The Lovely Bones

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Summary: As Life Goes On: Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones"
Review: "The Lovely Bones" is as bold a book as I've ever read in my adult life and then some. Its chilling subject matter, audacious use of first person narrative, and provocative spirituality are just a few of the things you can look forward to in Alice Sebold's ballsy debut novel, with a little humor thrown in for good measure. I must warn you though, for all the bragging rights this book has earned, if you're looking for a clear resolution, "The Lovely Bones" is not the book for you.
Sebold's story teller, Susie Salmon ("pronounced Salmon, like the fish" as we are so often reminded) wields a compelling and poignant narrative that keeps the reader fascinated from start to finish. Our heroine is brutally raped and murdered at the young age of 14 and has already taken her place in "her heaven" when the story begins. However, she is hardly absent from the world as we soon learn she watches and even accompanies her family and friends on their journey through the grieving process and as they begin to move on with their lives.
Unfortunately, Susie's family do not take her death nearly as well as she does, and as a result, begin to fall apart quickly thereafter. Susie's father nearly has a mental breakdown, her mother has an adulterous fling with the investigator of Susie's death, and Susie's two remaining siblings (a younger sister, Lindsey, and brother, Buckley) struggle to live their lives in the shadow of their sister's death. Susie also leaves behind a fledgling romance with Ray Singh, her pseudo boyfriend, and an odd friendship with Ruth, who actually sees more of Susie after her death than she does when she's alive.
Susie's murderer Mr Harvey, we learn, is actually the perpetrator of several similar crimes and has been on the run for years. He is in fact a serial killer, but has yet to be convicted of any of his wrongdoings, including Susie's death. The reader knows that Harvey is the killer and Susie's father suspects as much, but unfortunately no justice is served; not in the legal sense at least.
In my opinion, this lack of resolution is one of two near-misses of perfection for "The Lovely Bones.". As previously mentioned, Susie's killer is never caught and her family never learns what really happened to her. In accordance with that, the other near-miss takes place in an odd moment when Susie switches places with Ruth and spends a few fleeting hours among the living. Instead of taking that opportunity to show Ray, her childhood flame, where her body is buried or spend her last time on earth with her family, she chooses to lose her virginity to Ray.
I found both these instances to be fairly disappointing. While I'm aware that Sebold is in no way obligated to provide a resolution, you really come to expect it and desire it, for that matter. You want the resolution for yourself all most as much as you do for Susie's friends, family, and for Susie herself. In that respect, you could easily become disenchanted with the novel. In fact, my first thought upon finishing the book was "Is that it?" Honestly, I expected more, but after taking into consideration the wonderful journey Sebold and her Susie took me on, I realized I was just thankful for the experience.
What "The Lovely Bones" lacks in resolution, it more than makes up for in poignant storytelling. Sebold uses crisp, yet detailed dialogue that captures your attention from start to finish. She has molded Susie into a brilliant storyteller and as she leads us down an intriguing and illuminating path, we become quickly entranced in Susie's world. Almost so much so, that you feel the need to separate yourself from the novel so that you can clearly distinguish fantasy and reality in your own mind.
Susie's ability to follow one character and then the next gives the reader a sense that there are actually many stories being told all at once. Sebold has the ability to intertwine them all in a way that you aren't confused by the different stories, but that actually serves to enhance the narrative. Also, as the story is told through the eyes of Susie, a 14 year old girl, the world is presented with a kind of innocence that remains even as her family and friends mature. It's refreshing in some ways and chilling in others to think that the horrors being describe in explicit detail by a young girl barely past adolescence.
Perhaps one of the most endearing concepts in the novel is Susie's own journey into Heaven. We learn that immediately after her death she enters into her own Heaven, which is a world filled with all the things she enjoyed most on Earth, or dreamed of experiencing in the future. The more time she spends in her Heaven, the more it evolves just as she does, mentally and emotionally as she can not do physically. Susie soon realized that she can not enter into the "real Heaven" until she first lets go of her attachments on Earth. It is this journey that is the central focus of the novel and it ultimately holds the story together.
Alice Sebold's riveting debut novel, "The Lovely Bones," is overall an expertly written, beautifully woven piece of literature. It is poignant and captivating from beginning to end and provides a heartwarming story set against the backdrop of a disgusting horror. Though it does not offer the kind of resolution some may be looking for, it does bring a different kind of storytelling to the table that has rarely been seen in the past. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an intriguingly daring piece of fiction that will make you angry, sad, and happy all at the same time, while also making you appreciate the good things in your own life that most of us take for granted. "The Lovely Bones" gets an A in my book.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling and Beautiful!
Review: This is not a story of a malevolent haunting, or of traditional ghosts. Despite being narrated by a deceased fourteen year old girl, The Lovely Bones is a story about growth and healing. We see the struggles of Susie's family from several angles, but also how Susie's life and death impacted more people than she could have imagined. I truly loved this book! Also recommended: White Oleander by Fincher, The Losers' Club by Richard Perez

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Summary: Different
Review: At First I wasnt sure if I was going to like this book or not, but I stuck with it and found that it is extremely well done. Written from the girls point of view after her death it has several twist and turns and keeps you turning the page. I am very impressed.
I also want to recommend nightmares Echo by Katlyn Stewart and Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd I was very impressed by both of these books as well.

