Given the glut of reviews on ‘The Lovely Bones’, it seems that this is a very popular novel. Indeed, this book is one of the biggest selling books of the past twenty years on both sides of the Atlantic. It has made Alice Sebold into one of the most prominent modern American writers and has ... Read review
On her way home from school on a snowy December day, 14-year-old Susie Salmon is lured ... more
into a cornfield and brutally raped and murdered, the latest victim of a serial killer. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold's haunting and heartbreaking debut novel, unfo...
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On her way home from school on a snowy December day, 14-year-old Susie Salmon is lured ... more
into a cornfield and brutally raped and murdered, the latest victim of a serial killer.The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold's haunting and heartbreaking debut novel, unfol...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - winner of the 'Richard and Judy Best Read Award' at the ... more
British Book Awards 2004 Over 30,000 of the great British public have voted for Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones since January this year, making it the winner of ...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: in stock
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - winner of the 'Richard and Judy Best Read Award' at the ... more
British Book Awards 2004 Over 30,000 of the great British public have voted for Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones since January this year, making it the winner of the 'Richard and Judy Best Read Award' at the British Book Awards last week. It beat the nine other titles covered in the weekly Richard and Judy Book Club feature, including Brick Lane by Monica Ali, The Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor, Toast by Nigel Slater and Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller, to become the first ever winner of this award.
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Advantages: Unique premise, excellent narration Disadvantages: Mawkishly over-sentimental, unrealistic and a bit soppy
Given the glut of reviews on ‘The Lovely Bones’, it seems that this is a very popular novel. Indeed, this book is one of the biggest selling books of the past twenty years on both sides of the Atlantic. It has made Alice Sebold into one of the most prominent modern American writers and has been featured on many different talk shows, arts programmes and critical review shows. Most famously, the book was the winner of the Richard & Judy book club award ... ...a freshman as Syracuse University. The title ‘lucky’ came from a conversation she had with a police officer following the attack, the officer telling Sebold that she was ‘lucky’ because the rapist’s other victims had all been brutally murdered and dismembered. Prior to writing ‘Lucky’, Sebold had drifted into heroin addiction and a quite squalid life but dragged her way back up and became something of a minor celebrity in the US with appearances ... more
Given the glut of reviews on ‘The Lovely Bones’, it seems that this is a very popular novel. Indeed, this book is one of the biggest selling books of the past twenty years on both sides of the Atlantic. It has made Alice Sebold into one of the most prominent modern American writers and has been featured on many different talk shows, arts programmes and critical review shows. Most famously, the book was the winner of the Richard & Judy book club award on their Channel 4 show.
Alice Sebold shot to fame with her first book, ‘Lucky’, which was an autobiographical account of her life to date, centred around a devastating rape she suffered while she was a freshman as Syracuse University. The title ‘lucky’ came from a conversation she had with a police officer following the attack, the officer telling Sebold that she was ‘lucky’ because the rapist’s other victims had all been brutally murdered and dismembered. Prior to writing ‘Lucky’, Sebold had drifted into heroin addiction and a quite squalid life but dragged her way back up and became something of a minor celebrity in the US with appearances on the Oprah Winfrey show under the banner of a ‘survivor’. Sebold followed up ‘Lucky’, with ‘The Lovely Bones’.
The book is quite different from any other book you are likely to read, in that the narrator is dead. The book begins with the narrator saying ‘My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973’. Straight away we know we are reading something a little bit different. By the fifteenth page, Susie has been murdered after being lured into the home of Mr. Harvey, a man she had once trusted, a man who ‘my father talked to once about fertiliser’. The rape and murder is dealt with in a very matter-of-fact way that one minute the character is alive and then she’s dead. And the second chapter picks up with Susie in heaven, and the rest of the book progresses with Susie looking down on the aftermath of her murder, seeing the effect it has on her family, and chartering the progress of her mother, father and sister Ruth as they try to come to terms with their loss.
The book brings up some interesting and debate-worthy questions. It deals with mortality, the afterlife and distance, or, rather, the ability to observe what is going on but the inability to do anything about it. As Susie is now in heaven looking down on her family, she is unable to directly influence events as she would prefer, but instead must observe. The book conjures up somewhat wishy-washy notions of heaven and I think this notion could have been better explored. Susie’s heaven is a world of girlie style magazines, a heaven without a God and a place occupied almost exclusively by murdered women. This was a little jarring and was an annoying aspect of the book. It taps into the everyday idea of what happens after we die, and if you conducted a straw poll of 100 people and asked them what they thought would happen to them when they will die then you can guarantee you would come back with some very different answers. The book is good at tapping into this idea but doesn’t explore it quite far enough. For example, what happens to Mr. Harvey when he dies? Does he get to go to heaven? (One would presume the answer to be no). Themes like these could have made for a much meatier read.
It struck me as somewhat odd that a book which is basically about a child being raped and murdered could be so successful. The book has sold by the shedload, which is extremely curious. Certainly I would say this is a book that appeals to the mainstream in spite of this difficult and sensitive topic. The book is by no means a hard read; while Sebold’s narrative style is quite fluid and realistic, the book could easily be read in a spare afternoon. The narration by Susie Salmon is innocent, childlike and naïve, indeed when she introduces herself as ‘Salmon, like the fish’, it imbues the character with a childlike innocence.
