| Title | : | The First Phone Call from Heaven |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0062294377 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780062294371 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 323 |
| Publication | : | First published November 11, 2013 |
Readers of The Five People You Meet in Heaven will recognize the warmth and emotion so redolent of Albom's writing, and those who haven't yet enjoyed the power of his storytelling, will thrill at the discovery of one of the best-loved writers of our time.
The First Phone Call from Heaven Reviews
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"No soul remembered is ever truly gone."
P.S. Mom, I'm still waiting for the phone to ring! -
What I want to know is if you don't hear the call, do you get a text saying you have a missed call from God?
I know that to some people religion is the basis of life and why they are 'here'. I think religion is indeed 'the opiate of the masses', it exists so people don't have to face up to the consequences of their own actions. They can blame it on fate, some old guy up in the sky, or lots of people up in the sky, or the one down below in the pit, or the ones with lots of arms or blue heads or two faces or or or... there are so many gods to choose from and everyone who believes in one or more of them is convinced that they are right and everyone else's gods just plain don't even exist.
This is not to say I disrespect religious people. I don't in any way. I don't disrespect my family who are (variously) committed Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists, Catholics, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists.
But when we start saying that the Christian God actually gets on the telephone.... well, I'm sorry my credibility has been stretched wayyyyy too far. But I'm laughing.
I do rather fancy being a Mormon though, especially if I could be a man. Then if I was really really good and had at least 7 wives and something like 49 children I could get to be a god of my own planet. As 'only' a woman, I'm totally dependent on single husband deciding to elevate me to being a goddess. Imagine having to be no. 7 for all eternity?
In five thousand years, if we are still here on Earth, people will look back to these religions we presently have as we do to the ones of Egypt and Greece. Wonderful, strange, exotic, not based in a present reality... I'm just in advance of the times! -
Interesting premise but was let down by the lack of emotional connection I typically feel when reading a Mitch Albom book. Was more of a mystery book then an emotional/inspirational book.
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I love
Mitch Albom's writing style and had high hopes for this one, but overall, I felt let down. -
So ready to love this! Mitch Albom's books truly are life-changing and incredibly inspiring; I love each and every one of them.
Just realized the release date reads: eleven / twelve / thirteen.
edit on Dec 12th, 2013
I am truly, madly, deeply sorry, but this book landed itself onto my list of disappointing books of 2013. In addition to this year's
Towering,
Splintered, and
The Ocean at the End of the Lane, know that it is with a heavy heart that I sadly rank The First Phone Call From Heaven among them. I'm giving it a 3-star because while Sully's story was a 4-star, everybody else's was only a 2.
The biggest problem I had with this book was the nearly-overwhelming number of characters and POVs it had. Usually I welcome multiple character POVs with a huge bear hug, but that wasn't the case with this book. I understand that with a plot such as this, you kinda NEED to include multiple POVs, but when the POVs expanded to minor characters like Phil and Amy, it became too much for me. One: I couldn't care less about what went through their heads, and two: reading their parts wasted my time in quickly getting to Sully's part.
I quite enjoyed reading about Sully, and Mitch's style of unraveling Sully's mysterious past was pretty much the only motivation I had for finishing the book.
I was disappointed to find out that
This book just didn't work out for me. I love, love, love Mitch Albom and his books, (haven't read
The Time Keeper yet), but this book just didn't have the same fictional, magical storytelling as did
The Five People You Meet in Heaven and
For One More Day.
I hope y'all enjoy it more than I did. -
A nice, thought provoking little story which is interesting whether you believe in Heaven or whether you do not. Not that the author provides any great solutions as you are left at the end with as many facts as you have at the beginning.
The most interesting part to me was what happened to the world at large as people began to receive phone calls from loved ones who had passed on. At first it seems a good thing. Who wouldn't like to hear from a loved partner or child who has died, especially when the message is that there is a life after death. However people of course react the way people do with jealousy and unkindness - and then there is the media......
I enjoyed it all. There were some great characters like Sully and there were some life changing moments as a direct result of all the fuss. Not a major book, but a nice one and, for me, a very pleasant reading experience. -
I loved the backstory of Alexander Graham Bell as it coincided with the current day story, it has given me the desire to read more about Bell's personal life. My favorite quotes "What is false about hope?" and Faith is believing without the need for proof. I would read this story again.
