Written on 24 February 2018
Rate: 8/10
Does heaven or after-life actually exist?
First lesson - "we are all connected"
Second lesson - each story has two sides
Third lesson - history doesn't define you but it makes who you are
Remaining two lessons - everyone matters & has the rights to be loved
Conclusion
I don't feel comfortable rating this novel. Although the story is fictional, as I flipped over to the last page it felt like I just finished reading a memoir. It felt personal. But my impatient nature has subdued me and that's why I couldn't give those 2 marks. The novel is considerably descriptive which is incompatible with my impatience (although the detailed anecdotes lead to thoughtful lessons).
Also, at the completion of this book I realised that I'm not fond of non-sequential structure. Since the plot revolves around Eddie and "the five people he met in heaven" it is reasonable that the stories are set in heaven and before Eddie reached to heaven. But the recounts of what happened to those alive after Eddie's death made the novel tiring to read. However, this addition in effect made the story more realistic, and I appreciate this book for achieving to make the readers reflect on the reality of life and death.
Does heaven or after-life actually exist?
The novel begins with the author's tribute to his uncle "who gave him his first concept of heaven" (this may be why the story felt substantially personal):
"Every year, around the Thanksgiving table, he spoke of a night in the hospital when he awoke to see the souls of his departed loved ones sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for him."
This raises the perennial debated issue of whether heaven or after-life actually exists. Although one's religion solves this question immediately, I personally don't have a set opinion on this matter. There are countless variations to the stories about heaven and after-life, and I don't necessarily feel the need to worry about it. All we need is just to focus on each day and try to live the best life day by day. Back to the novel, it is intriguing to see someone like the author's uncle who is so affirmed to have seen the souls. I genuinely believe them but we won't know the truth for now.
First lesson - "we are all connected"
"There are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind (pg. 74 Large print)".
This quote from the Blue Man really took me by surprise. We do know that people affect each other in some way but we rarely contemplate on this fact. I think this notion is getting insurmountably more relevant in this era as everyone is becoming more connected through the Internet. The rise of global connectivity in effect causes new problems. Hence it is crucial that everyone takes responsibility for their own words and actions, and be prepared for its consequences. Your meaningless action can have a profound impact on someone else.
I appreciate the novel for having a side-to-side comparison of Eddie's point of view and the Blue Man's point of view at the same time of an event. It helped me once more to reflect back on how humans are all connected to each other's lives whether knowingly or not.
People go about their days busy with their lives. It is simply not easy to think about the impact we have on the strangers we bump into. That's just tiring. I'm not talking about how they see us as a person because we only get to know someone as we interact with them more, but I mean just as a human to human. This quote from the Blue Man caught my eyes,
"Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know (pg. 77 Large print)".
I'm not saying I'm always an angel to strangers, but I realised that when you treat others with a smile they return with a smile (there are always exceptions of course). My grandmother told me whenever she leaves house she aims to return home after hearing "thank you" from someone, and I set myself to do the same (it's fun, kind of like a game).
"Did you ever wonder? Why people gather when others die? Why people feel they should?
"It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn't just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed (pg. 75 Large print)".
I didn't really comprehend the meaning of this quote the first time I read it (I'm still not sure), but by following the concept of human connectivity it is somehow understandable. What I love about this book is how it's trying to make the readers think. This book explicitly threw a question of "why do we have funerals?" which we rarely think about. I'm guessing the author is trying to convey that funeral is not only for the gone but also for the ones who loved, cared or even just knew the person, as they need to mourn for the death. Who will also be mourned by others subsequently. And in-between this cycle, people evolve.
Second lesson - each story has two sides
The second lesson was from the Captain. My take on his lesson was that there's always duality in every situation, as the Captain said
"What you see ain't what I see (pg. 152 Large print)".
What you thought was right for someone may not be right for the person. Thus, we can't just assume and decide for others. We can suggest but we can't impose our judgement on to others.
"Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious. You're not really losing it.
You're just passing it on to someone else".
I thought this statement from the Captain was beautiful. Just like how the Blue Man embraced the interconnectivity between people, the Captain goes on to say that nothing happens without a reason. In today's society we don't often see the act of sacrifice. As the world gets more competitive and advanced, undoubtedly people have no luxury to think for others. However, this quote has broadened my view on the concept of sacrifice and how I can apply this in my daily life. I think we over-exaggerated the idea of sacrifice. But it doesn't have to be immense, a little sacrifice can also have a positive impact on people.
Third lesson - history doesn't define you but it makes who you are
The third lesson was from Ruby. She is a total stranger to Eddie, he wasn't even born when Ruby was alive. But as the Blue Man said, "strangers are just family you have yet to come to know".
We often neglect the history of the things we are familiar with, for example we go to Lunar Park or Easter Show for fun but the thought of "I wonder who thought of making this place?" never come across to our mind. But Ruby helped me reflect on the importance of our surroundings. And perhaps that's why we still study history in school, because without the foundations we would live completely different lives. History makes us who we are.
"Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. ...hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves (pg. 231 Large print)".
"That's because no one is born with anger. And when we die, the soul is freed of it".
Needless to say, I couldn't agree more.
Remaining two lessons - everyone matters & has the rights to be loved
The remaining two lessons were from Eddie's beloved wife and Tanya, but I couldn't find any quote to elaborate on because the lessons from them were both implicitly manifested. However, the overall message behind these two characters would be the reason why the author wrote this book; to show how everyone matters and everyone has the right to be loved. This was evident in the prologue:
"The version represented here is only a guess, a wish, in some ways, that my uncle, and others like him - people who felt unimportant here on earth - realize, finally, how much they mattered and how they were loved."
Conclusion
In conclusion, every lives matter and everyone should be appreciated. There are always different sides to each story, yet these sides are always intertwined. The author puts it
"each affects the other and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one (pg. 320 Large print)".
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