|
|
The Lovely Bones (Paperback)
by Alice Sebold
| Category:
Teens, Novel |
| Market price: ¥ 158.00
MSL price:
¥ 148.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
The plot is one told with real emotion, and you cannot help but let the narrator's overwhelming sense of loneliness seep into your soul. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
Detail |
Author |
Description |
Excerpt |
Reviews |
|
|
|
Author: Alice Sebold
Publisher: Amazon Remainders Account; Reprint edition
Pub. in: April, 2004
ISBN: 0316168815
Pages: 352
Measurements: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BC00335
Other information: ASIN: B000FDFVZ6
|
|
Rate this product:
|
|
- Awards & Credential -
"...a risky novel that gracefully succeeds..." - USA Today, 6/27/02
"...a personal and artistic triumph..." - Time, 7/1/02
"...a high wire act...and Sebold maintains almost perfect balance...takes the stuff of...tragedy...and turns it into literature..." - The New York Times Book Review, 7/14/02
|
|
- MSL Picks -
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.
(From quoting Debbie Lee Wesselmann, USA)
Target readers:
Teens
|
|
Alice Sebold is the author of the memoir Lucky. This is her first novel. She lives with the writer Glen David Gold in Southern California.
|
|
From Publishers Weekly
Sebold's first novel after her memoir, Lucky is a small but far from minor miracle. Sebold has taken a grim, media-exploited subject and fashioned from it a story that is both tragic and full of light and grace. The novel begins swiftly. In the second sentence, Sebold's narrator, Susie Salmon, announces, "I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." Susie is taking a shortcut through a cornfield when a neighbor lures her to his hideaway. The description of the crime is chilling, but never vulgar, and Sebold maintains this delicate balance between homely and horrid as she depicts the progress of grief for Susie's family and friends. She captures the odd alliances forged and the relationships ruined: the shattered father who buries his sadness trying to gather evidence, the mother who escapes "her ruined heart, in merciful adultery." At the same time, Sebold brings to life an entire suburban community, from the mortician's son to the handsome biker dropout who quietly helps investigate Susie's murder. Much as this novel is about "the lovely bones" growing around Susie's absence, it is also full of suspense and written in lithe, resilient prose that by itself delights. Sebold's most dazzling stroke, among many bold ones, is to narrate the story from Susie's heaven (a place where wishing is having), providing the warmth of a first-person narration and the freedom of an omniscient one. It might be this that gives Sebold's novel its special flavor, for in Susie's every observation and memory of the smell of skunk or the touch of spider webs is the reminder that life is sweet and funny and surprising.
(MSL quote)
|
| View all 6 comments |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-15 00:00>
Less than 2 years ago, our 13-year-old son Daniel died - very unexpectedly, of a massive asthma attack while on a school retreat. I purchased "The Lovely Bones", knowing the book's premise, for our 17-year old daughter to read. Not sure if the content of the book would be too close to our actual experience for Julia to handle, I decided to read it first (this is the first time I have done any pre-reading, as Julia is perfectly able to decide on her own whether or not to read a book, but still...) I was very surprised to find myself riveted to the book, and unable to stop reading it until finished. While I, like many earlier reviewers, found the end a little too contrived, I certainly feel that the book's strengths far outweigh its weaknesses.
About 6 months after Daniel's death, I had a dream that portrayed a visit by my husband, daughter, and myself to Daniel in what was clearly "his heaven" - also containing a school in a residential neighborhood, a "foster family" which apparently served as his "home away from home", and - most positively - a large number of new friends. This was the best aspect of his Heaven, as far as I was concerned, as Daniel had been troubled for his entire life by an inability to make many friends, and here he was almost too busy to visit with his family because of wanting to get on with his activities with his buddies!
I have often offered the circumstances of Daniel's death - fast and probably painless (as a friend remarked, "Daniel doesn't know he's dead yet"), and that he was able to donate many of his organs - as probable explanations to those who find me so "upbeat" since he died. I contrast this situation with other, well-publicized child kidnappings, murders, and (worst, in my opinion) those events which are never resolved.
Nonetheless - some aspects of the narrative hit home, and I found myself tearing up more over this fictional account than our own all-too-real loss! I was forced to wonder what would Daniel think if he is able to follow our lives, as Susie followed those of her family and friends. Does he still pine for the girl he had a crush on? Is he sorry that he can't see the sequal to his beloved MIB movie? Is he able to eat his fill of cheese pizzas, now that he doesn't have to take at least one bite of his mother's sometimes too-exotic vegetarian experiments? Does he find it annoying that, after years of refusing to allow pets, we now have 3 crazy cats, as a result of Julia "needing" them? Is he bemused by the grief-stricken responses to his death by those same classmates he had sought as friends for so many years?
