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The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
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The Lovely Bones

by Alice Sebold

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15,29238740 (3.79)262
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English (382)  Norwegian (1)  Italian (1)  Spanish (1)  Portuguese (Portugal) (1)  Dutch (1)  All languages (387)
Showing 1-5 of 382 (next | show all)
Very good. ( )
  ini_ya | Nov 7, 2009 |
I read this book long after it was published, initially thinking that it was going to be a gruesome murder story. Was I ever surprised. I've read it several time since buying it and shared it with my shrink and grief counselor to let him know which one in the family I most identified with. This could have easily been a maudlin, depressing downer, but Sebold's injecting the spiritual lifted this truly original story to joyful heights.

If you've never experienced the death of someone you loved more than yourself, you might not burrow as deeply into this book as others. But it will stick, and you'll pick it up again sometime. ( )
  macktan894 | Nov 6, 2009 |
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold is one of the better books I have read. The entire story is told from the point of view of Sophie Salmon (like the fish), a young girl who is horribly murdered, and is focused on her observations from heaven of her friends and family as they strive to make sense of this tragedy and to simply live their lives.

The uniqueness of the narrator makes for an interesting read. But this is not a crime story as I was expecting. I have read more books in which the murderer is caught and, well, either killed or punished in some way and while this story did deal with the murderer himself, his capture wasn’t the focus of the novel. To me, in some ways, this was extremely refreshing, yet I am glad that it is addressed in the novel at some point.

As I have a child of my own, my dear Natasha Bear, I can’t imagine what ANY parent must feel upon the realization that someone has taken their child away from them. The only thing I can do is to wrap my daughter up in my arms and, as she squirms to get away from me, to simply be grateful for the time we have together and to pray that nothing like this ever happens to her.

I was enthralled by the book, but it didn’t keep me up all night or invade my thoughts as to what was going to happen next. I am yet unsure as to whether to go to the movie (or to watch it when it comes out on DVD) because I am sure that Hollywood will mangle it.

Definitely a great novel. ( )
1 vote kippras | Oct 31, 2009 |
  nkuhn | Oct 30, 2009 |
Conway, C. (2002). The lovely bones (Book Review). Library Journal (1976), 127(9), 127-8. Retrieved October 28, 2009, from Article Citation database.

Huntley, k. (2002). The lovely bones (Book Review). Booklist, 98(17), 1510. Retrieved October 28, 2009, from Article Citation database.
  bwilson | Oct 28, 2009 |
Showing 1-5 of 382 (next | show all)
Sebold's compelling and sometimes poetic prose style and unsparing vision transform Susie's tragedy into an ultimately rewarding novel.
added by bell7 | editLibrary Journal (Aug 25, 2009)
 
Although some sections tend toward melodrama... other passages are dreamy and lyrical. Most striking is Sebold's mastery of a teenager's voice, from such small details as Susie's Strawberry-Banana Kissing Potion to her completely believable thought processes.
 
An extraordinary, almost-successful debut that treats sensational material with literary grace, narrated from heaven by the victim of a serial killer and pedophile.
added by bell7 | editKirkus Reviews (Aug 1, 2002)
 
Don't start "Lovely Bones" unless you can finish it. The book begins with more horror than you could imagine, but closes with more beauty than you could hope for.
 
Sebold takes an enormous risk in her wonderfully strange début novel: her narrator, Susie Salmon, is dead—murdered at the age of fourteen by a disturbed neighbor—and speaks from the vantage of Heaven. Such is the author's skill that from the first page this premise seems utterly believable... If in the end she reaches too far, the book remains a stunning achievement.
added by Shortride | editThe New Yorker (Jul 15, 2002)
 
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Series (with order)
Canonical Title
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
Always, Glen
First words
My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie.
Inside the snow globe on my father's desk, there was a penguin wearing a red-and-white-striped scarf.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Canonical titleThe Lovely Bones
Original publication date2002-06
People/CharactersSusie Salmon, George Harvey, Jack Salmon, Lindsey Salmon, Buckley Salmon, Len Fenerman (show all 17)
Important placesNorristown, Pennsylvania, USA, New Hampshire, USA, California, USA, Connecticut, USA
Awards and honorsWaterstones top 25 books of the last 25 years (2007, No 13), South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nominee (2004-2005), Book Sense Book of the Year (Adult Fiction Winner, 2003), Bram Stoker Award (First Novel, 2002), British Book Award (Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year, 2004), Pajiba's Best Books of the Generation (2007, No 14) (show all 16)
DedicationAlways, Glen
First wordsMy name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie., Inside the snow globe on my father's desk, there was a penguin wearing a red-and-white-striped scarf.
Last words(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
BlurbersKakutani, Michiko, Quindlen, Anna, Woods, Paula L., Putnam, Conan, Grossman, Lev, Bouton, Katherine (show all 15)
DescriptionUnbelievable story of a girl who is brutally murdered and raped and watches over and tells her story from heaven.
Book description
Unbelievable story of a girl who is brutally murdered and raped and watches over and tells her story from heaven.

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0316166685, Mass Market Paperback)

When we first meet Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. As she looks down from this strange new place, she tells us, in the fresh and spirited voice of a fourteen-year-old girl, a tale that is both haunting and full of hope. In the weeks following her death, Susie watches life on Earth continuing without her-her school friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her family holding out hope that she'll be found, her killer trying to cover his tracks. As months pass without leads, Susie sees her parents' marriage being contorted by loss, her sister hardening herself in an effort to stay strong, and her little brother trying to grasp the meaning of the word gone. And she explores the place called heaven. It looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swing sets. There are counselors to help newcomers adjust and friends to room with. Everything she ever wanted appears as soon as she thinks of it-except the thing she most wants: to be back with the people she loved on Earth. With compassion, longing, and a growing understanding, Susie sees her loved ones pass through grief and begin to mend. Her father embarks on a risky quest to ensnare her killer. Her sister undertakes a feat of remarkable daring. And the boy Susie cared for moves on, only to find himself at the center of a miraculous event. The Lovely Bones is luminous and astonishing, a novel that builds out of grief the most hopeful of stories. In the hands of a brilliant new writer, this story of the worst thing a family can face is transformed into a suspenseful and even funny novel about love, memory, joy, heaven, and healing.

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:57 -0400)

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