Customer Reviews

The Lovely Bones

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had come across "The Lovely Bones" in my local Borders bookstore a few years ago. I started reading it back then, and I really liked what I read. It's a story of a young girl who is raped and killed by a sexual predator/ serial killer, as told from the dead girl's perspective. This was a very unusual and interesting premise, with a lot of potential for a very original and imaginative novel. At the time I did not continue reading the book, but when the movie based on it came out earlier this year I thought that maybe the time had come to read it in its entirety. And this has been one of the greatest disappointments as a reader that I've ever had.

The supernatural premise of viewing earthly events from a dead girl's perspective is not really used all that much in the book, except for one brief chapter well towards the end. Even then, the whole incident is completely superfluous to the overall narrative, and it has no discernable effect on the rest of the book. It seems that the choice of the point of view for this book had more to do with the kind of narrative device that the author wanted to employ, rather than with the plot development, only to change her mind at almost the last moment, and then do it haphazardly and then backtrack on her decision. However, even as a pure narrative device this ploy has problems that show throughout the book. Unlike a perfect omniscient narrator, a dead girl is actually pretty limited in her perspective, not least because she can only observe the outward appearances of other protagonists. She does make surmises on people's inner states of mind, but those are usually very restrained and not very convincing.

The book fails as a murder-mystery thriller as well. It's not so much that know from the very beginning what happened and who did what, but as the story progresses we get less and less of an impression that most of the relevant characters are truly trying to solve a criminal case. They all make some half-hearted and intermittent steps in trying to solve this murder, but we need to be constantly reminded by the narrator that they do in fact really want to solve the case.

Finally, and most disappointingly, the book fails as a coming-to-terms-with-tragedy novel. As previously mentioned, the point of view of the narrative is actually pretty limiting, and we don't really have the full access to the inner thoughts and feeling of various protagonists. We have to be constantly told about what they are going through, which doesn't make for a very satisfying reading experience. Furthermore, most of the characters (even those with more exotic backgrounds) are actually rather flat and uninteresting. Almost every little girl in the story is a more serious embodiment of Lisa Simpson. The reader doesn't feel much of the conviction in their actions and thoughts.

I stuck with this book through the very end because I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, a surprising and revelatory ending would make all the reading effort worth it. Unfortunately, that too was a big disappointment. The end left me hanging, and if I had cared more for any of the characters in the book I would have been really frustrated. As it is, I am just left to lament all the time I had wasted on reading this rather unremarkable book. The style of writing is pretty good, something that was obviously tuned in fiction workshops, but in the end not nearly so good to justify wasting so much time on this novel.

I know this book is getting a lot of mixed reviews, and I can understand why. However, I loved it. It reminded me a great deal of Young's "The Shack," though darker and perhaps a bit more honest. It is also thought provoking in ways similar to the writings of C.S. Lewis, i.e. not terribly complicated writing, but deep. What I really loved about this book was the originality of it -- first of all, having the entire story narrated by a character who has already died, and secondly, of her idea of Heaven. While it is controversial in nature and I'm not sure I entirely agree with it, it was quite captivating to read of a Heaven in which the afterlife is NOT perfect, and a soul in Heaven still continues to grow and change even after death. I think this will cause most people to examine their own ideas about the afterlife and what they think it may be like. This, to me, was most fascinating about the book.

The only things I didn't like about the book were the sometimes tedious descriptions (Ms. Sebold paints beautiful pictures, but sometimes she uses too much paint) and what I felt was an unjust resolution of the murderer and the rest of the world. In that regard I would have preferred a more satisfying ending, but other than that, I think it was well wrapped up.

I saw the movie first - which usually ruins a book for me. It was so much better than the movie. It takes the reader deep into the life of Susie Salmon and each member of her family.

I received the book very fast, in great condition, like new. Worth the price. Very Happy with the book! Will order from this supplier again.

For the most part I enjoyed this book. It pissed me off and lost its way in some parts, but I still liked it.

