The Lovely Bones is one of my favorite books of all times….and it’s about to be released as a movie which I generally feel is not a good thing for the books I love. This book is very well written and as horrible and tragic as some moments are, the story as a whole is not that way.
This is the story of Susie Salmon, a fourteen-year-old, who is raped and murdered on her way home from school by a neighbor man. The beginning of this book is gripping, and I’m sorry if I’ve ruined it by telling you that she doesn’t make it. This is something you learn very quickly. The book continues to follow her family members and friends: her parents, her younger sister and brother. It also follows Susie who is in a heaven that is made up of her favorite things from life. Susie is able to watch her family from above and in some small ways communicate with them to help guide them as they work in different ways to deal with her murder and find out who is responsible.
There is a lot of grief and mourning in this story. Susie mourns the life that she had such as the lost relationship with a boy she had kissed just before her death. Her parents mourn her in very different and separate ways that drive them apart. Throughout it all they try to find out who had done this and Susie leaves clues and tries to show herself as she is able.
I liked how Susie was still involved in telling her story. I liked the idea that Susie was in heaven watching over those she loved. It truly is a beautiful book that I would recommend to everyone and anyone.
05/01/2010 at 1:14 am Permalink
Maybe I’ll try reading it again. I couldn’t make it through the beginning. I do hear good things about it. Will you go see the movie?