Book Review

The Lovely Bones

     

     This book review is written for Honors 9th Grade Literature and Composition under Ms. Amanda Feldmann. The book is titled The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. The book has 328 pages and published by Little, Brown and Company in 2002 (First Edition). I decided to read this book because it was on a required reading list at Jenkins High Honors 9th Grade Literature and Composition. The book sold over a million copies and remained on The New York Times hardback bestseller list for over a year. Dreamworks also turned it into a movie in 2009.

     The novel is about the violent death of 14-year old, Susie Salmon, the main character and the narrator in the story. On her way home from school, Susie was lured by Mr. Harvey into his house where he later raped and murdered her. Mr. Harvey, a seemingly innocent guy, is the Salmon family's neighbor. Susie later discovered that Mr. Harvey is a serial rapist and killer. The story continues as Susie narrates the devastating effect of her tragic death from her point of view in the in-between heaven. Susie watched her family and friends coped with her death and how each of them found healing. Jack Salmon, Susie's father was devastated about Susie's tragic demise. He's the one who developed the idea of Mr. Harvey being involved in his daughter's death. Abigail Salmon, Susie's mother, was so gripped with her sorrow over her daughter's death that she decided to leave her family for another man. Lindsey Salmon is Susie's younger sister. She watched ow Lindsey struggled with her identity as "The Dead Girl's Sister" and how Lindsey grew up into a woman that Susie didn't have the chance to become.
     Some of the minor characters in the novel are Ray, Ruth, Samuel, Hal and Grandma Lynn. Ray is Susie's crush and her first love. Ruth is Susie's friend whom she met recently. Samuel Heckler is Lindsey's crush, who became her boyfriend and eventually became her husband. Hal Heckler is Samuel's older brother. He became close to Lindsey and Buckley especially when Abigail left. Grandma Lynn is Abigail's mom. She helped cheer the family up from Susie's death and she was with Jack and the kids when Abigail left.
     The Lovely Bones is a fantasy drama fictional  novel set in Philadelphia in the 1970's. The Lovely Bones is a story of coming-of-age as Susie watched her family and friends grow and mature while they're moving on from her death. It is about love, forgiveness, and healing. At the end of the novel, Susie saw her parents reunite and realize that they have finally accepted that Susie is no longer coming back. They have moved on but continued to carry the sweet memories of Susie in their hearts.

     My final impression on the novel is that it is a poignant look on how families move on after a death of a loved one. Having not experienced death in my family it is a compelling glimpse of the sense of loss and grief a person may have over a death of a family member. I would hate to experience what Susie went through in the hands of George Harvey, but I think it would be harder to see family grieve for me if I were Susie. In a way, I admire Susie for having the courage to watch her family mourn her death and watch them celebrate Christmas, holidays and birthdays without her. It would be especially bittersweet for Susie to watch Lindsey experience everything that she wasn't given the chance to experience like graduate, have a family, and have a career. All in all, I really like this book, however I would have liked it even better if there was less narration and more character dialogues and interaction. There were instances when the storyline becomes a little dragging especially after the high-action scenes at the beginning of the story. But having said that Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones is worth your time reading and would recommend this book to my peers. .

Quote No. 4

At fourteen, my sister sailed away from me into a place I'd never been. In the walls of my sex, there was horror and blood, in the walls of hers there were windows. (125)

One thing I know about Susie is that she can't seem to let go of her family and her life on Earth. This statement from Susie only affirms the reason why she decided to keep watching over her family-- she died young and had so many unfulfilled dreams. I remember the phrase "forever young" and think about those people who were unfortunate (or fortunate?) to leave this Earth early. Like Susie, they will never experience how it is to fall in love, make friends and fight with friends, graduate, have a career, get married, have children, buy a house, etc. This statement is a poignant glimpse of Susie's longing for the life that was cut short for her.

Quote No. 5

Murder had a blood red door on the other side of which was everything unimaginable to everyone. (206)

 
     I pray that I will not know someone whose child is murdered because this statement shows how difficult it is to comfort the family of a dead child. Their pain is unimaginable and I feel that any show of sympathy, even real ones, will seem fake and insufficient.

