The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2003) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

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• Eddie: The main character. He dies at the beginning of the book and this is his journey though Heaven.
• The Blue Man: The first person Eddie meets in Heaven. While Eddie barely remembers him, The Blue Man remembers him.
• The Captain: A life-long military man who was Eddie's commanding officer during World War II. They were prisoners of war together and at the mercy of Filipino soldiers who starved and tortured them.
• Ruby: The third person Eddie meets in Heaven. Her husband was a wealthy man who put his money to good use and built the Ruby Pier Amusement Park in her honor. The park later burned to the ground, taking her husband's fortune along with it, making Ruby regret its existence. She had been the reason the park had been built in the first place and why Eddie and his father had the opportunity to work there.
• Marguerite: The fourth person Eddie meets in Heaven. She was Eddie's first love and eventually became his wife. He loved her more than anything and although they were unable to have children, they had a very happy marriage. She was the only woman that Eddie truly loved and it was what he was remembered for when he died.
• Tala: The fifth person Eddie meets in Heaven.
• Mickey Shea: An old friend of Eddie's father.
• Rabozzo: In the war with Eddie.
• Willie: Ride operator at Ruby Pier.
• Joe: Eddie's brother.
• Emile: Ruby's husband.
• Morton: One of the prisoners-of-war alongside Eddie.
• Noel: One of Eddie's old friends. Enjoys betting on the ponies.
• Dominguez: Eddie's co-worker

Quotes edit see section history

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• “Strangers", the Blue Man said," are just family you have yet to come to know.”

  Blue Man

• “Departure did not seem to be an issue.”

  Eddie

• “All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. 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.”

  The Third Person Eddie Meets in Heaven, (p. 109).

• “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 a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.”

  The Third Lesson, (p. 149).

• “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.”

  The Fourth Person Eddie Meets in Heaven, (p. 174).

• “Young men go to war. Sometimes because they have to, sometimes because they want to. Always, they feel they are supposed to. This comes from the sad, layered stories of life, which over centuries have seen courage confused with picking up arms, and cowardice confused with laying them down.”

  The Second Person Eddie Meets in Heaven, (p. 59).

• “Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to.”

  The Captain (p. 97)

• “"Life has to end," she said. "Love doesn't"”

  Marguerite

• “"The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone."”

  Blue Man

• “Fairness does not govern life and death. If it did, no good person would ever die young.”

• ““All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time.””

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Ruby Pier: Named for the creater's wife, Ruby. This is where Eddie grows up and eventually works and dies. Eddie's father was also employed by Ruby Pier.
• Heaven: Where the story takes place.
• Philippine Islands: The only place that Eddie ever went during World War II.

Organizations edit see section history

• Ruby Pier: This is a fictional organisation, that one of the characters named after his wife, Ruby.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Gimme: Slang. Short for 'Give Me'.

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Death: All of an organism's vital organs shut down/ beyond repair/ stopped.
• Afterlife: Events, or another life, after you die.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by Digital Fortress, and followed by The Diary of a Young Girl.

Preceded by The Lightning Thief, and followed by Deception Point.

Preceded by The Da Vinci Code, and followed by The Last Juror.

Preceded by The Da Vinci Code, and followed by The King of Torts.

Preceded by Deception Point, and followed by Digital Fortress.

Preceded by Charlotte's Web, and followed by The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Penguin Classics).

Preceded by The Host, and followed by Lord of the Flies.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Mitch Albom (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Erik Singer (Narrator)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 818'.6

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Young adults and above. About death, may be disturbing for some children. Some scenes include wartime prison.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Wikipedia: More information about The Five People You Meet in Heaven both as a book and a film.

Movie Connections edit see section history

• The Five People You Meet in Heaven (IMDb): 2004 movie based on the book

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

Books Influenced by This Book edit see section history