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Summary: fantasy or reality?
Review: I found it interesting that this book was written from a fantasy point of view and yet the author made sure to be realistic about how murderers get away. When Susie possessed Ruth's body that's where it all fell apart for me. First of all they both violated Ruth, Susie was still 14 technically but her boyfriend was a grown man, and how in the world was he able to get aroused under those circumstances? And the serial killer of children had just driven by, you'd think Susie might have mentioned that and that her body was in the sinkhole where they were standing. I liked the icicle but think it should have killed him while he was in prison. I gave this book 3 stars though because it was unique and intriguing.

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Summary: An Interesting View of the World from a Dead Girl
Review: This book started off different than any other book I've ever read. On the first page I learned that Susie, the main character, was already dead. It was very interesting how Susie looked down from "heaven" and saw all the people she loved go on with their lives. There is one character in the book, George Harvey, who is totally sinister. He is an evil man who I despised as soon as I met him. Alice Sebold's writing style leands itself to a fast read. Although the premise of the book is a bit out of the ordinary, the family's struggle after Susie's violent death seemed liek a realistic view of the after-math of a real-life tragedy.

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Summary: The Holding Hands of Life and Death
Review: "The Lovely Bones" captures beautifully and movingly a most memorable line from American poet jani johe webster: "life and death hold hands and dance around each person."

In this novel, the young and likeable heroine (a heroine with attitude) experiences this dance of life and death even from beyond the grave, where she watches, in her heaven, the pain and the growth of her loved ones, who struggle with her murder. Through the observation of this struggle, the narrator is able to make meaning out of her life and continue to experience a deep love and connection with her family, as well as an odd, almost friend, and her would-have-been boyfriend. And in remembering her, each character also experiences the dance of life and death: each character, in his or her own way, grieves and carries on with greater self-knowledge and deeper self-connection.

The book is a joy to read: the voice of the narrator is distinctive and rich (we feel like we are listening to a teenager who has thought about life); the prose, details, and tension in listening to the narrator watch her murderer's strange and horrifying rituals, are gripping. We become deeply involved in each character and also in the quest for the narrator's family to find both justice and meaning.

In this book, we see and feel again how painful is the dance of life and death: painful, but not without hope.

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Summary: A better short story than a novel...
Review: One of the most disappointing things that can happen to an avid reader is to look forward to reading a book so much, only to find out that it was not as great as one would hope it to be. As I read the first few pages of "Lovely Bones", I found myself inititally riveted because one doesn't really expect to be "grabbed" by a book so quickly. (Forgive me...here is where I become overly analytical). The problem with the book is that while it initially grabs the reader, it gets lost in itself as the book wears on (and I do mean wear...because I struggled just to finish the book).

I felt as though the author started off with a really incredible storyline that wound up not going anywhere. I was expecting a book that flowed and weaved the story around me, and what I got was extremely bored. The problem with beginning a story with a climax is that the rest of the book has to live up to it. If it doesn't, it should either be left as a short story, or not written at all. Take for example, "The Telltale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe. That story grabs you, pulls you in, makes you feel the character and then lets you go. Now, if he had dragged the story out and continued to give you the character's perspective, would you have enjoyed it as much? Again, that is all a matter of how the story would have proceeded.

In closing, I felt no real connection with the characters in Sebold's book, and though I initially felt sympathetic to the main character's plight, after awhile I felt less sympathetic and more irritated. Though the storyline gives one pause for reflection on the afterlife, there is no real texture or richness in the story after the first few pages. In fact, it would have been much better as a short story and would perhaps have been more deserving of all the hype had it been such a story. Overall, I give the book two stars for a great idea and omit the three other stars for getting lost in itself and lack of true development in the characters.

Rating:
Summary: The Lovely Bones, A Lovely Book
Review: This book, though sad and harsh topics, shows emotions and thoughts beautifully woven throughout. Not at all hard to follow and I was captured by it. I read it in just a few hours. I completely recommend this book to people mature enough to handle the sexuality and who won't be bothered by some graphic crime scene-type things (not incredibly graphic, but if bodies being cut up and then a part being found randomly would make you sick, don't read).

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book!
Review: This book is really good but it was really hard to read. Usually I can sit down and read a book in a few hours but with this book it took me a few months. I would start it and have to put it down. It just brings so much emotion with it. But, I would reccomend it.

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Summary: Creepy- But Good
Review: I know that this is a really good book. But I also have to admit that the beginning was kinda freaky to me and that the rest of the book was equally odd. But it was still pretty good. Suggestion: DO NOT LET YOUR KIDS READ THIS!!!!