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What Dreams May Come

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 · rating details · 4,557 ratings · 444 reviews

The New York Times bestseller

A LOVE THAT TRANSCENDS HEAVEN AND HELL

What happens to us after we die? Chris Nielsen had no idea, until an unexpected accident cut his life short, separating him from his beloved wife, Annie. Now Chris must discover the true nature of life after death.

But even Heaven is not complete without Annie, and when tragedy threatens to divide them forev...more

Paperback, 288 pages

Published January 1st 2004 by Tor Books (first published 1977)

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Dec 13, 2009 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2009, multi-dimensional, religion-related, reviewed, romance, tear-jerkers

I am going to start this review by talking about the one thing that caused this to be a 4-star book rather than a 5-star book. That one thing is the author's note at the beginning.

Now, I almost never read author's notes or introductions, because I find that they inevitably ruin some aspect of the book for me. Whether it is a spoiler, or an introducer's opinion which causes me to think of the book in a certain way, or interpret things in a certain way, or whatever the case may be, it lessens my...more

33 likes · like · see review

May 13, 2013 Doğan Kaytan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2013

Bu kitap hakkında notlarımı tutarken sevdiğim ve cidden rahatsız olduğum konular hakkında notlarımı madde madde paylaşacağım. Sevdiğim kısımları kitap bitince yazacağım tabi elle tutulur bir şeyler çıkarsa o da.

Kitaptan soğutan etkenler
Adam ölmüş. Üzerinden bi dolu sayfa geçmiş hala, "Ben ölmedim" modunda. Abi sen neyin kafasındasın bi gel hele, konuşak seninle.

Neyse uzun bir sürenin ardından cennete gittik. Cennet'te fos çıktı. Akrabalar, ölen köpeklerim filan. Ben cenneti daha seksi bi yer ola...more

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Mar 13, 2012 Nataliya rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-reads, i-also-saw-the-film, this-was-quite-bad

As hard as I tried to make myself care about this book and its characters, I just could not.

First of all, it is very tedious, with too much exposition and endless infodumps in the dialogue form. The story gets so bogged down in the exposition that it becomes very dull to follow. At times it reads like a technical manual, with dry and repetitive narration. In this book, Matheson for the most part tells instead of showing, which makes it hard for me to enjoy the story. The characters are poorly fl...more

15 likes · like · see review

May 31, 2009 Stacie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-own

Life on earth is only a panorama of vivid observations which seem real to you.

What happens after we die is a question people wonder about. The afterlife is debated about between the numerous religions in the world. This was Matheson's look at what that afterlife is like and how we affect what it will be. His running mantra throughout is that it is all in the mind...what we think, whether dead or alive, makes a difference to our lives and our deaths.

But, this was also a love story...It was a swee...more

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Jan 08, 2008 Shark rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who is running low on decent reading material

This book begins with an immediate fallacy: the author gives an introduction claiming that all events that occur in the book are true-to-life (though shown through fictional characters). This reminded me of Dan Brown's similar claims in "The Da Vinci Code." The problem here is that theological supernature is impossible to prove simply through research. Given that science and other such worldly ventures are based in what limited PHYSICAL proof we have, I don't believe for a second that someone ca...more This book begins with an immediate fallacy: the author gives an introduction claiming that all events that occur in the book are true-to-life (though shown through fictional characters). This reminded me of Dan Brown's similar claims in "The Da Vinci Code." The problem here is that theological supernature is impossible to prove simply through research. Given that science and other such worldly ventures are based in what limited PHYSICAL proof we have, I don't believe for a second that someone can read a series of scholarly books and claim that his research is completely true. I would have had an easier time accepting his claims of veridity if Matheson had claimed he'd seen it all in a vision, as facts of this nature can really only be learned by divine enlightenment.

What ensues is a weak plot/love story that serves only for Matheson to show how much he thinks he knows on the subject of death and the afterlife. I am not so much concerned about the use of plot as a vehicle for informing, but when the author uses almost 100 pages of almost nonstop TALKING in order to spell out everything he's researched about Heaven, it makes me bored and uninterested. I was better able to feel involved in his writings when the character began moving through the layers of Hell, because in this part of the story things were actually happening WHILE giving the author a chance to explain. Lesson learned: action is a better means of communication to the reader than straight dialogue.

I don't have a problem reading a book like this and suspending my own beliefs and knowledge in order to enjoy a fictional story based on the author's thoughts and insights, but I do have a problem when the author is pompous enough to think his limited methods of research have made him some sort of enlightened priest, and isn't creative enough to drive a story along during almost half of the book. What's worse is that, at the very end of the book, the film producer responsible for adapting this book for the big screen has inserted a letter that praises Matheson as some sort of prophet (for lack of a better word). Please.

The meat of the love story itself didn't really do anything for me, but this could be personal preference. At one point near the end there are literally pages and pages of lovey-dovey flashbacks that I ended up skipping to get back to the pending events of the story during its climax.