I truly enjoyed "The Lovely Bones". I read this long before the movie, and I actually read it again before the movie came out. The story of Susie Salmon, told from her after death it amazing. How she sees everyone on Earth go about their lives after her death, and the search for her killer is such an original idea. This book grabbed me from the first page after the original cover catching my eye at the bookstore. This, although so very sad, was such an amazing story and such a pleasure to read. I am not able to reread books very often, but this one was easy to! Thank you Alice Sebold for giving Susie and her story to the world!

This is my favorite book!
It is a difficult story to read about at first, since it deals with rape and murder but the way it is written you feel what the family is going though you see the good and bad moments. A true gem. I dont recomend the movie- it didnt do the book justice. I have read this book about 3 times and will read it again.

Book: The Lovely Bones

In "The Lovely Bones", the author presented the idea of value behind the death of a young girl, in a way that opened the deep thought of life and its meaning to me, and the impact of our life upon authors. I enjoyed the sequence of events in detail that showed hints of the different emotions that "Susie" experienced to show the impact simple things can have upon us, once we realize we will never experience the same. Although, the specific instances such as the affair of the mother had caused me to misjudge her character but later on when I had the chance to understand her failure to express her yearning to have "Susie" back, with the need to escape through sex with Len. I disliked that because it disproved the idea that behind the death of family member creates an even closer relationship and need among the relatives. Yet, it was the connection between "Susie" and her father, as she remembered each instance she would help him build small ships inside bottles that reminded me of the little things we take for granted. In addition, having the memorial for "Susie" after a year of her death made Susie realize the lives she impacted such as her teachers; and how her death had spread to students she hardly knew but still felt the need to remember her existence. Overall, I enjoyed it and I recommend it to any adolescent or adult that wishes to read it for fun. By reading this novel it will bring a sense of gratitude and appreciation for the little things we fail to notice in our lives, and often disregard. You will find it intriguing, sensitive, and mysterious while trying to solve the clues of the numerous murders under George Harvey's fake name.

The Lovely Bones. It became popular due to the movie, but many people do have mixed opinions on it.

For starters, the book does have some pretty graphic scenes in it, a few of which were relatively unnecessary, but one or two that were entirely relevant- either way, I don't think this is a book to hand to anyone under 13, but it's definitely worth reading. For me, I loved the messages it carried about life and letting go of things- and I thought it was a very interesting perspective to take on, as not many books are from the point of view of a dead character. It is a bit slow though, with not much activity happening at once, and it ended up taking me about two months to read just because it was so hard to power through. When I finally did finish it, though, I burst into tears. The ending is so anticlimactic and yet so powerful. The whole novel mainly focuses on the topic of how people will forget about you eventually once you're gone, and how they most likely won't spend every day mourning or even remembering you- and whilst this is a tough pill to swallow, I feel the way Sebold wove in this idea was beautiful, showing the gradual progression of both Susie and how she matures even whilst dead, and the maturing of her family who are learning to deal with their grief down on Earth.

All in all, it's not my favourite, but I definitely liked it, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants an unorthodox read.

Normally, I'm not the kind of person who reads a science fiction/fantasy or whatever you want to call this genre of book. I chose to read this book from people always telling me how good it was. Though it was hard for me to first get into the book, I eventually got really into it and truly liked it. I wasn't too fond of the whole girl in an `in-between heaven' but I liked how the author didn't really focus on this part of the plot as the story began to truly unfold.
I really enjoyed the murder mystery aspect of it. I can sit in front of the TV on Sundays and watch a whole marathon of Criminal Minds without getting bored so this was a huge positive of the book. It was interesting that the author allowed the reader to know who the killer was, but the whole novel revolved around the characters in the novel figuring it out for themselves. This made certain moments more suspenseful and gave the reader, and me especially, the desire to continue reading to see if they ever find out who murdered Susie.
I must say I am a sucker for happy endings. I like how the family is restored to its rightful place by the end. I especially enjoyed the realism Sebold uses when the mother comes back from California and the awkwardness that everyone feels. Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a book to read. My only word of caution is that certain scenes contain pretty graphic imagery that could pose issues with some readers.