Review of Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Written June 13th)
People have been pointing at this book and either praising it or trashing it. I guess now I'll become one of those people.
The story is told from the view of a fourteen year old dead girl. That in itself might be enough to get your attention. It might be enough to get you to pick up the book. It might even be enough to get you through a few chapters.
Yes, it's a neat storytelling technique. It's interesting, almost provocative.
The girl, Susie, has been raped and murdered. Her killer is on the loose and her family is devastated. Her mother and father drift apart and her siblings, younger sister and brother don't know what's what.
Susie sits up in her "heaven" and follows the fate of her family on earth. She follows the lives of her friends and the boy she kissed. And she can only sit and watch her family fall apart.
While this storytelling technique works wonders at first it's somewhat problematic. It isn't enough to keep the story going and in on itself it becomes somewhat clichéish very fast.
We already know who killed the girl. He's on the loose and the need for closure becomes the main topic of interest for the reader. We want her killer captured and we want to see her family healed somewhat. So we sit up there with Susie, watch and wait.
Susie the storyteller might not be the most reliable storyteller around. Should the reader believe her every word? Why shouldn't (s)he? Susie is young and she is dead. Her perspective is the one of the all knowing - she sees what she wants and hears what she wants. She has no reason to tell the story any other way than she sees it.
But there is a big question mark over her "heaven".
Surely a fourteen year old girl who gets raped and murdered goes to heaven? If there's such a place I'd like to think so as much as Alice Sebold. On contrary to Sebold though I'd like to think of it as nicer place. Being cooped up in a gazebo, watching her family go through the motions, watching her parents separate and her killer get away is more of my idea of hell and not heaven.
A limbo, if you please.
The story is heartfelt. The storyteller devoted. The writer gifted.
I felt the topic somewhat draining but other readers might find it interesting to see what happens to a family who looses a child to such atrocities. I on the other hand felt it was both draining and rather irritating.
The last drop for me came when the dead girl Susie gets the opportunity to interact on earth once more. She chooses not to see her family. Not to see her father, her mother or her brother or sister but to have intercourse with the boy she once kissed.
At this suddenly the story lost all its credibility. Because even though I can handle the dead girl telling the story and even think it's a neat trick - this was too much. Why would a raped and murdered 14 year old use this grand opportunity she gets to come back to have sex? Why would that be on the top of her priority list?
I don't get it.
The story is rather good. It's well written. It's inventive and it brings out emotions (although it becomes overly sentimental at times) and the characters are mostly believable. And what it lacks in plot it makes up in the spunk the storyteller has. She is fun and youthful and inspiring.
But not believable (if there is such a thing for a story like this) and in that single scene Sebold lost me.
The story is told from the view of a fourteen year old dead girl. That in itself might be enough to get your attention. It might be enough to get you to pick up the book. It might even be enough to get you through a few chapters.
Yes, it's a neat storytelling technique. It's interesting, almost provocative.
The girl, Susie, has been raped and murdered. Her killer is on the loose and her family is devastated. Her mother and father drift apart and her siblings, younger sister and brother don't know what's what.
Susie sits up in her "heaven" and follows the fate of her family on earth. She follows the lives of her friends and the boy she kissed. And she can only sit and watch her family fall apart.
While this storytelling technique works wonders at first it's somewhat problematic. It isn't enough to keep the story going and in on itself it becomes somewhat clichéish very fast.
We already know who killed the girl. He's on the loose and the need for closure becomes the main topic of interest for the reader. We want her killer captured and we want to see her family healed somewhat. So we sit up there with Susie, watch and wait.
Susie the storyteller might not be the most reliable storyteller around. Should the reader believe her every word? Why shouldn't (s)he? Susie is young and she is dead. Her perspective is the one of the all knowing - she sees what she wants and hears what she wants. She has no reason to tell the story any other way than she sees it.
But there is a big question mark over her "heaven".
Surely a fourteen year old girl who gets raped and murdered goes to heaven? If there's such a place I'd like to think so as much as Alice Sebold. On contrary to Sebold though I'd like to think of it as nicer place. Being cooped up in a gazebo, watching her family go through the motions, watching her parents separate and her killer get away is more of my idea of hell and not heaven.
A limbo, if you please.
The story is heartfelt. The storyteller devoted. The writer gifted.
I felt the topic somewhat draining but other readers might find it interesting to see what happens to a family who looses a child to such atrocities. I on the other hand felt it was both draining and rather irritating.
The last drop for me came when the dead girl Susie gets the opportunity to interact on earth once more. She chooses not to see her family. Not to see her father, her mother or her brother or sister but to have intercourse with the boy she once kissed.
At this suddenly the story lost all its credibility. Because even though I can handle the dead girl telling the story and even think it's a neat trick - this was too much. Why would a raped and murdered 14 year old use this grand opportunity she gets to come back to have sex? Why would that be on the top of her priority list?
I don't get it.
The story is rather good. It's well written. It's inventive and it brings out emotions (although it becomes overly sentimental at times) and the characters are mostly believable. And what it lacks in plot it makes up in the spunk the storyteller has. She is fun and youthful and inspiring.
But not believable (if there is such a thing for a story like this) and in that single scene Sebold lost me.