I don't regret having read it, as there were other parts that were interesting to read ("purgatory" and, as mentioned above, Chris's journey through Hell), but I would tell anyone who was curious to take it with a large grain of salt. The ending is a cop-out, and as I closed the cover for the last time I couldn't help but say to myself, "Really? That's it?"(less)

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Morgue Anne I have to say that, like the Da Vinci Code, this is still a piece of fiction and shouldn't be looked into that deeply. There are a lot of fights and f...more
Feb 11, 2008 07:54pm

Shark I'm not going to bother fully re-explaining myself in response to a commenter who apparently hasn't read my review closely enough to give a valid resp...more
Feb 11, 2008 08:44pm

Lou Freshwater I completely agree with you, Shark. Every single word of your review is accurate. Why not just leave it out there as a work of fiction? I would also p...more
Feb 20, 2009 09:06am

Aug 12, 2007 Chelsie rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who can read

This book is a very interesting look at life after death. It is a wonderful tale of love, overcoming all obstacles, including loss of loved ones and death. I like this book because despite the main characters(Chris and Annie), being soul mates they are not perfect. They almost go through a divorce, and the author manages to make them more real by doing this. Death and loss are some of they great mysteries of life, and I think this book does an exceptional job at trying to comfort us, and give us...more

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Feb 24, 2009 bookczuk rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookcrossing, somewhat-disappointing, time-travel-reincarnation-etc

I really liked Somewhere in Time (originally published under another title) by Matheson, so despite disliking the video of this movie, I was looking forward to reading it. I was disappointed.

The cover of the book proclaims "After life there is more...The end is just the beginning", a sentiment I firmly believe. But I was sorely disappointed in this book. I found it depressing and irritating. However, I remembered I didn't like the beginning of that other novel of Matheson's, which I ended up rea...more

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May 06, 2013 ☪ℒiℱ ☚☠☛ rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Başlangıçta güzel gibiydi. Chris trafik kazasında ölür ancak dünyadan ayrılamaz hemen. Sonra yaz diyarı (öteki alem)dediği yere gider. Karısı intihar edince de onun boyutuna gidip karısına yardım etmeye çalışır. Reenkarnasyona falan da değinilmiş. Sıkıldım açıkçası..

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Sep 09, 2008 Katherine rated it 4 of 5 stars

What was most fascinating to me was how well researched (though it's fiction) the book was. People who are familiar with "new age" and scientific discoveries on research into the afterlife from different perspectives won't fail to recognize many influences into this story. In addition, Matheson adds a bibliography of all the books he read before writing this work.

What most find memorable and touching about the story, which is the story of the way people who love each other strongly cope with lif...more

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Jul 06, 2008 Eri-chan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I absolutely love, ,love, love the movie adaptation of this book. I saw it years ago and have watched it many times since. The book itself has a lot of the same messages and morals as the movie, but told in an extremely different way.

There are many differences in the plot itself, most of which I won't go into here. And the ending of the book is completely different, in a way that I feel made far more sense in the long run but was not as emotionally satisfying to me as the movie's ending. And a g...more I absolutely love, ,love, love the movie adaptation of this book. I saw it years ago and have watched it many times since. The book itself has a lot of the same messages and morals as the movie, but told in an extremely different way.

There are many differences in the plot itself, most of which I won't go into here. And the ending of the book is completely different, in a way that I feel made far more sense in the long run but was not as emotionally satisfying to me as the movie's ending. And a great deal of the book read a lot like some sort of Guidebook to the Afterlife, with seemingly unnecessary and ridiculous details not just tossed in, but described at agonizing length. These passages really broke up the flow of the novel for me, and I found myself skimming through them more than once to get back onto the plotline, which is where the book really does shine. (I'm sorry, but I don't need to know the exact color, length, and diameter of the supposed "cord" that connects the physical body to the spiritual one, especially since most of these details seemed entirely created by the author rather than being based in any particular belief system, though I could be wrong about that.)

If you can get past the preachy bits, the book is terribly engrossing (I nearly missed my stop on the commuter train twice while reading it, and that never happens) and you just can't help caring deeply about the characters. The scenes in "Summerland", the book's version of heaven, are beautiful and awe-inspiring, as much so as the scenes in the lower levels (Hell, to most of us) are terrifying. But at the end you are left with such a satisfying sense of hope and a feeling of fairness and rightness with everything that's happened, it's easy to put aside all the "How to Survive Death 101" nonsense and just take the book for what it is - the emotional journey through the afterlife of a man who is so in love with his wife, his soul-mate, that he would do anything, even brave the terrors of hell, to save her.(less)

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Dec 28, 2008 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of otherworldly love stories

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 04, 2008 Bill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I picked this one up after I finished Barbara Gowdy's stories mainly because it was short and I wanted something quick to read and Hannibal wasn't being released for another couple of days. What a find.

