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"I do love secondhand books that open to the page some previous owner read oftenest. The day Hazlitt came, he opened to 'I hate to read new books,' and I hollered 'Comrade!' to whoever owned it before me."
The Lovely Bones - International Bookring
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The Lovely Bones - International Bookring
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13 journalers for this copy...
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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 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 work 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 wants most: 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. I remember hearing an interview with the author on NPR back last summer, and vowed to read the book (but didn't write it down; I was driving) and forgot about the book after that. Until, of course, I joined BookCrossing and saw that it was on Cliff's Top 5 Books. I put it on my wishlist, and again forgot about it. Then, while on my birthday shopping spree, I picked it up. I've started a bookray for it now. However, I have some other books that need to be read first, so my husband gets it first. |
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I really enjoyed this book. It reads a lot like a journal, actually. My favorite part was the description of Heaven. Usually, you hear about either everybody together in one place or your own personal space. Instead, Alice Sebold paints a picture of a more fluid heaven, where your world can overlap with others. Whatever you want your heaven to be, there you are, and whoever else shares your desire to be there is, too. They appear and disappear as they decide they want to be somewhere else, and Susie even has a "roommate" of a sort.I also find it interesting that the concept of Heaven is presented without any talk of God(s) or religion. It's just taken on faith that you go to heaven (note the lowercase "h", as in the book) when you die and that you can linger to watch, even knowing the thoughts of those reemaining on earth. The one thing that really annoyed me: (you have to highlight to read this, because it's a spoiler) When Susie gets to come back to earth for a short while in a human body, she makes absolutely no attempt to tell anyone where her body is, or where her murderer is. I can understand not wanting to chase him down herself, but you think she could at least mention it to Ray; write it down or something. After all, mere seconds before, Susie heard Ruth and Ray wondering where her body was (right before it's going to be filled and pretty much unrecoverable for a long, long, time). Sorry, that's probably my work talking, at least in part (dispatcher for police, fire, and rescue in a small city), but it's just a pet peeve of mine. |
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International Bookringbabyimran in Malaysia Leanne345 in UK (did not respond to PMs, was moved down the list Please PM the next name in the list when you get the book so that they have time to reply and you can get the book moving ASAP. If they haven't responded after 3 days or so, skip them and the next person in the ray can try again when they are done. |
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Released 7 yrs ago (8/31/2004 UTC) at WILD RELEASE NOTES:
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AngelKitty, I have received the book from Ferengi. More from me once I finish reading A Question of Blood (another bookring).Oct. 10 - It gives the first-hand experience of murdered victim way up in heaven. Following the lives of her family and friends to see their progress and hopefully in the end her murder is solved. My favourite quotations : 1. The first line of the book : My name was Salmon, like the fish, first name Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. 2. ‘When the dead are done with the living,’ Franny said to me, ‘the living can go on to other things.’ 3. To let Lindsey and Buckey become more close to the father – being the first born always be the one with Dad, sharing his love for building ships in bottles. 4. We stood (Susie and Buckley) – the dead child and the living – on either side of my father, both wanting the same thing. To have him to ourselves forever. To please us both was an impossibility. … ‘Please don’t let Daddy die, Susie’, he whispered. ‘I need him.’ 5. Happy + Frightened = Churned 6. He was reminded of her impatience and her curiosity – two traits that had both made and kept them friends. 7. These were the lovely bones that had grown around my absence: the connections – sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent – that happened after I was gone. And I began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it. 8. They kept sharing when they felt me. Being together, thinking and talking about the dead, became a perfectly normal part of their life. AngelKitty - about the part which you did not like, I liked it the way it is. It is so romantic that she spent the time alone with Ray with no other thoughts in mind. |
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The host of the bookring is kind enough to let the book circulate further. In response to this, I have send out PMs to all those who have the book in their wishlist. Unfortunately, I have a very small ring as below. Please send off the books to the next person on the list (the first person will return the book for me to send it off to its journey).1. cheekycat 2. Potbelly 3. stetar 4. berthamason 5. ms-attitude-ca 6. krackergrl 7. chromatographer |
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