The narrative is brilliant and is one of the book’s strengths. The almost clinical murder of Susie is brief but awful, and later on when we read of her murderer disposing of her remains (narrated from heaven by his victim) Sebold really strikes a powerful chord. At times this is quite a dark read, but one suggestive of hope, perhaps.
Why, then, has such a dark and potentially distressing book achieved such mainstream success? Well, this is due in no small part to the sentimentality of the book. The book reaches out and grabs your heartstrings, commanding you in places to ‘cry here’ and ‘be sympathetic here’, and it struck me as being far too obvious when Sebold could have been subversive. The style of narration, that of a narrator who is already dead and can only observe, is a brilliant one which can rarely be achieved successfully (I believe Douglas Coupland’s ‘Girlfriend In A Coma’ does similar things – an excellent read, by the way) but Sebold drenches a series of set-pieces in melodrama.
It must be said that this is an intensely sentimental book, and the sentimentality can be somewhat overpowering at times. The worst point of the book is its mawkish, unrealistic conclusion, which I won’t spoil for you here, but one I thought was wholly unnecessary and spoiled the whole premise of the book. There are also several sequences which are almost uncomfortably maudlin, slushy and even corny. This I found to be rather weak writing, as though Sebold was throwing every possible cliché and narrative stereotype into the story, resulting at times in quite a frustrating read. It also must be said that the concluding elements of the book are quite maddening – you want Sebold to cut it off, you are saying to yourself, ‘right, it’s got to end here, this is where you have to draw the line’ yet the loose ends are tied up again and again, over and over, and the book towards the end just drags.
That said, Sebold certainly knows the conventions she is working with and often plays against them. For example, we become quite sympathetic to the character of Susie’s father yet he isn’t treated very fairly throughout the book. You want him to step up to the mantle of being a hero but it never happens. It could be said that this weakens the character but instead it shows that Sebold will not always play to convention, even if she is willing to use clichés like they were still in fashion in other sections of the book.
The narrative drives the book and begs the question that if the book had dealt with the aftermath of the murder and the family coming to terms with Susie’s death WITHOUT her being ‘present’ (in a manner of speaking) as the narrator, would this have made for quite a successful book? The answer, simply, is no. The book taps into notions of grief, community, family and the afterlife. ‘The Lovely Bones’ was released not long after September 11th, 2001 and it immediately became a huge success with an American audience looking for some kind of comfort after suffering such a devastating loss. It isn’t hard to draw parallels between the book and the terrorist attack; an act of pure evil and then families, or individuals, trying to deal with the loss of a loved one. While the book was written before 9/11, it struck a chord in the American market among a populace looking for a comfort after loss, and this is a book which is suggestive of evil not necessarily triumphing over good.
It is hard to criticise Sebold for writing such a sensitive book when she has suffered at the hands of a rapist herself, indeed it would seem churlish to do so, but on the other hand one must strive for objectivity. The amount of positive reviews on this book on this website would suggest this is something of a housewife’s favourite, and that is by no means a denigrating term. This is a book which Richard and Judy can happily plug because it does suggest resolution and happy endings despite grief, sorrow, loss and pain. If the book had been more abstract, and had left its conclusion open, then it would be hard to imagine Richard & Judy plugging the book, or to see the book doing as well as it has.
In sum, I found this to be quite a mixed bag. While the premise is interesting and the execution of the premise to be brilliantly written, there are also elements of melodramatic fluff which let the book down and make it not quite as good as it could have been. This is a page-turner of a read and can be quite gripping, but for readers who like meatier stuff this is quite a limited text.
Interestingly, ‘The Lovely Bones’ is being made into a film by Peter Jackson, the director of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. I found Jackson to be a curious choice of director for this film (though his film ‘Heavenly Creatures’ did touch upon this kind of theme), and I think it will make for an interesting film (for better or for worse) due to the style of narration and having a central character who plays no part in the action/narrative that drives the book/film. One to look out for maybe…
‘The Lovely Bones’ is available from Amazon.co.uk on paperback at the very reasonable price of £6.39.
Advantages: A beautifully-written, elegantly constructed book. Disadvantages: Sentimental in places.
...except she cannot return to the people she loved on earth. She can only watch their grief.
When I saw this book on the library shelf I wasn’t certain that I wanted to read it. I thought that the subject would be depressing and I try not to take my pleasures so sadly. I knew too that the story was narrated from heaven. If the book had a religious theme it would be back in the library before it had chance to grow warm in my hands. The book went home ... ...worth reading. It was the last of my six books to be read though – and then I couldn’t put it down.
The rape and murder take place in the first few pages of the novel. It’s an uncomfortable subject but it’s dealt with sensitively. The horror is conveyed, but not milked:
“Tell me you love me,” he said.
Gently I did.
The end came anyway.
The rest of the story is told by Susie from Heaven. As a device this works well, allowing the narrator to be ...