Quote No. 3

Nothing is ever certain. (21)

     This mantra helped the family continued to hope that Susie would come home. Later, when they were sure that Susie is not coming home, they used this statement to hope that they would find out what happened to Susie and that justice is going to be given to her. The Salmon family never found out who killed Susie, they were gripped with misery with her death, Jack and Abigail separated, Lindsey and Buckley grew up and moved on with their lives. However, time healed this grieving family and they were able to start over as a family, with Susie in their memories. So in a sense, nothing is really ever certain. Mourning may turn into healing. Rainbow may appear after the rain.

Quote No. 2

“Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.” 

     Monsters are not real. Vampires, dragons, aliens-- these are fictional beasts that devour and kill people. In media, they can appear merciless, cold-blooded, and frightening. These characters can taunt and kill. However, no matter how frightening they may be portrayed by the media, they are still just figment of someone's imagination. 

    Men, on the other hand, is a different matter. Men walk, talk, and breathe-- they are alive and they are real. When a man is merciless and cold-blooded, then they can indeed be really frightening. This quote from Salmon is on point. Murderers are human beings. They are alive and they exist. That is really scary. 

Quote No. 1

“My name is Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered.”

This is the first and one of my favorite quotes in the book the Lovely Bones. I love how the narrator and main character started her story by stating her name and what she is known for. I like this quote because aren't we all like this? Don't we all love telling people who we are and what we're known for?
      "My name is Jet, like the plane. I am a guitarist", or "My name is Paul, like the apostle in the Bible. I was fifteen when I first won a basketball championship." Don't we all love to flaunt who we are and what we have achieved. But what I like about Salmon's way of introducing herself is the acceptance in her statement. She's like broadcasting her achievement and in a way, maybe it is an achievement. Accepting that you're dead and being at peace that your family has moved on without you, is quite an accomplishment.

Figurative Language

Imagery

I heard his heart. I smelled his breath. The dark earth surrounding us smelled like it was, moist dirt where worms and animals lived their daily lives. I could have yelled for hours.(14)

In Mr. Harvey's house the bathroom and kitchen were spotless. The porcelain was yellow and the tile on the floor is green. He kept it cold...He had a straight chair where he would go to sit sometimes and stare out the window over at the high school, listen for the sound of band practice wafting over from the field...(128)

The author used many imagery in the novel. By using imagery, she was able to make the readers see, hear, smell, taste, and feel everything that was going on in each of the character's lives as the they unfold.


Simile  

He wore his innocence like a comfortable old cloak. (26)

...as his consciousness woke, it was as if poison seeped in. (58) 

The author used simile to describe the actions and guilt a muderer such as Mr. Harvey may have been feeling while pretending to live a normal life.


Flashback

We both listened together to the rain pour down and the thunder clap and smelled the earth rising to greet us. (211)

Through the use of flashback, the author showed the readers a different side of Susie and Lindsey. She brought us to the time away from violence and grief. Using this particular figurative language, the readers are given a glimpse of a childhood that is young, innocent, and free.


Foreshadowing

Are you going to leave us?" Lindsey asked. My mother wobbled. How could she say what she already knew? Instead she told a lie. "I promise I won't leave you. (207)

The fact that Alice Sebold made Lindsey ask her mother this question is a foreshadowing or a hint that their mother will indeed leave her family later in the story.

Abigail Salmon

         Rachel Weisz portrayed Abigail Salmon in the movie The Lovely Bones.

      Abigail is Susie’s mother. She was so devastated when Susie died, she grew apart from her family. Hoping to forget the tragedy, she had an affair with Len Fenerman--the detective. Susie always mentioned how behind a good mother and a good wife is a different woman. She decided to leave when she found her grief too much to bear. She told her husband that, "Let's pretend it is the ocean and that I am going away and we might never see each other again." (p.213) It took her eight years to realize that she really loves her husband and she wants her family back. She finally returned when she heard about her husband had a heart attack.

