This book, like many on my bookshelf, was overdue to be read. The book looks like a quick read, but just because a book look easy, short, and simple, doesn’t mean that its message isn’t profound. It might take you longer than you think to read its message.
The story follows Eddie, a maintenance man at an amusement park called Ruby Pier. He dies trying to save a little girl from a ride malfunction, and goes through five stages of heaven, in which he meets five people who impacted his life.
Sometimes it isn’t important to analyze sentimental pieces of art. I think this story is one that speaks for itself more than I could do it justice. There is a lot of heart, and moments that evoke emotion. It has a similar message to It’s a Wonderful Life, mixed with another significant moral, that we can also hurt people in our lives too.
Eddie is not a bad man. He is too hard on himself, and expected better of himself. I think that he recognizes how much he was loved on earth in hindsight. As well as the importance of all the details which make up the significance of his life. The lives of those he loved, known and unknown, find acceptance in the afterlife. It is a beautiful concept that we get to reflect on life after death. I wonder who I would meet.
Ben Bonkoske 