This is the novel that the movie of the same name is based upon, starring Robin Williams. In the introduction, Matheson explains that the only fiction in this story are the characters and their relationships. The rest came from intensive research on the subject. The end product
makes so much sense...more

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Oct 28, 2011 Nid Ranganathan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks-i-own

wonderful description of the afterlife..I cried when I read a few touching lines when the lovers unite..must read book..The man in the book who would not stop at anything to get his wife back in the afterlife though she was in a different spiritual afterlife level (lower than that of the man's), really impressed me...I say it again--I like this book..

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Apr 14, 2013 Russell rated it 4 of 5 stars

A powerful missive on the journey from life unto death, What Dreams May Come elucidates a very real story of a man struggling with not only his own demise, but the grief of losing his true love.

Chris dies, but what does that mean? The book gives a fictional account of what the author propagates as the reality of what happens when we die. The passage into what passes for heaven and the grim fate of those who do not make it to that utopian realm.

My personal belief (or lack thereof) about life af...more

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Apr 01, 2008 Barbara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2003

This is one of those books that only provides a very loose basis for the movie. If you pick this book up expecting Robin Williams quips, you'll be sorely disappointed. What Dreams May Come is really more about the author delving into his thoughts about the afterlife. I had a hard time reading more than a few pages at once because my mind would start to churn with thoughts about life after death and it would be impossible to concentrate on the book. But it is an excellent book. Just not one for e...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Luna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook

Difficile fare una recensione. Se vi aspettate una storia d'amore, scordatevelo. E' una storia sulla consapevolezza, sull'umanit� che uno si porta dentro, sulla morte che non esiste, il corpo eterico, spirituale, qualcuno potrebbe scambiarlo per new age..... Di libri sul potere della mente, libri e film, ce ne sono tanti. Sul "viaggio" dopo morti (la Bambina Lazarus che torna) o mi viene in mente Hook Capitan Unincino, ma tantissimi altri.... Credere a quello che dice? esiste il passaggio tra il...more Difficile fare una recensione. Se vi aspettate una storia d'amore, scordatevelo. E' una storia sulla consapevolezza, sull'umanit� che uno si porta dentro, sulla morte che non esiste, il corpo eterico, spirituale, qualcuno potrebbe scambiarlo per new age..... Di libri sul potere della mente, libri e film, ce ne sono tanti. Sul "viaggio" dopo morti (la Bambina Lazarus che torna) o mi viene in mente Hook Capitan Unincino, ma tantissimi altri.... Credere a quello che dice? esiste il passaggio tra il corpo fisico e il corpo spirituale? sicuramente (per me) si... che il Paradiso sia la perfezione che lui immagina dubito molto, quella "perfezione" mi ha dato un senso di ribellione claustrofobica. La perfezione del mare non � nella sua opaca linearit� (un mare senza tempeste o onde, senza vento o nuvole) ma � l'insieme delle stagioni, del cielo terso e dei temporali..... il Paradiso da lui concepito � di una noia mortale, e non � perfetto perch� assente della dualit�, bonaccia sempre � noia.... Il film si � preso in parte delle licenze poetiche perch� manca di parola, e quindi attraverso le immagini ha dovuto sopperire alle descrizioni, e in parte ha inventato personaggi per far stare su la trama..... lo rivedr�, ma a mio parere senza aver letto il libro non si capisce che il 20% In Italia, va talmente contro la chiesa che non verr� mai ristampato, come tanti altri libri che minano la loro egemonia politica. Peccato, perch� invece non lo trovo ne eretico ne una minaccia "per Dio".... al limite si pu� considerare solo un "finale alternativo", pieno di insegnamenti comunque spirituali, come tutti quelli che cercano di far capire che siamo sempre responsabili delle nostre azioni, e che possiamo scegliere sempre i nostri pensieri. Per gli amanti della reincarnazione, della vita nell'aldil�, sicuramente un buon libro con cui confrontarsi. *** ho rivisto il film. Sicuramente non contiene una sola parola del libro, ed � una miscellanea di episodi ed emozioni. Credo che in un film che doveva portare un certo messaggio non si sarebbe potuto fare di meglio, per non essere bloccati alla prima uscita del film! Ma, dopo aver letto il libro posso affermare che il messaggio emotivo c'�, manca solo il lato esoterico di cui nessuno potrebbe essere certo. Mi dispiace che abbiano, nel film, mozzato le due figure pi� importanti di tutto il libro. I due cani che proteggono i due protagonisti, dove quello a fianco di lei riveste un ruolo molto importante. Tutto sommato comunque, confermo che non avendo il libro, il film si capisce poco(less)

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Apr 02, 2008 Tommi rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've just finished a fantastic book. Chris is killed in a car accident and leaves his "soul mate" Ann on earth. Chris enters "heaven" and discovers he can not go on without her. When he learns that his wife has entered "heaven" early he risks his soul to save her from her own trapped mind.

The author claims this story was written by his brother who died and translated it though a psychic. Is he telling the truth? Is this story a complete work of fiction? It's left for the reader to decide.

