The Lovely Bones
“My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973,” (5). In The Lovely Bones, takes place in the early seventies when rape was still a ‘new’ thing. Alice Sebold us on the journey of the life, or rather the ‘almost life’ of Susie Salmon. She watches her family cope, each in there own way, with her death. Sebold, an American Booksellers Association, Novel of the Year winner, uses a character-driven pathological appeal to reel the reader in and hook them onto every word she writes.
The book is told from the point of view of twelve year old Susie Salmon, as she looks down from her heaven on her family. She tries to continue “living” her life through the ever changing life of her family and friends. Each of her family members takes a different route to cope with her being gone except Buckley, who is indirectly effected due to his age at the time of death. At the time if her death her ‘life’ was just beginning: loves blossoming, high school starting, her whole life was ahead of her. By telling the reader of Susie’s prior life in the beginning of the novel, Sebold, in a way, forces the reader to have a sympathetic relationship with Susie as she watches the lives of her loved ones move slowly and surely forward without her. The most evident mechanism that keeps this book going, other than the compelling and drama-filled character driven plot, is the coping mechanisms of each different character. All the different characters coping processes coincide with the other causing all the characters in the book to be related in some way or another. While reading this book you follow each characters’ journey to reality, the fact that the have to live without her for the rest of their lives. Sebold does a terrific of using character driven plot summary and diction to draw in the reader especially towards the end when she adds a twist that you will never believe.
Admittedly, the book does have some low moments but the way Sebold words it the slow parts are just her way of making the reader even more shocked when they read then next compelling paragraph. The book is written in such a way that each different characters lives and stories are separated but they all have one common factor: Susie’s murder. Slowly but surely things start to unravel and come back together in a way that leaves the reader wanting more. Do I recommend this book to interested readers?? Um, yeah! It’s a great read, even for those who have gone through the situation presented or know someone who has. It might help to find a healthy way to cope with a terrible thing. I have never been threw such a thing, but I know people who have an I have learned so much from this book on how to deal with and cope with a thing like this. The novel is not only entertaining but its has hidden information, which if you read closely will pop out before your eyes.