Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

While I love those easy summer reads because you don't have to think, you just enjoy 250 pages and then pass the book to a friend I LOVE books that somehow change me. This book showed me a new vision of heaven and the longing for an unlived life. It made me see that even a family torn apart by grief, can in time, heal and pull back together.

Re: Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

Michele I felt the same way. After I read the book, three of my friends have also read the book.

Re: Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

The book helped me to appreciate the fragility of life and how precious it really is!

I'd like to imagine Heaven like that ... that we each have our own and then move to an even better place!!

I always did believe that my family who passed on were up there watching me, and it was comforting to read that in the book!

Re: Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

I'm going to be the pessimist and say that it only changed me by questioning the best seller list

Re: Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

I wouldnt say that it changed me but it made me think about 'MY HEAVEN' more. It made me wonder if I agreed with the way the author portrayed her heaven.

At first I really liked this book and was very into it but somewhere in the the middle of it, I completely changed my mind. And once I dont like something, its pretty hard for it to have any type of effect on me at all.

Re: Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

I think it was an interesting read but the author's views on heaven or death are just a little too convienent for me to have changed my viewpoints on anything.

Re: Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

It gave me comfort to think that when someone goes to 'their' heaven, they still DO watch you, over time though, they watch less and less. Since my dad passed, I always wondered about that. In the beginning after he died, I felt his presence a lot, and recently I haven't so much and it has been 9 years.

Re: Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

Don't feel too different, so I guess, nope, didn't change me.

Re: Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

Not really. I think the take on Heaven was a little too 'out there' for me to really take it to heart.

I enjoyed the book because of the different way it was written, and the story was good, but it didn't leave a lasting impact on me.

Re: Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

nope, no change.

Re: Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

it didn't change me either. Although I did enjoy reading the book.

Re: Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

It changed me in a way.

After I lost my ex in a mototcycle accident, I wondered if he can 'see' me.
The priest told me he can but not the way we see each other...who knows for sure, but it made mebelieve that he can & that I will see him in Heaven

Re: Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

It didn't change me; however, it was an intersting read for me.

Re: Are you changed somehow after reading this book?

I found that the book presented a different (and very intereting) perspective - something that has never been done before. It did not, however, change me. This was a good read for me, but nothing more. I think the reason is that the author chose to present too many 'scenarios' and none of them was really developed well enough. The mother story was half-told. Her affair with the detective falls flat as well - there was so much more that could have been explored there about the mother's weaknesses/personality.

The relationship with Ray (and mentions of his mother and father) are just so out of place for a 13 year-old and added nothing to the central theme of the book. Ruth's connection to Susie is also not fully developed. And the whole concept of heaven is introduced but not really given fair play.

I am by no means a great writer, but I think if the author had told the story with a proper focus on only 1 or 2 of these themes, the book would have left me with a more lasting impression. It has great potential, but feels incomplete.