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Apr 30, 2013 Lupercal rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was very disappointed by this book. Perhaps I should have known better: I saw the movie in the late 90’s and thought it to be… well, pretty bad. This experience caused me to avoid Richard Matheson for well over ten years. Then ‘I am Legend’ turned up in a lot of books I’d bought, and I was very, very impressed. Then ‘The Shrinking Man’, and I was borderline awestruck. The next RM I could find was ‘Stir of Echoes’, which was a lesser work but still good.

Each of this books had this in common: th...more I was very disappointed by this book. Perhaps I should have known better: I saw the movie in the late 90’s and thought it to be… well, pretty bad. This experience caused me to avoid Richard Matheson for well over ten years. Then ‘I am Legend’ turned up in a lot of books I’d bought, and I was very, very impressed. Then ‘The Shrinking Man’, and I was borderline awestruck. The next RM I could find was ‘Stir of Echoes’, which was a lesser work but still good.

Each of this books had this in common: they were early works, published between 1956-58, and they had all been turned into inferior movies which had little to do with the novel. So when I found a copy of ‘What Dreams May Come’ (78), I assured myself that it would be nothing like that stupid film. Unfortunately, the film adaptation was more faithful than I expected.

Others have expressed their alarm at the author’s intro, where he asserts that everything in this book is true other than the actual characters. Every other detail is derived from ‘actual research’. At this point my intuition was yelling, “when you come across a novel about the afterlife which purports to be factual, just run.” Sadly I read the whole thing in one sitting, and my high regard of Matheson was crushed. The thing comes across as a polemic. Worse: I could perhaps live with that if it offered a nicer, more coherent vision of an afterlife, but this thing seems cobbled together from a plethora of unrelated nonsense which seems to me to be guilt-ridden and paranoiac.

I don’t like RM’s vision of the afterlife. Why the hell should decent people be doomed to awful suffering for no reason other than their inability to survive without their ‘soul-mate’. Charles, the protagonist’s mentor in the afterlife, explains that it isn’t ‘punishment’ but ‘the law’. To me this is a meaningless, arbitrary cosmic cop-out.

Apparently a lot of people stopped being frightened of death after reading this. If I believed it, I would be terrified of death. You have to relive every bad thought you’d ever had, as a physical experience? You stumble around in Hell for thousands of years because a bit self-centred?

There are two things I’ll say in summary. Firstly that Matheson remains a pretty good writer, though I’d jump over a hundred of these to get to one ‘Shrinking Man’. Secondly that, if we do get to choose our afterlife, I would not choose this one.

Lupercal

(now at braka@gmx.com))
(less)

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Mar 24, 2013 Von Fritz rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi-and-fantasy, general-fiction

Finished reading the book. Gawd, I love it more than the movie. Though, the movie has an astonishing cinematography (nominated for an Oscar methinks), the book offers more which were not depicted in the movie.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, I've been interested to metaphysics lately, include cosmology and existensiology. Gee, I remember Sir Gepilga in his boring class Philosophy of Man. LOL. Neways...what is there after death? I've read The Five People You Meet in Heaven, a work of fiction...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Justin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 10-best-books-read-in-2012

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. After finishing What Dreams May Come, I had to wait a few days to write a review. Not because I wanted to come up with something brilliant to say about this book about the afterlife, but because I wasn't sure if I had actually liked it or not.

It was alternately engrossing yet off-putting, thought-provoking yet sappy. The part in which Chris dies and is stuck "between" before ascending to 'Summerland', and the part in which he went looking for Ann in a not-quite-hell were great, while the time s...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Joanne Clancy rated it 5 of 5 stars

"What Dreams May Come" is one of the most heartbreaking, uplifting and thought-provoking books that I've ever read. What happens when we die? Will we ever meet our loved ones again? Is there life after death? These are the themes which are explored throughout the story. The descriptions of the afterlife were vivid and detailed and really resonated with me.
Chris and Annie are soulmates. Chris dies tragically leaving Annie behind and she can't cope without him. It was a captivating book from star...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Annette rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

I read this on the back of I am Legend, which I loved.

I hadn't read the synopsis of the book and wasn't expecting a story of the afterlife.

As one who doesn't believe in an afterlife the premise was wasted on me, though I tried to keep an open mind about it.

I just couldn't accept this all consuming love story, a love that transcended everything, to the point where Ann simply could not face the thought of living without her husband Chris. THis was a woman who had overcome many hurdles in life, be...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Maria rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was expecting to give 5 or 4 stars but upon finishing the book, it just went down to 3 stars. The movie adaptaion of this book was the very first non-kiddie movie I considered to be a favorite. It still is up to this day. I just get amazed by it every time I watch it. However, the book disappointed me a bit.

