THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold earned 5 intense stars from me!

My Tease…

Heaven’s Inbetween is for “the watchers,” those souls who aren’t ready to leave behind their connections to Earth. Souls…who have unanswered questions or unfinished business. Who haven’t learned to accept their deaths.

Fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon is a watcher.

Although Susie knows that Mr. Harvey (whose house is in her neighborhood) raped and murdered her, none of the living know. At least Susie’s father and her younger sister Lindsey have growing suspicions about the loner who has a bird’s-eye-view of Susie’s junior high school and the adjacent sports- and corn- fields from his second floor window. Trouble is, the police have no evidence to implicate Mr. Harvey. All law enforcement knows is that the eccentric widower answers all their questions.

In her Inbetween Heaven, Susie has her own questions, only she doesn’t know the answers. Should she spend her time watching Mr. Harvey, in hopes that he will be stopped? Or should she watch her family as they struggle to accept her death and move forward?

Which focus will heal Susie so she can leave the Inbetween and transition to the Heaven intended to bring her peace?

Thoughts…

MESSAGE:

For me, THE LOVELY BONES offers a spiritual message, which is remarkable since I don’t remember religion being mentioned once!

The story, however, is much more than its surface. From my perspective, THE LOVELY BONES addresses the ancient question of where we (the living and the dead not resting in peace) should focus. Should we focus on plucking out the weeds (like vile Mr. Harvey) in our “fields” of existence? Or…should we focus on growing the corn or wheat or soybeans (which when healthy, will choke out the weeds)?

This seems to be the very question character Susie Salmon struggles with.

I can empathize with this internal conflict, as I wanted more than anything to have Mr. Harvey plucked from the Earth and thrown into burning Hell. To be frank, it was this desired outcome that compelled me to flip the pages.

In fact, I actually wanted to take away a star from my rating because… I didn’t get what I wanted for a long, long time. Mr. Harvey lived on and on and even became secondary in the story. I started shouting to the author…WHAT ABOUT MR. HARVEY??? He’s still on Earth STALKING AND KILLING young girls and women??? DO SOMETHING! NOW!!!

Years later, something FINALLY does happen to Mr. Harvey, but it feels more by chance than by intention. (The movie made it seem like a deliberate intervention, but I didn't get that from the book at all.)

But then I restored the star because… this is a story of acceptance and finding peace, not on delivering retribution. Of knowing what you can control and what you can’t. About growing and finding peace despite evil lurking in cornfields or neighborhoods or parks or buses.

Not sure about you, but this focus and practice are difficult to achieve. Which is why the message is so important. Which grows peace faster…growing goodness or weeding out evil? The answer is certainly worth thinking about!

WRITING:

The writing is outstanding. Even the simplest sentences carry emotional weight:

“Inside, my sister’s heart closed like a fist.”

HUMOR:

No doubt, it is hard to interject humor into a story like this; however, there is some humor found:

“Grandma Lynn predicted I’d have a long life because I had saved my brother’s life. As usual, Grandma Lynn was wrong.”

OVERALL:

This was an intense read that offered a surprising message.

I highly recommend this 5-star read about finding acceptance and peace among the vilest of weeds.

Note: This book contains triggers regarding rape and sexual violence toward children, girls, and women.

The glowing reviews made me want to read this novel. The initial idea is original since the narrator is a young girl who died of rape and murder. She walks among the living like a ghost. Teenage concerns. How can the family mourn without a body found? I expected a little more on the investigation, which is not very present and poorly carried out on this serial killer. Promising and disappointing.

I worked at Borders for more than a year and I worked the boring ass registers, usually at night whic was always slow. I leaned there with my chin in my hand staring at the shelves actually wishing that I could help customers in their purchases. It's purely insane, but I think that's what happens anytime you place someone in any kind of confinement. The thing is that if I wasn't a register girl, I would have constant actual contact with the books themselves.

All lunacy aside, one book that I stared at the entire time was this one, cuz it was literally on the number one shelf in the front of the store for a good two years or so. It sounded interesting and got good critical reviews despite its sucess with the bookish Oprah-watching housewife types. So, I REALLY didn't wanna jump on the bandwagon and read it. But at the same time I would open it and try. But I just didn't get into it.