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حدود 5 سالی از خوندن این کتاب میگذره و از اون موقع هر از گاهی چشمم بهش میخوره و این کتاب هربار مزخرفتر به نظرم میاد :))
باقی کتابهای میچ هم اون فاز معنوی مذهبی رو دارن، یک روز بیشتر و پنج نفری که در بهشت ملاقات میکنید کتابهای معقولی بودن که دوستشون هم داشتم و دارم
ولی این یکی بد بود
اگه اشتباه نکنم اون مثلا پیچش داستانی آخرش خیلی مضحک بود و بیشتر بخاطر همون وقتی بهش فکر میکنم هی کتاب بد و بدتری میشه برام وگرنه روند بدی نداشت -
I was not impressed with this book. Having just read The Five People You Meet in Heaven a few days prior, and loved it, I was expecting more of the same from The First Phone Call From Heaven. Unfortunately, nothing I loved about TFPYMIH carried over into this book. While the theme of TFPYMIH centered on understanding your own life in relation to others, the theme of TFPCFH just seemed to be whether it was believable enough that Heaven existed or not. Since the start of the novel I found it difficult to believe that the short, vague conversations with the dead could be real. Although Albom left a twist at the end to insinuate that legitimate phone calls from heaven did occur, some split-second reasoning (ie. That Belfin had programmed the calls to take place after his death) made the twist rather flimsy.
Also, The writing was not fantastic. I found that for a 300 page novel, it should have been long enough to support some character development, had there been fewer characters to follow. The first 100 pages of the story seemed rather repetitive, since Albom basically took the reader through the same event (someone receives call from a loved one, debated whether or not to tell someone) with about six different characters.
Finally, Albom described the female characters by their presence or absence of makeup about six or seven times, which I found weird and unnecessary.
I also found the religious content to be too much in this book. I don't think I can necessarily critique this about the book, though, considering this seems to be Alboms niche, and it was a book about heaven, after all. I guess I was misled by only having read TFPYMIH, which was much lighter on the religious content. -
Τρυφερό,συγκινητικό,ανθρώπινο,και παραδόξως ρεαλιστικό.
Όμορφη γραφή,γρήγορη πλοκή, επιστημονικές ανακαλύψεις και πλοκή προσώπων και γεγονότων δημιουργούν μια γλυκιά ατμόσφαιρα με έντονα συναισθήματα και αναπάντητα ερωτήματα που βασανίζουν ανέκαθεν το ανθρώπινο είδος!
Η αγάπη σε όλο της το μεγαλείο και σε πολλές εκφάνσεις πρωτοστατεί.
Ο πόνος μπροστά στο μη αναστρέψιμο ειναι κυρίαρχος δίνοντας προτεραιότητα στην ελπίδα για να τον γιατρέψει και σε δεύτερη μοίρα έρχονται η παρηγοριά η λήθη και ο χρόνος.
Κανεις δεν ξεχνάει τα άτομα που λάτρεψε.
Κανεις δεν αρνείται να ακούσει τον ήχο της φωνής που αγάπησε πολύ.
Κανεις δεν θέλει να δει την αλήθεια που πονάει αβάσταχτα όταν μπορεί να νιώσει απόλυτη ευτυχία έστω με ένα ψέμμα.
Όλοι ελπίζουν στο παράδοξο το αδύνατο το απραγματοποίητο της ζωής φτάνει να βρουν ένα ελάχιστο ίσως και ψεύτικο σημάδι που προμηνύει ένα σημείο επαφής με πρόσωπα χαμένα και λατρεμένα.
Ένα ονειρεμένο... τηλεφώνημα συνεπάγεται όλου του κόσμου την ευτυχία και τη χαρά.
Κανεις δεν πεθαίνει όταν τον αγαπούν και τον θυμούνται!!
Μήνυμα ψυχής!
Καλή ανάγνωση.
Πολλούς ασπασμούς. -
“Desire sets our compass, but real life steers our course.”
This was my second novel of Mitch Albom. The first one was The Time Keeper and I love that book, carrying a lot of life lessons. This one, too. Mitch Albom is really one of the master-of-life-lessons writers.
The book speaks the story of a small town on Lake Michigan that gets worldwide attention when the media broadcast to the world that its citizens start receiving phone calls from their loved ones in the afterlife. Is it really the greatest miracle ever or just a massive hoax? I won't tell you of course because that goes the most interesting part of the story.
I'm kind of confused at first because I assumed it was only written with one point of view but hell not. There are a lot yet I'm quite pleased I've got to sort them out. Point of views from people who received the phone calls that are willing to tell everyone; people who liked to keep it for themselves; and other who wanted to find if it is just a hoax. And I'm kind of engrossed hearing from their different point of views.
