Most Beneficial Book

               Mitch Albom is one of my favorite writers. Although not all his books are fictions, which are the books I usually enjoy reading, his stories are very interesting and inspirational. They contain rich themes a

nd morals that I learned a great deal from. Two of my favorites from his books are Tuesdays with Morris and Five People You Meet in Heaven. These are probably, I think, the books that I learned the most from. If I had to pick one that was the most beneficial for me, I would choose Five People You Meet in Heaven.

 Although both of them are great stories, I absolutely love the story line of the Five People You Meet in Heaven. I read Tuesdays with Morris quite a while ago (maybe when I was in 6^th grade or 7^th grade) but I read Five People You Meet in Heaven recently (I think it was last year fall or winter). After reading this book, I also watched the movie. The movie and the book was not exactly the same, but their story line was almost the same and the messages the author tried to convey were very apparent in both. I prefer the book better, but it was the movie that actually increased my love for this book. When I first read it, I thought that the theme was a brilliant idea.

In the beginning, Eddie, the maintenance, runs to save a girl, who is under a malfunctioning ride. The book and the movie do not tell if he saved the girl or not. They continue on to a different setting where Eddie meets multiple of people. Here, he learns a great deal from five people in order. The first person is one of the people he spent his life with in the military. Even though years have passed, Eddie cannot forget the memories of being out in the field surrounded by enemies. Although he is in good terms with this guy, he feels anger and deep hatred against him after he confesses that he was the one who hampered him from saving a girl who was in a fire. The second person he meets is a blue guy. He represents people’s greed and Eddie realizes that he dies because of him. The third person he meets is his wife and the next person is the person who Ruby Pier, the amusement park Eddie worked in, was named after. Lastly, he meets a little girl whom he never met before. Here, he finds out that he was the girl he failed to save from the fire. After meeting these 5 people, he is relocated to Ruby Pier where he spent most of his lifetime. Here, he sees a crowd of people whom he saved by keeping maintenance. Before, he thought that his life is useless, but now he realizes the importance of his life and what he has done.

Although I didn’t live as much Eddie or have done much to benefit others, it made me realize that my life would at least be beneficial to others. It will actually be worth living. Although I feel like I’m useless, there will be people who benefit from me.