The Lovely Bones

Rating:
Summary: A nice read, but ...
Review: As you probably know by now, "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold begins with the rape and murder of 14-year-old Susie Salmon in a town in Pennsylvania, and the rest of the novel is told from her point of view as she observes the aftermath from her omniscient vantage point in heaven. That she can narrate the inner thoughts of different characters as they deal with the shock of her death is the best part of the book. I've never had to deal with such a shocking loss in my life but the reactions of the other characters ring true to me and are sometimes very moving. In addition, Ms. Sebold's portrayal of Susie's experience in heaven is interesting and, um, plausible (not sure how else to describe it, but it is an appealing vision).

Susie also delves into side stories like the sacrifices her once-ambitious mother makes for her family, and the troubled childhood of the man who murdered her, and continues to follow her family and friends for years after her death. This isn't bad in itself but the sentimentality of the later chapters failed to warm my cynical heart, after I was taken in by the first half of the book and the stunned reaction of the town after the murder. The captivating intensity fades and the book falters, in my opinion. The prose has a few nice flourishes but is mostly straightforward; the characters' development slows to a halt and left me feeling they weren't fleshed out enough. If either of these aspects had been meatier I think the book would have had more staying power with me.

Nevertheless, there are still enough chilling and memorable moments in the "The Lovely Bones" to make it a worthwhile read. It's a nice first novel and my uninformed opinion is that Ms. Sebold's got the talent to produce even more moving and perceptive novels in the future.

Rating:
Summary: If you like books that implode...
Review: What happened to this novel? It started off wonderfully and grabbed me from the first chapter (read it here at Amazon and see if you don't agree) - I can see why the publisher wanted it in print. But each chapter thereafter gets duller, more mundane, and - especially in the last 100 pages - downright inane.

I don't doubt Ms. Sebold's talent as a writer, but it seems obvious she had no idea how to end the book - and still doesn't.

One other note: you need to be able to handle metaphors that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Doesn't Little Brown have editors anymore? I can only hope whoever writes the screenplay (I assume this is going to film) will rewrite the second half of the story.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing read...you will feel and share this family's pain
Review: I read this book in less than 2 days. It riveted me and there were parts where I could not help but cry. It is so sad. Susie Salmon, murdered at 14 looking down from Heaven to see her friends and family cope. (I hope Heaven is just as Susie describes it...for from the eyes of this 14 year old, it is beautiful).

Sebold had each member of Susie's family experience this tragic event differently. Her mother ran from her memories, her father lost himself in Susie's little brother, Buck. Lindsey, her sister was strong and grew up too fast. Ruth, Susie's friend, saw Susie's spirit leave this world, and became obsessed for years about her. The characters felt real to me, as if I knew them all from my own neighborhood.

I liked Sebold's writing style, and I felt Susie's longing to be on Earth. I cried for Susie's family and I cried for Susie's death. I worried when I picked this book up that it would not meet my expectations, but I truly enjoyed this unique story. This book is in my top three faves of all time. Worth 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Unnecessary Sensuality
Review: This book was great in the beginning and I really loved it. But in the 2nd to last chapter, the descriptive sex scene was unbearable. This part absolutely ruined the rest of the book for me. This book is definitely not for younger readers, and it's worse than an issue of Cosmopolitan even for those older readers.

Rating:
Summary: Almost lives up to the hype
Review: There's no way any book could live up to the hype this book has had in the past couple of months. That said, it IS a really good book. Ms. Sebold has created a believable heaven for Susie, and the ways the family members cope with grief feel true. A book that begins with the [way it does] doesn't seem like something you could call a "happy" book, and I guess it's not. But it is a hopeful book. It's about loss, sadness, healing and love. I think you'll enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: On overall 'nice' novel
Review: Well, yes, most of the fan fare for this book is warranted.

Though the concept isn't new - except for the idea that every person has his or her own heaven - it is well written and one can get emotionally involved in the novel (a good sign of a good read).

It's great for the light reader.

Rating:
Summary: The Lovely Bones
Review: Yes, its a pretty stunning debut novel. Yes, it will grip you at times and lift you at others. Yes, it is very well written - it seems the author has a knack for writing down just the right stuff at just the right time - no unneeded description, dialogue or explanation, and yet no feeling of abbreviation. Every now and then Susie throws in a short insight or observation that brings accross something important that a lesser author might have spent a few pages on.

And yes, the ending will probably surprise and disappoint you. ( It knocked a star off my rating. ) But that won't make reading this book any less worth it. I feel its a pity that the ending almost seems written by another author, or maybe the same one in a hurry to finish the book without quite knowing how, but I hope this observation won't dissuade you from purchasing this - you can do a lot worse buying another book.

Rating:
Summary: A modern-day "Our Town"...
Review: The theme of a dead girl looking down on her family and friends isn't a new one, for so did Emily in "Our Town", a play that Sebold even mentions in Lovely Bones. Sebold reworks the subject by having the girl, Susie Salmon, the victim of a violent crime that remains unsolved.

From Susie's unique perspective in a heaven "where nothing changes and everything is like yesterday", Susie looks down upon her family. She watches the anguish of each family member, as they search for ways to deal with their grief. Most memorable is the mother, Abigail, whose overwhelming sense of denial about the murder sends her away from husband and children, as she lives in solitude and loneliness. But the husband and father, Jack, refuses to release his first-born child to memory and keeps her close in the secret chambers of his wounded heart. He comforts himself by nurturing the intuition that Susie is still present.

Sebold is gentle with her characters, perhaps too gentle, peeling away the layers of a family bound by love and loss, exposed to the harsh reality of Fate's implacability. Most painful to watch are the devastated parents, whose pain sends them spinning in opposite directions, where they are unable to heal themselves, let alone one another. There is one scene at the end, involving Susie's would-have-been-first-boyfriend, so unbelievable that the story becomes a fantasy. This novel may be most appreciated by a young audience, who may require less emotional depth than drama and romance. For Susie is imbued with the naivete of adolescence, caught forever in the conundrum of innocence betrayed.

Rating:
Summary: Great writer...but the story was a little too farfetched...
Review: First of all I would like to say that I think Ms. Sebold is an excellent writer as far as writing goes, but her story was just a bit too farfetched to suit me. The thought of our dead loved ones spying on our every move after death was a little chilling and a tad over the top I thought. Will I read another book by this writer? You bet I will, I think Ms. Sebold has a lot of talent.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but overrated
Review: I just finished this book and it took me 2 1/2 weeks (quite a long time for the page length). I, of course, read it because it seemed all of America was doing the same thing. The point of view was interesting, and the story of the grieving family kept my attention. However, for the most part I couldn't wrap myself around this one. Perhaps there were too many subplots and minor characters.

Also my expectations may have been too high, but the book seemed to really slog along with really very little accomplished. Also, the "possession" and the icicle at the end were very anti-climatic.

I think a movie of this book would be a real mistake (think Shipping News) but will probably be inevitable.