For one more day door Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom
For one more Day

Technicals

Author; Mitch Albom
Place and date of publishing; London, 2006
Publisher; Sphere
Number of pages; 197

Summary
Charles (Chick) Benetto was a good baseball player. But at the beginning of the book he tries to kill himself. First you don’t know why. He want to be with his mother, who died 8 years ago. He feels guilty about it but they don’t say why. When is try to kill himself doesn’t work, he walked to his old family house. This is the last house his mother has lived, and after her death they never sell the house. When he is in the house it looks like there is still someone living in there, and then he sees his mother. He can’t believe it because she died eight years ago, but he don’t want to ask how she comes there. He always wanted to see his mother again. He wasn’t there when his mother died and he feels guilty. First he is having a breakfast with his mom and after that he is going with her to one of his mothers friends called Rose. Chick doesn’t know how all this can happen. His mother is death, and he and Rose are still alive. When the go away he asked at his mother how all this can happening. She says that Rose is dying tonight, that’s all she is saying an chick doesn’t understand it.
In the whole story there are many flashbacks, and in all that flashbacks you learn things from his history. For example that Chick was a good baseball player because his father want that. His parents separated from each other because his father goes with an another women. After that his mother never talked about Chicks father, and they never see each other again. Until his father was there when Chick was playing baseball. He was watching to Chick and was very proud of him. From that moment his father had helped him to be better and better in baseball. Finally he has played a very important competition, but after he hurt his knee and never played baseball on that level again. When it was his mother’s birthday, his father called him. He can play tomorrow a competition but then he has to come now to that place. First he doesn’t want it because his mother is celebrating her birthday tomorrow too, but finally he chose for the competition. He lied to his mother, he says that he has something really important to do for his work. He won the competition but when he looks at his mobile phone is sister has called him. He called her back and she says that his mother died this morning. He feels really guilty about it because the last moment he saw his mother he lied to her. And his daughter found her grandmother dead on the floor. When he didn’t went to the competition he had maybe found his mother earlier, had called a ambulance and maybe she was still alive. After that it was going bad with him. He was drinking a lot of alcohol and his wife goes away. He never see is daughter again, and when it was his daughter marriage he wasn’t there. He feels lonely and because of that he tries to kill himself.
Now he is with his mother again he says sorry about it but it doesn’t matter she says. And then he want an explanation how all this can happening. She says that when people are going to die very soon they can see persons who already died. Like Rose. And Chick is also mostly dying. It is the world between live and dead. Then his mother is going very slowly away. He is yelling her to stay but she goes away. Then he is back to his normal live. He is lying next to the road where he was trying to kill himself. He had survived.
5 years later he died.
Between the story there are pages with; “Times my mother stood up for me” and “Times I did not stand up for my mother”.

Main characters

Charles Benneto (Chick); Chick his parents separated from each other. He was living with his mother. The only moments he see is father was with baseball games. When he was at a baseball game with his father his mother died and he feels really guilty about that. He is starting to drunk a lot of alcohol and is wife leaves him. He never see is daughter and ex wife and wasn’t on the marriage of his daughter.

An explanation of the title

Chick always wanted to spent one more day with his mother. So he can say sorry for that last day of her live, that he wasn’t there at the moment she gets a heart attack. Because of that the title is; For one more day.

An explanation of the main theme

The main theme of this book is that there is more than life. Persons who died are still with you, your whole live, and you met them when you are dying.

Begin of the story

In the begin of the book they are saying this; “This is a story about a family and, as there is a ghost involved, you might call it a ghost story. But every family is a ghost story. The dead sit at our tables long after they have gone.” Then you read about a men who met Chick on a Saturday morning. He knows him because Chick was a very famous baseball player. They are talking about normal things, and then he ask Chick about his life story. And then the book starts.

End of the story

At the end of the book they are saying again; “Because there was a ghost involved, you may call this a ghost story. But what family isn’t a ghost story? Sharing tales of those we’ve lost is how we keep from really losing them.”

Climax

I think the climax is at the moment that Chicks mother is explaining all this. How it can happen that he see his mother again. That is at one of the last pages.

Personal opinion

I really like this book. It is a little bit difficult because there are thing happening which can’t happening. With the pages from times my mother stand up for me and times I did not stand up for my mother it is nice to read. you are not reading a normal story but it has some small stories in it.
It is also a nice thinking that after your dead you see everyone who died before. There is life after dead, and when you really want it you can see someone who died. For example in dreams, you can see persons who died.