SueMagee 03.12.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Advantages: Original idea, beautiful writing style Disadvantages: Not as gripping as I would normally like
“My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.”
And so begins “The Lovely Bones”, Susie’s story, told as she looks down on the world from her heaven, in the aftermath of her tragic death.
Susie’s murder in the cornfield behind her house, by a local man, George Harvey, sends shockwaves through her neighbourhood, her school, her friends and her family. ... ...those closest to her, and the story spans the ten years following her death. She watches as life goes on without her and those who knew her in life move on – at very different paces and in very different ways.
Susie’s father is hit the hardest by her death. Suspicious of George Harvey from the outset, he seeks to avenge the murder, but is driven to a near breakdown and ultimately failing physical health. His wife deals with the tragedy ...
Pumpkin 01.12.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Advantages: Interesting aspect, well written. Disadvantages: Sad, not all that riveting.
...one because it had outpaced the sales of any other first novel in memory, 925,000 copies in print after 11 printings. It is still in the top twenty best selling novels today. People also tended to say it was compulsive reading.
Anne Sebold described it herself once as “It is about the murder and dismemberment of a young girl and she dies in the first chapter. She tells the story in first person. She tells the story of her family and her friends ... ...The story is told by the principal character, the spirit of a murdered teenager.
Susie Salmon who is brutally raped and murdered by a psycho serial killer who evades detection by posing convincingly as an innocent, normal (if eccentric) citizen next door. The book starts "My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. My mother liked his border ...
parker-munn 07.03.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Advantages: A one off story Disadvantages: May be a bit hard to take
...wanted it straight away. The wording on the back was enough to convince me. ‘My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. My murderer was a man from our neighbourhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father talked to him once about fertilizer’. Such shocking words, yet compelling enough just in a few sentences to lure me into buying it (obviously doesn't take much!). The ... ...starting with very light at the top to royal blue at the bottom. The only picture on the front is of a silver bracelet with a single charm on – a house. This reminds me of the house in the Wizard of Oz, flying through the air towards the end of the film when Dorothy awakens from her dream.
This story really gripped me from the start. Susie Salmon is a school girl who is brutally taken from her family and raped and killed by a neighbour. She has ...
kirstymack80 12.09.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Advantages: innovative narrative, touching, well told Disadvantages: some violent and horrific content
...in a small town in the USA the book chronicles the changes that occur between 1973 and the mid eighties following the brutal murder of Susie Salmon.
One of the most intriguing things about the book is that it manages to transcend the clunkiness of a first person tale that ends "And then I died", not least by opening in almost that way:
"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."
... ...death allows Susie to see the world and everyone in it in full. She can feel their fear, understand their wonderings and explain why they act as they do. It's a unique and telling perspective; it doesn't leave the reader suffering from a confusion of switching narrative in order to explain why things happen, at the same time it allows for a much more involved and immediate feeling than that of an anonymous narrator.
At the centre of the story is ...
hawkida 23.05.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
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Advantages: Very well written, interesting Disadvantages: True story, not too cheeful!
read this book after reading The LovelyBones, also written by AliceSebold.
The author gives her own account of being raped as a college-student and how it affects her, her relationships with friends, family and boyfriends, and also how her ordeal affected them.
Right from the beginning of the book, you are drawn into her story, and the detail she goes into is extremely intimate and personal. Rape is not a particularly cheerful topic, but the empathy you feel with the author manages to ensure that you simply cannot put this book down.
If you have read, or are going to read The LovelyBones as well, you can definitely see the impact AliceSebold's own exerience had had an influence on it. ...
Advantages: Fantastic writing style that makes reading addictive Disadvantages: Harrowing initial chapters
Lucky, is the word AliceSebold uses to describe herself. 'A shorthand for blessed'. When reading this in the acknowledgments, I couldn?t grasp what was blessed about experiencing rape.
The follow up book to The LovelyBones, Lucky is AliceSebold?s personal experience of rape, the psychological effects of rape, the experience of reporting rape, the trial of rape, and eventually the justice of the trial. The book tells the effects in graphic detail in retrospect of 15 years after the event. It cements you to every tiny recollection of emotion she experienced.
Although a harrowing read in the initial chapters, the book takes you through every emotion, fear, determination, love, jealousy, regret, self doubt and joy.
The negative of rape has through this book enlightened me to the positives that people have the ability to ...
Advantages: Complete value for money, essential novel, re-read, beautifully written, heartfelt and completely entertaining. Disadvantages: None that I could find
^Intro^
When you think about a novel, you probrably remember the beter ones as something that inspires you..that is original, beautifully written and something you could not put down. This is exactly all that The Time Traveller's Wife (Audery Niffenegger's first novel) encased for me.
After recently enjoying The LovelyBones (AliceSebold), I wasn't too sure that any other book could easily follow in its footsteps. To my utter amazement, I was wrong. Througout the 3 weeks that I read this book, instead of fitting quick reads into the usual routine, I found myself fitting the usual routine around anytime I could read...and when not reading I was still transfixed from the last chapter.
^The Basic Plot----Careful!!! May Ruin For Those Who Haven't Read!!^
This complex (at times) romance/sci-fi story takes the reader throughout time ...
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