. 

The themes of Eddie’s life truly resonated with me as I began to indulge myself in the progression of his journey in the afterlife. Eddie does not have a perfect life, and the narrator acknowledges his imperfections. This helped me reflect on my own life and compare it to Eddie’s. Although Eddie made many mistakes, he was able to live a relatively long time. Hopefully, I have the same amount of time allotted for myself; however, I also hope not to make such detrimental and fatal blunders in my life.

Mitch Albom’s novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven is the ultimate depiction of the power of redemption that can take place in one’s life, and even after their life has ended. Much like how my math tutor thought that this book was “suited” for me, I would say that this book would appeal to readers who enjoy thought-provoking and emotionally impactful stories that explore themes of life, death, and interconnectedness of humans and human experiences. This novel will definitely break a reading drought for anyone who is thirsting for that one book to finally quench it!