Discussion of The Lovely Bones

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MegaBookFreak
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The movie

Post by MegaBookFreak »

Ive watched the movie..and it was great, Id also love to read the book :D
Moe
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Post by Moe »

atrixa wrote: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...

I totally agree. I wanted to throw the book when I got to that part. I don't think anyone would have made that choice. She could have told exactly who the killer was and provide details to put him away. But she has sex with a boy???

She's only 14 in the story right? How many 14 year old rape survivors would make that choice? I really couldn't get past that.
cs4jws

Post by cs4jws »

I did read the book, and it was a pretty difficult read for me. As a result, I do not think I am going to see the movie, but I really appreciate reading everyone else's input on the book...

It was just a 'struggler' for me.

~Cat
Moe
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Post by Moe »

I saw the movie last night, it was OK. Same problems as the book. I just kept thinking - would any 14 year old make those decisions. Unless you LOVED the book I'd wait until it comes out on video.
AdamWest
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Post by AdamWest »

Excellent book and great movie
crazy denna
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Post by crazy denna »

I did like the book,I've read this book a few years ago but 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.
DSlongwhite
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Post by DSlongwhite »

Code: Select all

I did not like the book at all. I thought it was ridiculous that she was floating somewhere between earth and heaven until she had sex with an old boyfriend. A book is supposed to have a major dramatic question presented in the beginning that is answered towards the end. Was the whole point of this book so she could have sex? I was very disappointed.
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callybee
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Post by callybee »

I actually thought the book was exceptionally well written for the first 3/4s. But she forgot to do something that every good author does - CUT, CUT, CUT. She left some middle bits where she haunted her family for FAAAAR too long. You can kind of 'feel' the writers block. However, she does deserve a LOT of credit for her narritive style. I thought the way she explained the murder was actually a different take on that sort of viewpoint. She just sort of 'explained it' rather than providing intense graphic emotion.

I thought Peter Jackson did an excellent take on this book, and I actually enjoyed it as much as I liked the book (for once). He did capatalize on the 'Hollywood' factor - elabourated the grusomeness of her murder, which I thought was far more tasteful (if you will) in the book.

Overall, 6.5/10.
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Fran
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Post by Fran »

I thought the book was excellent but the movie left me cold. What on earth were they at sticking Tellytubby land into the middle of it .... it made it into nonsense in my view. But I must admit Mr Harvey was one scary guy.
soniakhan33
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Post by soniakhan33 »

It is my favourite book,i always read this.......
Mickytto
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Post by Mickytto »

Fran wrote:I thought the book was excellent but the movie left me cold. What on earth were they at sticking Tellytubby land into the middle of it .... it made it into nonsense in my view. But I must admit Mr Harvey was one scary guy.
I am very much with you on this one. The movie was a letdown, despite Stanley Tucci's incredible performance (I love him in pretty much every movie, but after seeing The Lovely Bones I am a little creeped out by him, I have to admit)

The book however was a different story. I read it just before the movie came out, and did the classic book-movie comparison (has the movie ever won in these?); I really enjoyed most of the characters in the book, they were developing literally through the last pages and I thought the author did an amazing job of making them real and not one-dimensional. I agree that the sister was probably my favorite character too-- she was so interesting to follow, to see how she grows up from a little girl with braces to a young woman.

Probably the one thing I didn't like as much was how much the book dragged after the murderer's escape-- it almost felt like an entirely different book, somehow disconnected, with different characters even.

The ending was half satisfying, half completely not so. It felt too convenient for Susie to get her wish to be with her teen-crush. At the same time however, I liked how Sebold did not allow for Mr. Harvey to be caught, she had him die at Susie's hand - at least this was my interpretation of it, did anyone else think this is what happened? It felt like a more justified ending than it would have been otherwise, if they had caught him and then had to go through a trial, details of the murder, etc., which would have made the healing process for the Salmon family much, much harder.
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adriangana
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Post by adriangana »

I love that One, even the movie of it. :arrow:
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Orca
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Post by Orca »

I first read this book shortly after its release. My mother had heard about it and bought the book for me. I felt inspired to reread it again the week before the film was to hit theaters and I do believe that I like it much better than the times that I've read it before this perusal. I noticed things. With the violence of Susie's rape in the first chapter, it's kind of surprising that she only makes references to Mr. Harvey as her rapist or the incident a few times. I have wondered if this is due to the fact that after she wrote the first chapter of The Lovely Bones she wrote her memoir Lucky about her own rape. I wasn't irritated by the fact that Susie chooses to make love to Ray instead of informing the living about the location of her body. And I liked the fact that they never caught Mr. Harvey because in reality the police don't always catch the bad guys. Still he received the justice he deserved.

I know that Peter Jackson seemed to get a lot of criticism for leaving out the rape of Susie and not showing her death on screen, but I for one think he made a good choice. His reasons were all valid. I remember all the critics were bashing the film, but when I finally had the chance to see the film I honestly disagree with them. I liked it.
littledragon
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Post by littledragon »

Read the book a number of years ago and thought it was rather special. I loved the point of view. The film I found to be OK. But what a head text to make into a visual piece of work? The version of "the afterlife" I thought was done fantastically but overall didn't leave me with as much as an impact as the novel did.
dragonflower
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Post by dragonflower »

While I liked the author using the dead girl as the narrator for the story, I didn't overall enjoy the book. It dragged and it always felt like something was going to happen, but nothing ever really did. I liked that Susie took care of her murderer on her own. But her coming back in her friend's body to have sex..... It seemed like I was reading some other book all of a sudden. To have a short amount of time, and waste it like she did, seemes wrong. She could have at least told them where her body was.
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