The Five People You Meet in Heaven: 05/13/08

The Five People You Meet in Heaven is one of many books that follow the protagonist as he or she travels into the after life. In this case, it's a maintenance man from a local carnival named Eddie and he dies after being crushed by a falling ride. From there he learns the ropes of Heaven from five mentors whom he knew in his life.

These books can either be mind blowing explorations of the human spirit and imagination (The Inferno by Dante Alighieri), fantasy romps that straddle the morose and the fantastical (What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson) or like this book, smaltzy and rife with cliches.

The best thing about The Five People You Meet in Heaven is its length and its simplistic vocabulary. The book can easily be read in a couple of hours. The book starts off well, building suspense with Eddie's impending death but it is unable to stay interesting. By the end of the first lesson the book settles into a predictably annoying pattern of flashbacks and lessons with Eddie being gobsmacked by each one until the end when the last mentor has to hit him over the head with the moral of the story.

Comments (2)

Comment #1: Thursday, May, 15, 2008 at 02:15:59

Natasha @ Maw Books

I read this one a few years ago and liked it okay. I don't think he's the best writer but he's got some great concepts. Have you seen the movie? "

Comment #2: Wednesday, May, 14, 2008 at 23:24:11

pussreboots

I haven't see the film. Thanks for stopping by."