The 21st Annual Book Report Competition for Secondary School Students The Distinction of English Junior Section

Name of Award Student : Ngan Sze Ting Name of School : Diocesan Girls School Title of Book Read : The Five People You Meet in Heaven Author : Mitch Albom Publisher : Timer Warner Books

Heaven is a word without a precise definition. Everyone conceives his or her own interpretation of the word with infinite imagination. Before reading the five people you meet in Heaven, heaven in my perspective is a serene place where we laze on clouds and savor the scenic below. However, my preconceived ideas about heaven changed entirely after reading the inspirational fiction; the author- Mitch Albom has adequately illustrated to the readers his distinctive version of heaven, one more than sole scenery, one where you find a treasure chest of life values and morals. All endings are also beginnings. We just dont know it at the time, wrote Mitch Albom. The story began with a tragic ending, when Eddie, a maintenance worker at an amusement park, was only minutes away from his imminent death. The ending was appealingly portrayed with a countdown of how ignorantly Eddie had spent his last moments doing his monotonous routines as if his days were enduring. Then it had all happened in a flash. Eddie vaguely remembered himself trying to save a little girl from a falling cart of the Ferris wheel. But before Eddie could figure out what was happening, he arrived at the last place he and I had expected- heaven. The story became most disillusioning when it truly unfolded itself. Sequentially, Eddie encountered five individuals who were crucial to his life- the Blue Man, the Captain, Ruby, his wife Marguerite and Tala. They might be Eddies old friends, his loved one, or strangers Eddie had never met or heard of. However, in the most unexpected ways, all lives intersect. Every single one of the five people had an imperative role in Eddies life, even though he might not know it. Stories were told by the five characters from experience, and they served to help Eddie understand the true meaning of his life and have it explained.
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Through the five peoples sharing, Eddie learnt about the power of sacrificing and forgiving, the mental destruction caused by hatred and jealousy, why he lived and what he lived for. It was then when he broke through years of agony and misunderstanding, finally achieving eternal peace and amenity. Eddies world was full of chains of ifs. Every if was linked together by Eddies fate. I understood that things happened by more than mere coincidence. Literally, all the ifs would make no difference. What was done was done. What happened had happened. Eddies past was behind him. The best thing for Eddie was not to look back. The same is for every one of us. We should free ourselves from the bounds of the past and look ahead optimistically into the future. Life value is one of the most important lessons that I have learnt from the book. When Eddie learnt that the Blue Man, the first person he met, had died because of him, he reacted instinctively with guilt and remorse. Contrarily, the Blue Man acted calmly towards his own death. This was because the Blue Man had already understood the true meaning behind life and death from another five people he had met earlier. I learnt that death is not a waste of life. It keeps another person alive so as to keep the balance between life and death. People had died because of Eddie, and yet Eddie had died for the good of the little girl he had saved. As Mitch Albom wroteOne withers, another grows. The five people you meet in Heaven also reminded me of a severe problem in our society nowadays- committing suicide. Young people who are confused by relationship problems or are thwarted by failures in life may think that they had nothing to live for, and that death is the sole solution to all problems. However, that is not so. I learnt that life is never meaningless as long as we have faith in hope and our friends. We should understand how important we mean to people around us and how much we are loved. Moreover, this book has deeply penetrated me and has led me into deep reflection of myself. After assimilating the morals hidden in the book, I learnt to develop more that one perspective in looking at things. Eddie felt guilty of accusing his father when he was shown what his father had gone through was a lot harsher than Eddie had known. Eddie had always felt that his father had wronged him by being harsh on him. However, Eddie had only considered one side of the story. Being taught the healing power of forgiveness and empathy, he amended the collapsed bridge
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between his father and himself. Throughout the book, Mitch Albom flashes back to Eddies past birthdays in alternating chapters. This divulges the secrets in Eddies life and leads the readers to trace his footsteps, from a blissful infant to a lonely old man, his life as a harshly treated son, a loyal soldier, a reserved husband, so that we can grasp the encounters Eddie experienced in his life and have a more comprehensive understanding towards the character. The part I like most in the five people you meet in Heaven is the Epilogue. This chapter dealt with the future of the amusement park, Eddie, and the little girl he had saved. Mitch Albom emphasized again on how life and death are part of the whole, subtly ending the book by my favorite quotation- the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one. The Five People You Meet In Heaven is particularly edifying to those who feel lost and confused by this sophisticated world. This book showers you with tremendous ideas and advice about your life that will help you shape your character and recuperate your attitude towards life and people around you. Genuinely, there are no regrets in life, just lessons to be learnt.

Number of words: 973