Last week or so, I was reading a friend's blog and she talked about reading the book and how it was so affecting that she found herself driving to work in complete tears. From then on an invisible seed had been planted. I went to the library the other day to pay my fines ($2.75! Man.) and suddenly remembered the book.

I read it in three nights. Sebold's voice is entirely unique. Never seen it before ever. I think that being allowed into the vision and point of view of another person is probably one of the awesomest feelings ever. I think that's what it is to be in love, actually. Get in someone's skin, sit in a recliner in a little theatre located behind their eye sockets, and just watch. Not judge, not worry, not affect. Just experience someone who is so not you.

Sebold allows this on two levels. She sets you up in the front row seat right next to Susie the murdered and raped 14 year old while she watches her former world from Heaven. But she also delivers this language that is new, original, totally fresh and yet entirely accessible. At 3am. In bed. From a free city library borrow.

Her characters are completely amazing individuals, but not unreal or impossible. The way she wrote the book, from Suzie's viewpoint, was definitely some work on her part. And she pulls it off. What I really enjoyed is the way she would sneak in these little pieces of info - I call them " 'omg, are you serious?' mystery info nuggets". She would just be writing a scene, and at an unsuspecting moment she'd just add in a little sentence. And ofcourse, since the story revolves around the grief of the family and the Susie's unsolved case, their are moment of utter thrill as the reader joins the characters in their search for understanding, motive and the killer himself. The sentences feel like when you've been looking for something non-urgent for a while, and it's not really a big deal to find it now or later, but when you do find it your like, 'Man, now I can do this, and this and that, cuz I finally found this thing that I've been inactively searching for for a while'. So, the nuggets definitely keep you reading and sometimes they even make you say, 'omg' out loud.

As always, if you read the first few pages and hate it, then don't force the feeling. Just cuz I thought it was a total modern classic, don't mean anything if it really ain't your thing. Either way, truly a great story, even if your mom thinks so too.

It's okay. I didn't need my heart anyway.

I have no idea how so many people can love such a boring, pointless book. I don't read a lot of juggernaut pop-fiction, but at least with "DaVinci Code" I can see the appeal; this one's draw baffles me. Besides being uninteresting, there are two plot points that were just rancid:

1. The mom suddenly deciding to return to her family when the dad has a heart attack.

2. Susie possesses Ruth's body so she can fuck the med student. So if you die a virgin, God lets you back on Earth for a few hours to bang someone with another person's genitals, putting them at risk for an STD or unwanted pregnancy? What if you die as a toddler, do you still get to come back and fuck someone? Also, she says she doesn't want to go after her murderer while in the host, that's real fucking nice, Susie, the whole book's about you wishing you hadn't died and the strain it put on your family, and you'd rather take a dick in a bathtub then stop him from raping/killing more children. That's great. And that whole idea was a rip-off of the movie "Ghost," remember? If you're gonna plagiarize from a Patrick Swayze movie, please make it "Roadhouse."

P.S. The real version of this book is called "Remember Me" by Christopher Pike which I read when I was ten.

Susie Salmon ist ein ganz normales Mädchen. Doch an einem Tag im Dezember 1973 wird sie vergewaltigt und ermordet. Alle sind schockiert, und auch Susie muß "in ihrem Himmel" lernen, mit dem plötzlichen Tod und Verlust klarzukommen. Das ist nicht immer einfach. Sie beobachtet von "oben" ihre Familie und Freunde und auch ihren Mörder.
Mein Leseeindruck:
Dieses Buch ist ganz außergewöhnlich. Es hat Freude gemacht, es zu lesen, und teilweise sind mir auch die Tränen gekommen. Aber einige Stellen waren mir doch etwas zu verwirrend geschrieben bzw. auch zu langatmig. Aber im Ganzen betrachtet: es lohnt sich auf jeden Fall, dieses Buch zu lesen!

This is the first audiobook I've listened to a while, and now I understand why I stopped listening to them. This book was just alright, and I'll probably forget about it in two days because I was passively listening to it as I cleaned my apartment.

