Review: Some Interesting Themes, Needs More of a Distinct Angle
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 21, 2014
This book tries hard, but moves at a pace too slowly for me.  I felt like this was a dramatization of an essay upon what it is like to live in Heaven (or whatever afterlife every religion believes in) and the kind of life that bereaved parents live after a teenage child's death. I felt this wasn't a story, but more like non-fiction.  A lot of what the parents did after the son's death did not relate directly to the son's death--there is a lot of discussion in the story about how the mother adapts to new technology and becoming independent.  This could have happened without a death of a teenage child, as millions of women have learned liberation in some countries such as the Philippines as modern technology invades households that previously were not wired in.I found it more interesting imagining what Heaven was like.  However, aside from the initial memory loss and meeting loved ones who have already died, it seems much like the wealthy on this planet crossing off their "bucket list" of things to do on today's Earth. i.e. fly a plane, hang glide from the tip of a volcano.I don't know any better than others what Heaven is like, but I can't imagine it as just doing what you could do on Earth if you had millions in cash to spend and no responsibilities.  Even that, after a while, can get tiresome.