I enjoyed most parts, but some, while not boring, became so trivial to me. I could have as well just read an entire encyclopedia about afterlife. It's like 50% love story and 50% dictionary...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Giota Papadimakopoulou rated it 4 of 5 stars

Αν ρωτήσεις τους περισσότερους ανθρώπους, θα σου πουν ότι φοβούνται τον θάνατο. Ο λόγος δεν είναι ότι δεν ξέρουν τι τους περιμένει μετά από αυτόν αλλά, αν υπάρχει κάτι που να τους περιμένει στην πραγματικότητα. Το αν υπάρχει ζωή μετά τον θάνατο είναι η μεγαλύτερη άγνοια του ανθρώπου και παράλληλα, ένα από τα μεγαλύτερα μυστήρια της ίδιας μας της ύπαρξης. Είναι φυσικό επόμενο λοιπόν η άγνοια να προκαλεί ανασφάλεια και άγχος καθώς ο άνθρωπος, είναι τόσο πολύ δεμένος με την ύλη και κατ' επέκτασιν,...more Αν ρωτήσεις τους περισσότερους ανθρώπους, θα σου πουν ότι φοβούνται τον θάνατο. Ο λόγος δεν είναι ότι δεν ξέρουν τι τους περιμένει μετά από αυτόν αλλά, αν υπάρχει κάτι που να τους περιμένει στην πραγματικότητα. Το αν υπάρχει ζωή μετά τον θάνατο είναι η μεγαλύτερη άγνοια του ανθρώπου και παράλληλα, ένα από τα μεγαλύτερα μυστήρια της ίδιας μας της ύπαρξης. Είναι φυσικό επόμενο λοιπόν η άγνοια να προκαλεί ανασφάλεια και άγχος καθώς ο άνθρωπος, είναι τόσο πολύ δεμένος με την ύλη και κατ' επέκτασιν, με το ίδιο του το σώμα, το οποίο του προσφέρει την ικανότητα των αισθήσεων, που ακόμα κι αν το επιθυμεί, είναι εξαιρετικά δύσκολο να δεθεί με την ψυχή του και να κατανοήσει ότι στην ουσία, αυτή είναι που δίνει τροφή στην ύλη. Αυτόν τον μεταθανάτιο κόσμο επιχειρεί να μελετήσει και να μας συστήσει το βιβλίο του Richard Matheson το οποίο, αν και γράφτηκε 34 χρόνια πριν, φαντάζει τόσο φρέσκο και σύγχρονο, σαν να γράφτηκε μόλις χθες.

Ο Κρις είναι ένας άντρας που χάνει απρόσμενα τη ζωή του σε ένα τροχαίο ατύχημα. Αρχικά, αδυνατεί να δεχτεί την πραγματικότητα και παραμένει στη γη για διάστημα, πέραν του συνηθισμένου. Η βαθιά αγάπη για την οικογένειά του και πάνω απ' όλα για την γυναίκα του, Ανν, τον εμποδίζουν να αφεθεί και να βρεθεί στον Παράδεισο, όπου και είναι η θέση του. Όταν συνειδητοποιήσει ότι δεν μπορεί να κάνει τίποτα για να τους παρηγορήσει, να τους δείξει με κάποιον τρόπο ότι εξακολουθεί να υπάρχει, βρίσκεται εκεί όπου θα έπρεπε εξ΄αρχής να βρίσκεται, μελετώντας και προσπαθώντας να κατανοήσει τις αλήθειες της νέας πραγματικότητας, της νέας του ζωής. Και ενώ μαθαίνει ότι όταν έρθει η ώρα θα ξανασυναντηθεί με την Ανν, με την οποία είναι αδελφές ψυχές, η ηρεμία της γνώσης αυτής ανατρέπεται με την αυτοκτονία της Ανν η οποία και την καταδικάζει να ζήσει τα επόμενα 24 χρόνια στα κατώτερα στρώματα της μεταθανάτιας ζωής, μην μπορώντας να βρεθεί στον Παράδεισο νωρίτερα. Όμως ο Κρις δεν διανοείται να την εγκαταλείψει στην προσωπική της αυτή φυλακή και αποφασίζει να την σώσει ώστε να είναι και πάλι μαζί.