I will admit I kind of only read this because it's so popular and I wanted to see what's behind that popularity, which in itself wasn't a whole lot. I liked the idea of this book and Susie's narration, and where I thought it would be more of a "let's catch the murderer" book, it was a lot more heartfelt. I just wasn't wowed by it and that could either be the book itself or the fact that I listened to it on audio while I was doing something else, so I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention. It was hard to suspend my disbelief for the last section of this book where some fabulism kicks in. Guess it depends on your view of religion and the afterlife if you think this book is touching and comforting or just mediocre.

This sweetly haunting novel is powerful, heart-wrenching, and strangely leaves one with an optimistic good feeling. It's the strange feeling in the chest you get when you cry at a sad movie, only to have the film burst into comedic scene not long afterward. A light at the end of the grief. Beware, this book is not for the faint hearted. When I say sad and depressing, I mean it. I cried about ten times reading this. The police even find a part of her body to bring home to the parents; their reactions are so genuine you feel your heart crush. I have to wonder how people can really survive this?

The book is a classic example of how people handle things different ways. Her father holds on to her memory while feeling powerless. In one particularly gut-wrenching scene, he is in his office surrounded by bottle ships. She's watching him and knows he is thinking the same thing as she: how much she used to love the bottle ships, and how they had built one together. In a violent rage and grief stricken beyond belief, he suddenly begins smashing and destroying each one. The family is naturally torn apart, but the mother chooses detachment as the best way of acceptance, and more than a father-daughter relationship becomes broken. Seeing how it affected her crush, the one she never got to kiss for the first time, and her sister is powerful.

The novel is strangely poetic. It is a very quiet peace, moving slowly, almost dreamily. It's hard to describe the tone. The pace is very slow; I felt almost stuck in a single moment, frozen. It's a strange feeling to describe, and even harder to produce on paper or film. Alice Sebold is clearly a talented woman, using words almost as a musical piece without coming across as pretentious or forceful. It's strange that the novel does not appear to try hard to induce pity. It doesn't overboard and miraculously enough, it's not dramatic. That's a difficult feat to pull off. Instead it's filled with a quietly consistent nostalgia that steeps into the mind and won't let up.

The main character is of course the murdered girl, Susie, who is not in the actions she's witnessing, and is a sort of narrator of how her family and friends deal with her loss. Her character is strong and convincing, especially considering her fourteen year old age. The scenario of the place between heaven is also interesting, a nice twist that people would feel better believing in. Not a ghost, no, but not yet ready to move on either, and neither is her family.

This enchanting book is shocking in the beginning, and goes into precise detail of the violence, which is even sadder when you think about how it really happens. The family life she left behind is very real, with genuine problems and conflicts. The parents intrigued me the most I think, with the mother feeling suffocated with her expected role, and the father feeling like he can't protect what he should have, feeling everyone slip through his fingers.

Peter Jackson may be bringing this novel to the big screen. If he manages to convey the wide assortment of grief that's in the books, it's destined to be a blockbuster hit. The best way to describe the story is that it's beautifully haunting. Whether a conflicting phrase or not, it's never been truer than in this case.

Actual Stars 4.5 rounded up

“His devotion to me had made me know again and again that I had been beloved. In the warm light of my father’s love I had remained Susie Salmon—a girl with my whole life in front of me.”

Susie Salmon was taken away from her family at the early age of 14 in the year 1973. Her family includes her hard working father, stay at home mother, younger sister Lindsey and her brother Buckley who was just a toddler at the time. And last but not least Susie’s very unique Grandma Lynn that is inebriated almost all the time.

Susie was murdered by someone in their neighborhood, someone who the community would never suspect. Someone who stayed under the radar to appear as ordinary as possible so that he would never even cross anyones thoughts. But Susie’s dad figures it out and even though there is no proof, he knows in his heart who was responsible for his little girls early demise and he will do everything in his power to make sure he is suspect number one.



What follows is a chronicle of how each of the family members and select miscellaneous few deal with the death of Susie. And what her murder does to the family and the town as a whole. From the very beginning when she first goes missing to years later when the Salmon children are all grown up.