On top of that, the fact or history about the invention of the telephone was incorporated here. As an ECE, I have read those facts but this book gave to me the other facts that I didn't know about Alexander Graham Bell and his invention of the telephone and I was happy I've found it out.
Indeed, First Phone Call from Heaven was a story of almost everyone, if not everyone, who believes in miracles. A captivating story of faith, belief, trust and forgiveness with characters that I was surely attached to, reading their own happiness and grievances in life.
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داستان از جایی شروع میشه که 6 نفر در شهر کوچکی در حومه ی کانادا تماس هایی رو از عزیزان از دست رفته شون دریافت می کنند .آن طرف خط کسانی هستند که میگویند از بهشت تماس گرفتهاند. وقتی اخبار این تماسهای عجیب پخش میشود، غریبهها دسته دسته به شهر سرازیر میشوند تا آنها هم بخشی از این معجزه باشند
سوال اینه که چند نفر از ما واقعا دوست داریم چنین تماسی باهامون گرفته بشه ؟! اینکه بتونیم دوباره صدای عزیزان از دست رفته مون رو بشنویم ، اما بدونیم که دیگه هرگز قرار نیست لمسشون کنیم، دیگه قرار نیست هیچ وقت از نزدیک ببینیمشون، اینکه با هر بار تماسشون یادت بیاد که دیگه کنارت نیستن که مرده ها مردن و هیچ وقت بر نمیگردن.هضم این موضوع برای خیلی ها نمی تونه آسون باشه ، اصلا نباید آسون باشه وگرنه که مرگ هم قسمت پوچی از زندگی ما آدم ها می شد
اگر فکر کنیم که یه داستان رو چطور میشه تموم کرد، احتمالا 100 تا راه به ذهنمون میرسه .تصورم اینه که احتمالا میشد داستان رو به روش دیگه ای هم خاتمه داد ، اما جدا از تمام این مسائل ، روش حل مسئله ی داستان رو دوست داشتم -
Interesting as a general idea but a bit poor in its developement. It didn't keep my interest alive till the end.
-
Silly, slow, and boring! Reading this turned out to be an utter chore. I’ve loved almost all of Mitch Albom’s books, most especially “Tuesdays with Morrie”. I’ve loved some of them so much, that we even own a few of the DVDs. Naturally, I was looking forward to reading this one, but it turned out to be quite disappointing to say the least. There were too many characters and I really didn’t care about any of them. The stories kept jumping around to the point of confusion and annoyance. I normally have a 10% rule – if a book doesn’t engage me in the first 10%, I usually give up on it and move on. I should have given up on this one, but because it was Mitch Albom and because I was curious to see what would happen, I stuck with it, unfortunately wasting precious hours of my reading time.
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Another solid selection from Mitch Albom. Random people in Coldwater, Michigan, begin receiving calls on their cell phones from loved ones who have passed on and are in heaven. Sounds incredible, but they can't help but believe it's a true miracle -- the callers' voices are the voices of the deceased, and their comments are too personal for anyone to be faking it. Coldwater will never be the same again, and the people who flock there are given a lesson in what heaven might really be like. Very interesting story, if you're in the mood to ponder such things.
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In life people either believe in Heaven and an afterlife or they do not. Reading this book, the characters are also split into two camps. There are those who believe they are receiving phone calls from loved ones who are dead and others who dismiss the whole thing as a hoax. But which is it? Sully Harding is determined to find out the truth. The story contains interesting characters from different backgrounds who receive these phone calls and so the reader gets several viewpoints throughout the story. I liked several of them but Sully was probably my favourite out of them all. I also liked finding out more about Alexander Graham Bell and his invention of the telephone, which is interspersed throughout the story.
It gives a good picture of the way people respond to anything that is out of the ordinary and also of how the media sensationalises things as it changes the quiet little town of Coldwater Michigan into a circus of journalists and TV cameras, believers, the curious and those who protest. Sounds pretty much the response you’d expect to some news like this. I enjoyed it, as did my husband when he read it. It was actually him borrowed it from the library and I read it after him. While entertaining and having a mystery to solve, it may just give a few things to think seriously about as well. -
Sometimes, love brings you together even as life keeps you apart.
Before you read the book, don't forget to ask yourself this: How much do you believe in the story?
The First Phone Call from Heaven is one of my favorite books written by my favorite author, Mitch Albom. His books are mostly about lessons of life and beliefs in God, and this one is no exception. The story began with some phone calls from the characters' late loved ones in a fictional Coldwater, Michigan. (Even though there's a real Coldwater town in Michigan, that wasn't where the story took place.) People tend to regret everything they should've but hadn't done before their beloved friends or family passed away, and most of them shared a common wish---they wish the could talk to the deceased once more.The end is not the end.