Η ιστορία ουσιαστικά παίζει δε δύο διαφορετικά επίπεδα. Το πρώτο, έχει να κάνει με τη δύναμη των ανθρωπίνων σχέσεων και την επιρροή που συνεχίζουν αυτές να έχουν και μετά θάνατον. Η Ανν, είναι για τον Κρις η αγάπη της ζωής του. Φίλη, σύντροφος, σύζυγος κι ερωμένη, το άλλο του μισό, το μισό εκείνο που τον ολοκληρώνει σαν μονάδα και που χωρίς εκείνο, αισθάνεται μισός. Και μέσα σε αυτή τη νέα κατάσταση, ο Κρις πρέπει να μάθει να διαχειρίζεται τον χρόνο που καλείται να ζήσει μακριά της μέχρι να ξαναβρεθούν. Αλλά ακόμα κι αυτό το επίπεδο, χωρίζεται σε δύο υπο-επίπεδα. Στο πως διαχειρίζονται οι ζωντανοί την απώλεια ενός αγαπημένου τους προσώπου, ανάλογα με τα πιστεύω και τις πεποιθήσεις τους για την ύπαρξη ή μη μιας ζωής μετά τον φυσικό θάνατο και στο πως αντιμετωπίζουν οι ίδιοι οι αποθανόντες τη νέα τους κατάσταση η οποία φέρει μαζί τους μια γνώση πέραν από αυτή που μπορεί να χωρέσει ο υλικός νους στην επίγεια κατάσταση. Και δυστυχώς, η Ανν ανήκει σε εκείνους που πιστεύουν πως όταν το σώμα πάψει να λειτουργεί, μαζί του παύει να υπάρχει και η ψυχή και αυτό είναι που την απομακρύνει περισσότερο από τον Κρις. Εκείνος από την άλλη, δεν έχει απλά την γνώση που τόσο επιθυμεί ο κάθε ζωντανός αλλά, έχει και την ευκαιρία να μελετήσει τις αλήθειες και τα μυστικά της και να εξυψώσει το πνεύμα του έτσι ώστε η ψυχή του να οδηγηθεί σταδιακά στην κορύφωση και από εκεί, στην ολοκλήρωση.

Το δεύτερο επίπεδο έχει να κάνει αποκλειστικά με την ίδια τη μεταθανάτια ζωή. Ο συγγραφέας φαίνεται ότι αν μη τι άλλο, μελέτησε πολύ σοβαρά το θέμα, θέλοντας να μας κάνει να πιστέψουμε, να μας χαρίσει την ελπίδα και να διώξει τον φόβο από τις καρδιές μας. Σκοπός του δεν ήταν απλά να δημιουργήσει μια ιδιαίτερη ιστορία αγάπης αλλά, μέσα από το μεταφυσικό της πλέγμα να μας κάνει να δούμε την αλήθεια που το συνθέτει. Η κατάσταση στην οποία βρίσκονται οι ψυχές μετά τον θάνατο δεν έχουν να κάνουν με την τιμωρία που μας επιβάλλει κάποια ανώτερη δύναμη αλλά, από τις επιλογές που εμείς οι ίδιοι κάναμε στην επίγεια ζωή μας ώστε να μας οδηγήσουν στον Παράδεισο ή την Κόλαση. Αλλά ακόμα και αυτές οι δύο έννοιες δεν είναι απόλυτες, δεν υπάρχει μόνο άσπρο ή μαύρο. Η ίδια η πνευματικότητα χωρίζεται σε πολλαπλά επίπεδα, ακόμα και στην επίγεια ζωή οπότε, θα ήταν ίσως αφελές να πιστεύουμε ότι διαφέρει στην μεταθανάτια ζωή. Η μεταθανάτια αναγνώριση ή τιμωρία, δεν έρχεται από την επιλογή κάποιου τρίτου αλλά, από τον ίδιο μας τον εαυτό και από το πως επιλέξαμε να ζήσουμε.

Μπορεί η ιστορία τους Κρις και της Ανν να είναι μυθιστορηματική ωστόσο, το βιβλίο του Matheson στο σύνολό του, βασίζεται σε εκτεταμένη μελέτη, πράγμα που αντιλαμβάνεσαι ρίχνοντας απλά και μόνο μια ματιά στην τρισέλιδη βιβλιογραφία που παραθέτει στις πηγές του, σε μια προσπάθεια, επιτυχημένη αν με ρωτάτε, να εξηγήσει τον της μεταβάσεις της ψυχής μετά τον θάνατο, την μεταφυσική του υπόσταση, τις αύρες, τον τρόπο εξέλιξης μιας ψυχής όταν έχει αφήσει πίσω της το υλικό της σώμα, την μετενσάρκωση και τον σκοπό της και τέλος, το πως μπορεί αυτός ο κύκλος να φτάσει στο τέλος του, να ολοκληρωθεί οδηγώντας μας στην εξύψωση σε ένα ανώτερο επίπεδο. Αν μη τι άλλο, αυτό το βιβλίο σε συγκλονίζει και σε κάνει να αξιολογήσεις καλύτερα και με μεγαλύτερη σοβαρότητα, τόσο την ίδια την ζωή, όσο και τον θάνατο. Αν ψάχνετε ένα επικοδομιτικό και συγκινητικό ανάγνωσμα, που την ίδια στιγμή θα σας προσφέρει ανακούφιση, ελπίδα, προβληματισμός και τροφή για σκέψη, τότε το "Θα Σε Βρω Στον Παράδεισο" είναι αναμφίβολα ένα από αυτά και δεδομένου του πότε γράφτηκε, δεν μπορούμε παρά να υποκλιθούμε στον συγγραφέα για το πόσο πιο μπροστά από την εποχή του βρισκόταν, επιχειρώντας να μιλήσει στον κόσμο για ένα θέμα ταμπού, χωρίς να τρομοκρατεί αλλά και χωρίς να ωραιοποιεί τα πάντα διατηρώντας έτσι μια φυσική ισορροπία, σε μια εποχή όπου η στενομυαλιά κυριαρχούσε και η άγνοια γύρω από το μεταφυσικό οδηγούσε σε εξορκισμούς.(less)

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Apr 10, 2012 OpenBookSociety.com rated it 5 of 5 stars

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Katlyn

This amazing book takes you on a journey that is so unexpected and exciting. Life after death can be one of the scariest concepts to wrap your head around because no one knows. It is inevitable yet we spend most of our lives fighting it.