I am awaiting Julia's response to the book. In particular, I want to know how "genuine" the characterizations of Susie and Lindsay appear to her. I will suggest that she submit a review herself, so we will all know the answer.
|
Matt Compton (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-15 00:00>
In my mind, there are three things that make a book stand shoulders above the reams of pages printed each day. First is obviously the story; quite often the reader will forgive anything of a writer who creates a plot so gripping that we lose ourselves in the pages. Second are the characters; even the most mundane part of life - say a woman drinking her coffee before she prepares for work - can keep the pages turning if the protagonist is unique and interesting. Finally, there is the quality of writing; in great literature, it is often not what is said but how the story is told that makes the difference. The remarkable thing about Alice Sebold's first novel is not that it manages to do one of these things splendidly, but rather that she somehow creates a story that does all three. Told from a perspective that I have never before seen in modern literature, The Lovely Bones is a story that grips the imagination from page one and does not let go, even days after the novel has been finished. Sebold's characters are so real, so alive, that they spring from the page fully formed. The plot is one told with real emotion, and you cannot help but let the narrator's overwhelming sense of loneliness seep into your soul. Above all else, the beauty of Ms. Sebold's writing dominates the work, and the transcendent character of her words is simply sublime. The Lovely Bones is among the finest stories I have ever read. Buy a first edition while you still can-and treasure it like a first printing of To Kill A Mockingbird.
|
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-15 00:00>
The booklap promises a novel that is "luminous and astonishing." Guess what? That's not hyperbole. It IS.
By now, you must know that, at the outset, we meet Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl who - on a cold, snowy December late afternoon -- is raped and murdered by a neighbor in a corn field on her way home from eighth grade. She goes to heaven. And from heaven -- which is Susie's own personal heaven - she watches life on Earth unfold for her family and friends - and murderer.
Initally, that did not sound like a story I wanted to read. Too dark, possibly too sentimental for this middle-aged, male reader. Plus, I thought, we know who did it right at the top, so how interesting could this story be? Regardless, I bought the book because (1) of the unanimously strong reviews I had read, and (2) I was delayed at an airport and was desperate for a book to read.
Well, surprise. From the first page, I couldn't put the book down. An absolute page-turner. It's a winning mixture of true crime, coming-of-age story, fantasy, family drama and ghost story. And, for me, it was spiritually provocative, giving me pause regarding my notions of life, death and afterlife.
And all exquisitely told by Sebold. One reviewer called this a "miraculous" book. I agree. Another reviewer advised that, "if you read only one book this summer, this is the one to read." I agree heartily with that, too. Buy it, read it, savor every word.
|
Nancy (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-15 00:00>
Coming of age stories have long been considered poignant and heart breaking leaving the readers with messages far greater than those found in books about adult experiences. Consider the following older titles, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, The Temple of Gold by William Goldman or more recently Ellen Foster, Durable Goods and Bastard Out of Carolina. Now consider the eloquent first novel, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold who introduces us to the character of Susie Salmon. Susie, a 14 year old, was raped and murdered and in one of the most innovative plots in recent years narrates her story from heaven. And before you say, Oh no, this book sounds morbid and not for me, let me be the first to say I never thought I would read this book, let alone enjoy it. And now that Ive finished this title, I can't wait to let some time elapse and then rereading it for more thoughts on this book.
Susie Salmon is the oldest of three children living in a suburban Pennsylvania community. Somewhat of a loner, before her death, Susie dreams that high school will change her life measurably. Susie is bright beyond her years and exhibits a unique curiosity and great wit even while relating incidents about her family from heaven. Walking home from school one day, Susie is lured away by someone she knows and then meets her violent death. From this point on till the end of the book, Susie relates the effect her death has on her parents, siblings and grandmother. She watches as her parents cope with the preliminary news and then ensuing investigation while Susie's body is never found. We watch along with Susie as their lonely neighbor, Mr. Harvey is scrutinized and questioned although never arrested or charged. We observe Susie's friends, Paul the shy Indian student initially accused of the murder and Ruth who is able to communicate with Susie. And our hearts ache as Susie's younger sister Lindsey finds friendship and ultimately love during the years after this event, their brother Buckley grows up never really knowing Susie and their grandmother becomes a vital part of a family she hardly knew. But most of all we cry as Susie's father never gives up trying to find out what happened to Susie and her mother who most leave the family in order to rejoin them at a later time.
Sebold's writing is candid, poignant and heart rendering. There are passages that took my breath, found me sighing away and reduced me to tears particularly the last two pages. And her sense of irony at the end is more than worth the journey. I truly think this is a must be read book. The author, herself a rape victim has the rare gift of exploring what must be one of the most difficult events in a famiily's life making it enticing and ultimately a most rewarding read.
|
View all 6 comments |
|
|
|
|