At first, the "chosen ones" received phone calls from heaven, when the shocking news spread all over the town, more and more visitors(worshipers) flooded in.What in life can love not penetrate?
Reporters wanted to collect the source firsthand; police officers were dealing with the crowd; vendors and markets were running out of supplies because this small town was facing an unprecedented prosperity; even the certain kind of cellphone, which was the one those chosen ones used, was out of stock in that others believed that was the only brand which could get a heaven call.There is life after this life.
I think the reason those deceased people "called" the living was to ensure them that they led a good life in heaven and it was another kind of forgiveness to them. Telling the living that there was no need to worry about them because God would take care of them in the heaven. Of course, how much you believe in this depends on yourself.If it[the world] believes, it behaves better.
Indeed, if everyone believes in the heaven call story, it means we still have a thread of hope and that's what keeps us moving on, moving forward. We don't need proof for what we choose to believe.
I don't hold a specific religious belief, but in my opinion, it's good to know that even as we die, there's a new life waiting for us--- a bright, hopeful, painless one.Desire sets our compass, but real life steers our course.
After reading this book, you'll know the importance of cherish what you have in presence. Not the past. Not the future. Sometimes hope isn't enough, you still need to seek forgiveness or to forgive others. The ending seems like the same situation in John Green's
Looking for Alaska.Instead, I end this as I began it, asking your forgiveness. Perhaps, soon, I will be able to seek the same from my son.
Life is unpredictable and we are blessed to live another day in this beautiful world. I felt so much peaceful and blissful after finished the book and highly recommend to anyone who'd like to search the meaning of life. Although it sounds abstract and profound in those ideas, you'll learn a lot in the story. The words and thoughts in the book were far beyond the story itself.Heaven is always and forever around us, and no soul remembered is ever really gone.
So back to the very first question from the book, the answer is yes, I believe everything happened in the story, wholeheartedly and undoubtedly, and I hope you do as well. -
داستان افرادی در یک شهر کوچک که تلفن هایی از عزیزان مرده شان دریافت می کنند.و شخصی که به این تماس ها شک دارد و به دنبال اصل قضیه می گردد.
نکته ی جالب قضیه اینجاست که افراد بی ایمانی هم که از اول قضیه رو کتمان می کردن،احتمالا زمانی که کاترین در برابر همه منتظر تماس بود، توجه شان به اون سمت بوده. روح آدمی همیشه براش سخته که باور کنه زندگی چیز پوچیه و ما بی هیچ هدفی زندگی می کنیم و در نهایت چیزی نیست.
کتاب جالبی بود. هرچند که من از یادداشت برداری جملات نغز کتاب ها بدم میاد، ولی دلم میخواست جملات این کتاب رو می نوشتم. شاید وقتی دیگر. -
Αρκετά γλυκό βιβλίο που διαβάζεται ευχάριστα ξεκούραστα και γρήγορα. Βέβαια το περίμενα ένα "τσακ" καλύτερο. Ξεκινάει με την ιστορία να πλασάρεται ως φιλοσοφικού περιεχομένου, αλλά την βρήκα αρκετά αφελή, ώστε να μην το πεις βιβλίο φιλοσοφικού περιεχομένου. Σε αυτό το κομμάτι θα το έλεγα απλά… γλυκούλι! Στη συνέχεια μας το γυρίζει σε μυστηρίου… μπαααααααααα ούτε για πλάκα, ως προς αυτό το κομμάτι, θα το έλεγα απλώς… ενδιαφέρον.
Πρωτότυπη ιστορία, ενδιαφέρουσα που θα μπορούσε βεβαία να ειπωθεί και καλύτερα. Με κούρασαν λίγο όλα αυτά για την χάρη του Κυρίου, τον παράδεισο, την αγάπη κ.λ.π. Παρόλα αυτά μου άρεσε. 3,5 αστεράκια από εμένα. -
Ένα αρκετά συγκινητικό μυθιστόρημα που σε έβαζε να αναρωτηθείς αν είναι καλύτερο με τον θάνατο να τελειώνουν όλα ή αν μπορούσες να ξαναεπικοινωνήσεις με τους δικούς σου, θα το έκανες; Πολλές φορές μπήκα σε αυτό το τρυπάκι αφού έχω χάσει κι εγώ αγαπημένο μου πρόσωπο και σκέφτηκα πως θα ένιωθα αν είχα τη δυνατότητα να του ξαναμιλήσω. Είδα πολλές εκδοχές μέσα σε αυτό το βιβλίο. Άρνηση, δυσπιστία, ελπίδα και χαρά. Είδα ότι άλλοι παράτησαν τις ζωές τους και ζούσαν μόνο για αυτό το τηλεφώνημα, άλλοι ξήλωσαν τα τηλέφωνα για να προχωρήσουν και άλλοι ήθελαν να στρέψουν πάνω τους την προσοχή του κόσμου. Αρκετά έξυπνο βιβλίο που προσωπικά θα το θυμάμαι για αυτά τα συναισθήματα που μου έβγαλε.