It was interesting to read about many theories all put into one cohesive book that makes it so possible its very eerie. Through much research, Richard Matheson takes you on his journey of discovering what everyone wants to kno...more

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Feb 21, 2012 June Sparks rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book was recommended to me by my daughter who studied it in high school...alongside Dante's Inferno... At first I was captivated by Richard Matheson's descriptive writing and poetic cadence. I was impressed by the entensive bibliography at the back of the book supporting Matheson's claim that the book was "based on research." However, once I got beyond the opening chapters in which the main character Chris (who dies in a car accident) describes the feeling of being dead and the horrific rea...more

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Feb 02, 2012 Chy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Did you see the movie? This recap will make it sound like the movie followed the book, but it did not. I refuse to go over the differences here, so for the sake of this review, we’re going to pretend there is no movie. Put it out of your mind. I’m putting it out of mine.

Chris died. But that’s just the beginning of the book. The book actually begins with Chris telling about his difficulty in relaying his story through a psychic. I didn’t know this until the end, but apparently the Introduction l...more

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Jan 27, 2012 Brandon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, sci-fi, personal-library, contemporary, heavy-stuff

Let's get one thing straight: Richard Matheson is supposed to be a horror/thriller writer, right? He's earned the praise of Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, and Robert Bloch for his tales of ghouls, ghosts, and things that go bump in the night. Why then, when I decided to read this book, did I find that this was FAR from anything I'd previously read by Matheson?

I don't know, but what I do know is that even though this may not be the ideal choice for Matheson fans (but hey, what do I know, right?) Wh...more

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Jul 05, 2011 Guy Matthew Lacrosse rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Have you ever wondered what life would be like after death? Is there an afterlife? Even if you don't believe in it, you would probably still find the story interesting. Some books about the afterlife are dreary or mystical in nature. This is more of a fantasy-thriller, but it is based on a lot of compelling research into life after death. They made a movie─with the same name─based on this book but much of that screenplay is different. Characters have different professions (Chris is a writer in...more Have you ever wondered what life would be like after death? Is there an afterlife? Even if you don't believe in it, you would probably still find the story interesting. Some books about the afterlife are dreary or mystical in nature. This is more of a fantasy-thriller, but it is based on a lot of compelling research into life after death. They made a movie─with the same name─based on this book but much of that screenplay is different. Characters have different professions (Chris is a writer in the book) and different ages and appearances. The plot was even reworked for the big screen.
I found the book to be better in someways than the movie. It gave a lot more detail about what the character experienced and it's mostly told from Chris Nielson's point of view. He dies as a result of a car accident. At first he thinks it's all just a bad dream, but he is eventually convinced of the truth. He had died but still existed. He is guided through the afterlife by his cousin Albert (the character was reworked in the film). He also meets others in what the book calls "Summerland" which is about as close to Heaven as it gets for him. The book does make the point that our Mind is what we truly are and everything that occurs happens in the mind. So a religious person would still experience their own mind's version of the afterlife. Church ladies still go to Church, but people─in general─are free to do what they want. There is a Hell for some, but only that of their mind's making. Some people can't accept the truth so they remain in a dreary grey world─or worse places. Chris does travel to Hell with Albert to try to rescue Ann, but I won't give away the ending in the book. You'll just have to read it for yourself.
You might think reading about an afterlife that can be pleasant experience would make you want to pass on so that you might leave the misery of this life. It's not the case with this book. It made me want to try to live a better life while I still can. The most important things in life are our relationships with other people. (less)

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Apr 20, 2011 Todd rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Richard Matheson's What Dreams May Come sets itself up as a memoir of sorts(SNARK ALERT: unfortunately some memoirs deserve that tag, too),as a piece of nonfiction dictated from the afterlife. Obviously, it's a novel, the story of Chris Nielsen, who dies in a car accident, and whose spirit is transported to the afterlife, or a realm of the afterlife known as Summerland.

Before Chris' spirit goes to Summerland, he finds himself stuck in a sort of purgatory in which he has to accept he's dead. What...more Richard Matheson's What Dreams May Come sets itself up as a memoir of sorts(SNARK ALERT: unfortunately some memoirs deserve that tag, too),as a piece of nonfiction dictated from the afterlife. Obviously, it's a novel, the story of Chris Nielsen, who dies in a car accident, and whose spirit is transported to the afterlife, or a realm of the afterlife known as Summerland.

