A Trip to Heaven

So on my way back from TO (and after I got here) I got to reading a book that Abdu gave me (it was a belated birthday present but had pencil annotations from a friend who gave it to him so maybe it doesn't fit the "bday present" category :P).

The book is called "the five people you meet in heaven" and is by Mitch Albom. It is possibly the most inspiring and soul touching book I have ever read, and I am not easily inspired or touched. In fact, the whole Chicken Soup thing never sat quite well with me, and neither does the sight of Cameron Diaz weeping live on Oprah because she's devastated by the thought of an America filled with apathetic people who don't vote and use "their voice". Ugh. Yes, this is true, I saw it with mine own eyes.

But I digress.

The book, briefly, is about a man called Eddie who dies and goes to heaven. But Albom's version of heaven is different from anything written in lore or religion; it is a place where we find out what the purpose of our life on earth was, and the journey that Eddie takes through heaven, meeting the 5 people who can best explain him to himself, is just exhilirating, illuminating, tender, and heart-breakingly melancholy. The book reads like the sweetest love song, made of the rich and varied colors of a sunset; dazzlingly simple yet layered with meaning.

I read the book and at once felt a calming peace and an urgent need to read it and experience it all over again. Highly recommend it to anyone who has ever wondered about life after death, or has felt lonely, or unaccomplished, or unhappy for even the slighest moment. I can guarantee you'll walk away an enlightened person.