Unbeknownst to Susie’s loved ones her journey continues as she watches them day after day year after year in her tailor made heaven. Watching her family and friends at first struggle to live with out her but then moving on with life. She watches their struggles, their joy, their failures and achievements all while remaining in her forever young form.



Seriously people…get ready to sob your eyes out! I could not be far from my tissue box for most of this book. Even the parts that are not sad require tissue. That’s how emotional this book is.



I felt like I was peering into the actual lives of a family/community who had lost a loved one. AS’s writing is very realistic. Well except for Susie’s spirit watching down on everyone of course. Not once was I bored with this extraordinary book. And I have to be honest that is getting harder to do nowadays. I find myself getting bored only after a couple of chapters of whatever book I’m reading, needing to break it up with something. But I was completely engrossed with this beautifully prosed book.

The vast difference in all of the characters I think held one of the biggest appeals for me. Each person is unique and different from one another. They have their own emotions and thoughts. I couldn’t help but fall in love with all of them (excluding the murderer). I even liked Abigail Salmon, Susie’s mother who made some questionable choices. But her choices were utterly human. If I had to pick a favorite it had to be Susie’s dad or Gma Lynn. Susie’s dad because he never gave up his conviction of who he thought hurt his child and he kept her fiercely alive in spirit. Grandma Lynn was a pretty self indulgent person in the beginning, who definitely knew her way around the liquor cabinet. But she was a quite a likable character. And when The Salmons were complacent in their grief and needed help she gave up her home and put her family first to take on the caregiver role and really help turn the family around.



Even though the book is about a murder it wasn’t all that graphic except for the first (maybe first couple) chapter(s). That was when it was hardest to read. In fact I was eating while reading the beginning and I almost lost my lunch. Not because it’s graphic or grizzly, just imagining it happen really got to me.

I only have one complaint. The ending! It wasn’t bad at all I just wanted more. And I think those of you who have read it will understand.

If you are looking for an all consuming, emotional, well written, contemporary book, The Lovely Bones is perfect. Just make sure to put on the waterproof mascara and have your tissue handy for the snot fest to begin.

آن چنان خفن نبود. شروع خوبی داشت که کم کم به بی مایگی و "خب که چی"های متعدد توی ذهنم رسید!
پتانسیل اینو داشت که فوق العاده بهتر باشه.
تنها نکته جالبی که منو به فکر انداخت، وابستگی‌های ما روی زمینه. جدا از اعتقاد به روح یا زندگی پس از مرگ، این سوال واسم پیش اومد که اگر همین لحظه بمیرم، چه وابستگی‌هایی دارم اینجا؟
از چه چیزهایی نمیتونم دل بکنم؟
و سوالی که شاید مسخره باشه اما؛ آیا قراره بعد از مرگ هم روحم، کالبد جدیدم یا هر اسمی که داره، به این چیزا وابسته بمونه؟ قراره اون موقع هم عاشق کتابخونم و نقاشی‌ها و مدادرنگیام باشم؟
اگر بله، چطور رها بشم؟ و اگر نه پس اونجا چه خبره؟
کسی میدونه؟! :)

Have you ever read the introduction to a book and thought the notion so interesting, you began forming ideas for the story in your head?

This was exactly the case for me with 'The Lovely Bones'... It started out as I imagined but really fell apart as the story faltered on. I found it very disappointing and wish another author would run with the idea but in a completely different direction.

Re-read for 2020

The first time I ever read this book I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to finish it. This time I read it to see how it had aged and if my rating still stacks up. It sure does!

Set in the 1970's, teenage protagonist, Susie Salmon, begins her story with the day of her murder and everything that happens to her family, friends and her murderer. If you like your stories with happy endings where justice prevails and the bad guy ends up behind bars , it's probably safe to say, you'll be very unsatisfied.

Definitely the two characters that I loved the first time around and still love many years later are Susie's father and sister, Lindsay. I know it sounds totally judgmental and cold, but I still think Susie mom is just a really awful character. When her son tells her to !%&* #!!" I felt that was definitely placed in the book for readers like me. I know Susie and Alice Sebold would be disappointed but I just cannot help how I feel. Maybe a third read would bring around the empathetic tone?

Overall, it's still a powerful story for me.

Goodreads review published 23/03/20