Jack Salmon

   

Mark Wahlberg as Jack Salmon in the movie The Lovely Bones.

   




     Jack is Susie's father who was heartbroken by the sudden and violent death of his daughter, Susie. After developing suspicion about Mr. Harvey's involvement in Susie's death, he became obsessed in proving that Mr. Harvey is the murderer especially after the police withdrew their investigation surrounding her daughter's case. For example, Jack was hurt when he was thought to be harassing  a girl in the cornfield when he was only chasing Mr. Harvey after seeing him from across his porch pursuing another victim. In the process of grieving, he slowly drifted away from is wife because he couldn't bear to comfort her in her grief when he himself is agonizing his loss.

Mr. Harvey

George Harvey was portrayed by Stanley Tucci in movie The Lovely Bones.

      George Harvey is Susie's murderer. Susie is not the only one that he murdered but other female as well. Everyone in the neighborhood thought Mr. Harvey was weird, but in the beginning of the story no one else has suspected him but Jack. Len Fenerman investigated him but didn't find any traces of Mr. Harvey's connection to Susie's death. Mr. Harvey left, after Linsey trespasssed into his house. Later at the story, Mr. Harvey died in trying to pursue another victim.

Symbol: The Monopoly Shoe

 The Monopoly Shoe

 

 The shoe was the piece Susie uses whenever her family played monopoly. So when Jack had to explain to 4-year old Buckley that Susie is dead, he used the shoe to symbolize Susie's death.

     Jack said to Buckley, "Right, we'll make your friend Nate the hat and the board is the world. Now if I were to tell you that when I rolled the dice, one of the pieces will be taken away, what would that mean?" (p.69). In a way, in Buckley's mind, the shoe represented his sister. He cherished this shoe like he cherished his sister by keeping the shoe as a remembrance of her. Not surprisingly, Buckley was very upset when the shoe got lost. Losing the shoe meant losing Susie once again.

Symbol: The Number 5

The Number 5

     When Lindsey suspected that Mr. Harvey had something to do with Susie's death, she decided that to break into his house to search for clues. Mr. Harvey almost caught Lindsey snooping at his house but she was able to jump out of the window and into the bushes in the nick of time. However, Mr. Harvey caught sight of the back of Lindsey's jersey and noticed her jersey number: five. Afraid that he would be finally arrested of his crime, Mr. Harvey decided to leave the town and go into hiding. While in hiding, Mr. Harvey keeps recalling the number five. This number symbolizes the beginning of Mr. Harvey's life spiraling for the worst.  Mr. Harvey later got into a fatal accident while following his next victim, thus somewhat giving justice to the crimes that he had committed to his victims. 

Lindsey Salmon

   

 

Lindsey as portrayed by Rose McIver in the movie The Lovely Bones by Dreamworks Pictures. 

      Lindsey Salmon is Susie's younger sister. She was thirteen when Susie died. Lindsey is a brilliant girl evidenced by her participation in academic activities such as the Gifted Symposium each Summer and when she became a part of a clique--the History Heads. Lindsey exhibits her strength by refusing her father's offer of help in dealing with pressures from school being labeled as "the dead girl's sister". Lindsey showed her courage by being persistent in finding the person who killed Susie. She wasn't afraid to go to George Harvey's house when she started having suspicions in his involvement in Susie's death

Susie Salmon

     

                                Saoirse Ronan portrayed Susie Salmon in the movie The Lovely Bones.




        Susie Salmon is a fourteen year-old girl from Philadelphia. She was raped and murdered by her neighbor, Mr. George Harvey. Susie is the main character and serves as the narrator in the story. Susie tells the story from her point of view from heaven. Susie saw her sister struggle through her depression, being known as the dead girl's sister. She watched as her parents drifted away from each other as they cope over her death and later watched in glee as they reconcile. Susie followed the life of her murderer and somewhat felt justified when he died of an accident while pursuing another victim. Susie finally finds her peace at the end of the story as she sees her family moving on without her, and her murderer finally gone.