Discussion of The Lovey Bones

[Scott]

This is the thread to discuss the August book of the month, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Please do not read this thread until you have read the book because this thread will contain spoilers.

What do you think of the book? Would you recommend it to others? Which characters are your favorite?

I like the book for the fact that it is unique. I have never read a book that is narrated by a dead person in heaven who is mostly narrating events on Earth as she observes them from heaven. I think it's very interesting and original. What do you think?

Some of the parts of the book are very gruesome, like when she describes her murder in detail. It's even more disturbing considering the narrator is a school-aged girl.

Do you have any favorite quotes or short passages from the book that you would like to post? If so, please do.

Thanks,
Scott

[Mrs.T]

I did like the book, but I felt it dragged on for a while in the middle. Her mother upset me a little. The book was overall good and on a scale of one through ten I'd rate it like a seven. But maybee I would have liked it better if they actually caught mr. Harvey and if I didn't read it afterthe time travelers wife.

[Delph]

I've read this book a few years ago, and I really liked it. It's true that the style and the story is unique, and it's one of this book that can't leave you indifferent. I found it sade and harsh that the girl was not only killed in a violent death, but had to witness the sadness her death caused to her family and friend.
And to see her killer get waway with his crime, grrr...
At the same time the tone was light, as if trying to tell us that death wasn't the end of everything, trying to give hope...
I really enjoy reading it, despite the difficult subject I was laughing sometime, very sade at the same time, so I would say it's a very interesting book.
For MrsT, I 've read The Time travelers wife and I loved it as well.

[atrixa]

I really enjoyed this book, as Scott says, it's unique, but the ending upset me. She could have told everyone where her body was, but what does she do? Have sex with her teen crush...

The beginning where she describes her rape and murder really disturbed me and I found it hard to read.

I liked the message about death and loss that Sebold was putting across, though. I appreciated the way that she portrayed the family as imperfect and more realistic. The mother cannot take it and the sister hardens herself towards the subject.

[Shari_K]

I read The Lovely Bones a couple of years ago, but it was at the time, one of my favorites. I do agree that it is very unique how it is told by someone who is dead. It is very moving and emotional as I have 2 daughters, 12 years old and 16 years old, so I really got into it emotionally. At the time I read it, my daughter's were a little too young, but I saved it and thought one day it would be a good book for them to read too. The reason this caught my attention is that I heard there will be a movie made from this book and it would be very interesting to see the movie. I like to see the movie after I have read the book, of course, the movie is never a good comparison to the book as the book is always much better.

[Bowlie]

I read the book a few months ago and really enjoyed it. I have to admit that I was a little upset at how the killer got his justice. The more I get away from the book, the more I have to applaud Sebold for writing it this way. It wasn't the easy, normal way to define justice served. I like that she took the road less traveled now.

I really liked the way all the characters were written as well. The flawed mother was in some ways so unlikeable, but I still felt quite sympathetic for her. I think all the characters flaws made them more believable and in the end, I think people can relate to them more.

I can't really see how this book can be made into a good movie (especially with Mark Wahlberg as the father). The preview looked kind of iffy to me.

[hollybear8907]

I have to say that I liked the book to begin with but then it just got so tedious to read, and boring. I could barely finish it. A few things disturbed me. I agree with atrixa. She should have spent her last 'hours' on earth a little better.

I loved how we saw her sister develop. I think she had to be my favorite character.

There is a movie coming out based on this book and I will have to go see it. Maybe I will like it a bit more. I hope the movie moves faster than the book did.

[IMMA]

I did not care for the book very much at first. But the more I think about it the better I like it. I was different from my normal read.

The book was not about her as much as the people left behind. How she watched them develope after her death. How it made them into something they would have never been if she was still there. The full growth of her sister. The way her mother ran away from it all.

I was happy about the way she spent her unexpected time back on earth. To be able to find that love was still there after all that time. To finaly know what physical love was and not the hate and pain she had at her death. That was a great move on the authors part.

Her family had already starter to come back together. If she had spent the time finding Mr Harvey it would have only torn them up a second time. It allowed her to move on and not continue in the place she was.

I would recommend this book to a friend to read. It put a different turn on what haven is or could be. I had never thought about it in that way before.

Imma

[Bkwrm951]

I read this book a while ago and atm it's packed away in some box (I moved about a month ago)...

I do remember this book, though. It's hard to forget a book with such a horrifying beginning. And it is very interested how the author portrayed heaven. My favorite part had to be when her dog went to heaven. I remember thinking when I was little how sad it is that animals can't go to heaven because they don't have souls (so the nuns at Catholic school told me).

My least favorite part was probably the end, or towards the end. It seemed like the point of the book shifted, maybe not dramatically, but enough to throw me off. The whole "coming back to earth in another's body and having sex" thing was a little weird, but maybe that's just me. And maybe I'm remembering the book wrong.

Is it true that they are planning to make a movie out of this book? *groan* Yet another decent book ruined by a terrible movie.

[Bkwrm951]

So I've seen a preview for this movie coming out in a few months...I'm not sure how true it will stay to the book, but it looks pretty interesting, at least.

[Gannon]

To me "The Lovely Boness" is one of those novels that once you start, it is hard to put down. It flows beautifully. The book was so interesting because of the way the author portrays heaven. The idea that heaven is different for all of us, and that it grows and merges with other heavens of people with similar loves and desires is fascinating. Another thing is how Susie can see what is going on on earth. It seems that she can see anything she wants, wherever she wants. In chapter three when her sister is talking to the principal she can even see the pattern on his boxer shorts. My favourite character in the book is Grandma Lyn. She is a great character and I would have liked to have seen more of her. Also it would have been very interesting to see what happened to Mr Harvey after he dies. Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and would be happy recommending it.

[nursegela]

The book was so interesting because of the way the author portrays heaven. The idea that heaven is different for all of us, and that it grows and merges with other heavens of people with similar loves and desires is fascinating..

I really like that part to Gannon, you said it perfectly.

[Gannon]

I really like that part to Gannon, you said it perfectly.[/quote]

Thanks nursegela, wouldn't it be nice if that is what it is really like when we die.

[nursegela]

It sure would Gannon, I'm hoping that's what it's like

[hania5]

I read this book a few years ago and don't remember much of the detail (it was good to read the other posts to remind me).
The first 3/4's of the book i thought were fantastic. It is one of the books on my top 100 list. The ending however really let it down. it felt very rushed and disjointed. A little disappointing.