The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Lovely Bones
Book Review: A story unravels
Summary: 2 Stars
The Lovely Bones was, simply put, a disappointing reading experience. For starters, it was not very well written. In the beginning, the overall simplicity of language could be beautiful in its own right, but by the end, the novel's utter lack of sophistication turned it into something childish.
The seams holding the novel together broke apart near the end. Although The Lovely Bones uses an interesting concept of a girl looking down from heaven at a family coping with her loss, almost a decade after her death, the extent to which she still holds influence over people's lives is totally unbelievable. A classmate of the protagonist, for example, is forever haunted by her loss and continues to record the traces of abused women she finds as an artist in New York City.
Endings of novels are meant to be powerful and ultimately decide whether the work stands or falls flat. In this case, unfortunately, the latter was what occurred. After a certain point, the author dragged on and on, and as a reader, all one could wish for was that the author had instead cut her losses, cut short, and stopped writing when she had nothing left to say.
I would also say that one particular scene in which the protagonist returns briefly to earth to "make love" to a former middle-school crush is highly disappointing. What was the author thinking? In a series of choppy sequences, this novel finally splatters.
Book Review: A surprisingly good read!
Summary: 4 Stars
Im glad I finally gave in and read this! The book is about a 14 year old girl (Suzie) who is raped and murdered by a neighbor. She is then in heaven (altough I interpreted it as a heaven thats like purgatory) and is looking down on her family and friends as everyone struggles to come to terms with her death and move on. Suzie seems to become as obsessed with the living as some of the living become obsessed with her death. The author did an excellent job of showing how people react differently to losing a loved one. Her family is torn apart. Her father simply is unable to move on, her mother turns to an affair to help her forget and eventually abandons the family, etc. The authors depiction of heaven is kind of unique. I wouldnt say its a purgatory as in your punished and you have to wait until youre admitted to heaven, but more like a transition point where you still have to learn and grow before you utlimately end up in a heaven thats more like the traditional heaven you hear about. Many of the characters and twists in this book were odd and Im not sure if it added anything to the story but I really enjoyed it none the less. I was planning on reading this book for a long time however I was browsing through some of the customer reviews on amazon.com and it put me off wanting to read it. Some of the reviews made it sound as though the murder and rape scenes were very detailed and gruesome. When I actually just gave in and read the book I found that the actual murder and rape was only about a page long and yes it says she was raped but it wasnt gorey detailed depscriptions as the reviews lead me to believe. Overall I felt that the book was pretty interesting and had a good plot.Book Review: A unique, authentically emotional story, but the climax is unrealistic and detracts from the book. Tentatively recommended.
Summary: 4 Stars
Suzie Salmon, age 14, is raped and murdered by a serial killer. She tells her story from heaven as she watches over her grieving family. Her death rips apart the secure suburban landscape of her home and deeply impacts not only her family but also some of her friends and neighbors. Over the years, Suzie watches these people, as well as her killer, and takes part in their changes and growth from afar. Ultimately, Suzie must come to terms with her own death, but her imprint remains on the world she left behind and she can never completely leave earth behind. The point of view is fairly unique for a mass-market text, and the writing style is clean, personal, and skillful. The Lovely Bones is a unique, alternative coming-of-age story that reads quickly without being cheap and tugs heartstrings without being maudlin. However, the ease with which Suzie accepts her rape and then her death seems unrealistic, and some of the supernatural events exceed the reader's ability to suspend disbelief. The book has its flaws, but it's still an interesting and emotional read. I recommend it tentatively: there are other, more important books out there, but for a quick, somewhat simple modern text, this book is pretty good.
All of my problems with the book came later in the text, and so to avoid spoiling the story I can't discuss them in detail. However, I will say this: Suzie's recovery from her rape and death, as well as the surreal, supernatural relationship that she has with Earth and those she has left behind is a little too unrealistic for the reader to accept the story in full. Her recovery is too smooth and too easy, undercutting the severity of what happens to her and coming to an incredibly unrealistic emotional and physical climax. The same climax is also the most supernatural moment of the book. That moment stretches the reader's ability to suspend disbelief to a breaking point. While the rest of the ghostly aspects seem possible, this final one does not. As a result, the climax to the story is the most unfulfilled and unwelcome part of the book. It disrupts the flow, which until then has been smooth and natural. Furthermore, in a book about human experiences that is based so much in character that than plot, the climax isn't even necessary. In my view, it's a poor choice by the author and takes the entire book down a notch.
That said, the rest of the novel is pretty good. Sebold has a simple, clean, light writing style which is a pleasure to read. The plot is new and interesting. Characters are, for the most part, realistic, recognizable, and interesting. It's an easy text to get sucked in to, emotional but not over the top, and a interesting, hopeful new take on the average coming-of-age story. I enjoyed it, and while I don't think it is a classic it was a fairly good book and it makes a nice break from longer, heavier, more difficult texts. I recommend it on that basis: this isn't the book of a lifetime, but it's a solid, interesting, skillful read.
Book Review: A very good read but...
Summary: 4 Stars
I thought THE LOVELY BONES was very well structured and very well written. I found Ms. Sebold's prose quite lyrical and the storyline quite intriguing. The author was able to take what lesser writers would turn into a silly sappy story and turn it into fine literature. I read this book in less than 2 days, so it's a very fast read. This book however, is not without its flaws. Some of the language used and word choices (pestle, riving, obsequious, acquisitive, fetid, accretion, etc.) a fourteen year old girl would NEVER think of using and especially in the context of her storytelling. I realize there is some literary license, but that stretches into cynical and incredulity.
The other problem I had was Ms. Sebold, never explained upfront, why Susie was able to be omniscient and go into the heads of the characters on earth and not only explain to us (the reader) what those characters were thinking, but go back in time into their childhoods to try and explain why they are the way they are today. I especially had a difficult time with that regarding Mr. Harvey as well as Ray's parents. That was never explained to us up front about her ability to read people's minds, or for her to be able to go back in time and understand the psychology of the person. I also wanted to learn more about heaven and get into why she saw her grandfather, but never touched on it again. Does he look the way he did when he died? Is he more youthful? And why did Grandma Lynn not track Susie down upon dying, yet Holiday the dog was there immediately? Small things, yes, but again, it would have made the story even more complete for me.
The other strange moment in the book occurred rather late, when Ms. Sebold chose to have Susie descend from heaven and for a short time live inside of Ruth's body, so that she can finally experience physical love with Ray. It's difficult enough to find the entire story plausible and I thought Alice Sebold did a credible job up until that time. I thought that chapter was completely unnecessary.
If I could give half stars then I would have given this book 3.5 stars. But I found it better than 3 and not quite 4. Overall, I would recommend this book to others.
Book Review: A well written, sad story
Summary: 4 Stars
I think this book is very well written and the author makes the characters extremely accessible. This is not however, light reading. It is heartbreaking and at times I just wanted it to be over. That said, I look forward to reading more novels by Alice Sebold for her profound skill in storytelling.