Tuesday, September 21, 2010

A Review of 'The Lovely Bones' by Alice Sebold

"'My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.'

So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her-- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, 'The Lovely Bones' succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy."

One of the most amazing things I have ever read! Alice Sebold weaves a beautiful story.

I feel like one of those reviewers that are quoted on the back cover of books, but it's completely true!

It's the way the characters react to Susie's death. Her father breaks down, her brother and sister are put on the back-burner and are unintentionally isolated (because they were Susie's siblings and, in Buckley's (the brother) case, too young to understand just what was going on), and how the mother became virtually numb. I have no experience with death in my immediate family (fortunately), but to me, this felt very real; it was very believable.

The murderer was incredibly creepy. He so practiced in this whole murder business that he knew what to hide in order to be undetectable. He went against everything you would expect a murderer to do in order to avoid getting caught. He practiced his plans outside (I'm speaking of the marital tent, though this was never performed as an evil act), he called the police when Susie's sister broke into his house and had it willingly searched when the police and detectives went around the neighborhood asking questions. It was unbelievable; completely crazy.

I was puzzled as to what direction the story would take after the murderer (George Harvey) left town and the police had basically dropped Susie's case. I was really happy to find out what happened to her friends and family because, throughout the book, you become attached to all of these people. It's always fun to know what happens once characters grow up (even if they are fictional).

Before reading the book, I watched the movie. I liked the movie. It was pretty faithful to the book, but even so, Hollywood can't include everything. But even so, nothing ever beats the book. The book just provides more substance (because they can include more things and convey things that film and video game formats just can't harness (there is no video game for this book... I'm not sure what that would be like... probably one of those I-Spy games). I'm glad I saw the movie first, because I'm sure I would have come away disappointed or wanting something more.

If you have time, I highly recommend that you go and find this book (if you haven't read it already) and prepare to get sucked in.

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

3 comments:

  1. JUDE!!!
    I gots a question fer yuh: have u ever tried writing sonnets? its not as easy as it sounds :/

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  2. Ezra! I can honestly say that I have never tried to write a sonnet. Theoretically, how are you meant to go about this?

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  3. so there are 14 likes, and they all have 10 syllables. and the first 12 rhyme like this: abab, cdcd, efef where every other sentence rhymes. then the last two rhyme going with the whole letter thing it would be gg.
    hard to explain. google it. I'm writing sonnets about mitosis for my biology final so i need to practice writing sonnets :)

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