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دو سال پیش که بابام فوت کرد همیشه میگفتم ای کاش میشد یجوری باهاش در تماس میبودیم مثلا پنج شنبه که از سرخاکش برمیگشتیم خونه شب بهمون زنگ میزد و فقط میگفت سلام من خوبم.... فقط صداش رو بشنویم.
تا اینکه اسم این کتاب رو اینجا دیدم خیلی مشتاق شدم بخونمش و اینو بگم که منی که همچی پیش زمینه فکری داشتم خیلی از کتاب خوشم اومد و اون یک ستاره که ندادم احساس میکنم میتونست بهتر هم باشه.
اولین کتاب از این نویسنده بود خوندم -
Three stars in general, but two stars in comparison to “The Five People you Meet in Heaven” and “Tuesdays with Morrie”..
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نگاه متفاوتی که نویسنده به ماجراهای بعد از مرگ و ادامه زندگی به گونه ایی خاص داره، برام جالب توجه بود. این کتاب میچ آلبوم هم با این که قراره از بهشت چیزی بگه در واقع به بازتاب زندگی ایی که آدما درهمین دنیای خودشون دارند تاکید کرده. از نوشته های این نویسنده خوشم میاد چون معمولا بافت روان و یکدستی دارند و ماجراهای به ظاهر خاص، بدون پیچیدگی و اضافه گویی پیش میرند.
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توقعم از میچ آلبوم، کتابی قوی تر از این بود.
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On the day the world received its first phone call from heaven, Tess Rafferty was unwrapping a box of tea.
_________________
I was very lucky to get this book to review it before it is released.
I'm a fan of Mitch Albom's books anyways, & this one did not disappoint.
People are getting phone calls from heaven - some from family members that have passed away. Children, sisters. Even an employee is getting a phone call from someone he had to fire. Are the phone calls real? The world wants to know when wind comes that the phone calls are happening. Is this the proof everyone needs to see that Heaven is real?
We follow the people who are receiving the phone calls & also a man, Sully, as he comes back to the town of Coldwater Michigan to try & get his life back in order.
I don't want to give anything away... I just know I loved the book.
Its sort of a mystery novel, but also just a touching novel.
I actually logged quite a few quotes from the book on Goodreads because it was just so well written in areas.
I also love the little points that are made about the telephone & Alexander Graham Bell & his wife. It was put in so subtly but made the book have an extra touch of something special.
So the record goes, Mitch Albom still ranks for me....
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We call out; we answered. It has been that way from the beginning of belief & it continues to this very moment where, late at night, in a small town called Coldwater, a seven year old boy hears a noise, opens his eyes, lifts a blue toy to his ear & smiles, proving heaven is always & forever around us & no soul remembered is ever really gone. -
When I first heard the concept of this book all I could think about was the song by Justin Moore "If Heaven wasn't so far away", which is about what we would do if we could go visit our loved ones in Heaven. It's a favourite song of mine, and therefore, when this book reminded me of it, I knew that I had to read this book.
I have never read any of Mitch Albom's books before, but I found this one very enjoyable.
I lost my mother two years ago, and reading this book would bring me to tears just thinking about the "what ifs".
Overall, I think this book was very well written, and captured the emotions perfectly. For someone who isn't "into" these types of books at all, it actually has me wanting to pick up some of his other books just to see if they equally as good.
I think this would be an excellent book for anyone who has lost someone, as it gives this wonderful sense of hope and peace. -
Residents of Coldwater, a town on Lake Michigan, start receiving phone calls from deceased loved ones. Is this proof of the afterlife or an elaborate hoax? It is part spiritual musing, part history of the telephone (Alexander Graham Bell appears regularly), and part mystery.
The setup and the first half of the book are well-structured. Albom highlights the main characters, those who have received calls, and their back stories. He brings his background as a journalist to bear in creating realistic media interviews and reactions. The second half is rather scattered and, to me, not as effective. There are a few surprises toward the end. It is intended, I think, to provide opportunities to contemplate faith, miracles, and life after death.
