Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Not That Great!
I thought that I would really like this book. In fact, I like how it started out, but I just lost interest. It just seemed to go on and on without ever really going anywhere. My book club just discoverd a new writer who is a friend of a friend kinda thing, but I think that this unknown writer I am reading now is much better! It's too bad I can't create as much hype for her book. My club is reading COCKPIT CONFESSIONS OF AN AIRLINE PILOT by Keshner, and is it ever something.
Rating:  - Great therapy, poor fiction
Disappointing to see a fine idea drowned in sentiment. The book unfortunately perpetuates the false dream of the victim i.e., all future life is related to the point of trauma. The sad and yet comforting reality is that the world moves on for everyone related to tragedy including, if not especially, the direct victim. In the opening chapter the author is divided into at least three separate entities. There is the innocent girl who dies tarnished but remains pure in heaven. There is the dippy clairvoyant who though unrelated sees the ghost of innocence in everything. Then there is the pragmatic overachieving sister who is able to find a place to put the tragedy in order to allow her to keep moving forward.It would be trite to say that these are all aspects of the author's personality in dealing with her own terible trauma, but as she herself has chosen to record the event, I think it must be considered as a reference in this fiction. It may have been a rewarding and worthy experience writing this book, but reading it was just a little Oprah for my tastes. Child molestation, rape and murder are repugnant acts that cannot be made easier to stomach because someone's sister marries a nice boy. It seems a distinctly American idea that tragedy is only truly defeated by happiness. In Europe and, perhaps even more, in Israel we understand that tragedy and happiness are not dependent on each other for validation. They are not inversely proportional. Tragedy and happiness co-exist - a tough reality not represented in this simplified fiction.
Rating: - An intriguing debut - and an excellent read
Alice Sebold has written a remarkable debut novel. The narrator, Susie Salmon, was raped and murdered in 1973 and now resides in her heaven; yet, her voice contains none of the bitterness one would expect. She is able to see into the lives of those who touched her in life and death. At times wistful - for she will never be able to experience growing up - and others matter-of-fact, Susie witnesses the changes and growth within her family and small circle of friends. Her story is not one about death, but about loss and affirming life in its face, about moving on not only for those she left behind but for herself. The reader won't be able to escape the sadness in these pages - I came close to crying several times - but the overall tone is hardly grim. Because Susie is secure and happy in her heaven, she keeps the story full of light and optimism.This novel is not flawless, nor should it expected to be. The narrative loses some of its momentum near the end. In addition, Sebold makes the mistake of adding a scene (which I won't describe here) seemingly designed to lessen the reader's regret about Susie's missed coming-of-age, but instead the scene falls flat. Susie's loss is as much a part of this book as her family's is, and to pretend it can be reversed, even if only temporarily, defeats the story. Still, given the first two-thirds of the book, this misstep and others can be forgiven.
The Lovely Bones is one of those books you can pick up and not want to put down again until you finish. At roughly 325 pages, this novel demands to be read on a plane, or on the beach, or when you have good chunks of time available to sit with it. Don't frustrate yourself by allowing a half hour here and there. This is one book that deserves its spot on the bestseller list.
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