Before Chris' spirit goes to Summerland, he finds himself stuck in a sort of purgatory in which he has to accept he's dead. What keeps him in this state is his wife, Ann, whose grief he witnesses, and his desire to assure her that she's going to be fine.

Once he finally enters Summerland, he's guided and acquainted to this level of the afterlife by his cousin, Albert.

Like Dante's visions of the afterlife, Matheson's afterlife consists of many levels and Summerland isn't quite heaven, though it's not unpleasant--it's a place of perpetual sunlight and summer where spirits come to work to get to higher levels, a heavenly corporate ladder of sorts.

Though Chris finds Summerland pleasant enough, he never finds it satisfying because he longs for his wife. His love for her seems boundless, and when she commits suicide on Earth, his love takes him on a journey to hell to rescue her, to get her spirit to see life/the afterlife is worthwhile.

The novel is uneven, an OK read.

Matheson's afterlife is New Age-y and universalist in outlook: Buddhists get Nirvana, Christians get Heaven (eventually, although it's not an immediate reunification with God), and Vahalla is probably in there, too. He explores several theological/philosophical concepts, in particular the soul's attempt to move level by level in the afterlife, until reunion with God is acquired. Most often this climb up requires rebirth on Earth, until the soul is perfected.

Its weakness: the idealistic, overly sentimental relationship between Chris and Ann. It's almost too perfect. Granted the novel is fantasy, but their relationship lacks in realism, though Chris protests it wasn't perfect---like most couples they fought over money, they almost got divorced---his protests are unconvincing. They always make up and smoothe things over perfectly, even in their most difficult journey---guiding Ann into the afterlife to be reborn.(less)

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About Richard Matheson

Born in Allendale, New Jersey to Norwegian immigrant parents, Matheson was raised in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1943. He then entered the military and spent World War II as an infantry soldier. In 1949 he earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and moved to California in 1951. He married in 1952 and has four children, three of w...more Born in Allendale, New Jersey to Norwegian immigrant parents, Matheson was raised in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1943. He then entered the military and spent World War II as an infantry soldier. In 1949 he earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and moved to California in 1951. He married in 1952 and has four children, three of whom (Chris, Richard Christian, and Ali Matheson) are writers of fiction and screenplays.

His first short story, "Born of Man and Woman," appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950. The tale of a monstrous child chained in its parents' cellar, it was told in the first person as the creature's diary (in poignantly non-idiomatic English) and immediately made Matheson famous. Between 1950 and 1971, Matheson produced dozens of stories, frequently blending elements of the science fiction, horror and fantasy genres.

Several of his stories, like "Third from the Sun" (1950), "Deadline" (1959) and "Button, Button" (1970) are simple sketches with twist endings; others, like "Trespass" (1953), "Being" (1954) and "Mute" (1962) explore their characters' dilemmas over twenty or thirty pages. Some tales, such as "The Funeral" (1955) and "The Doll that Does Everything" (1954) incorporate zany satirical humour at the expense of genre clichés, and are written in an hysterically overblown prose very different from Matheson's usual pared-down style. Others, like "The Test" (1954) and "Steel" (1956), portray the moral and physical struggles of ordinary people, rather than the then nearly ubiquitous scientists and superheroes, in situations which are at once futuristic and everyday. Still others, such as "Mad House" (1953), "The Curious Child" (1954) and perhaps most famously, "Duel" (1971) are tales of paranoia, in which the everyday environment of the present day becomes inexplicably alien or threatening.

He wrote a number of episodes for the American TV series The Twilight Zone, including "Steel," mentioned above and the famous "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"; adapted the works of Edgar Allan Poe for Roger Corman and Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out for Hammer Films; and scripted Steven Spielberg's first feature, the TV movie Duel, from his own short story. He also contributed a number of scripts to the Warner Brothers western series "The Lawman" between 1958 and 1962. In 1973, Matheson earned an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his teleplay for The Night Stalker, one of two TV movies written by Matheson that preceded the series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Matheson also wrote the screenplay for Fanatic (US title: Die! Die! My Darling!) starring Talullah Bankhead and Stefanie Powers.

Novels include The Shrinking Man (filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man, again from Matheson's own screenplay), and a science fiction vampire novel, I Am Legend, which has been filmed three times under the titles The Omega Man and The Last Man on Earth and once under the original title. Other Matheson novels turned into notable films include What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes, Bid Time Return (as Somewhere in Time), and Hell House (as The Legend of Hell House) and the aforementioned Duel, the last three adapted and scripted by Matheson himself. Three of his short stories were filmed together as Trilogy of Terror, including "Prey" with its famous Zuni warrior doll.

In 1960, Matheson published The Beardless Warriors, a nonfantastic, autobiographical novel about teenage American soldiers in World War II.

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“Thank you...for gracing my life with your lovely presence, for adding the sweet measure of your soul to my existence.” — 127 people liked it

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