The Lovely Bones: the inspiration for the blockbuster film starring Saoirse Ronan (Picador Classic)

After opening this book on a Friday evening, I could barely put it down. I found the story compelling and interesting and finished it quickly, only putting it down to attend to errands on my weekend. It was finished in about 2 days. I loved the concept and the way in which such a story was presented.This book has changed the way I consider "Heaven" and will probably stay with me forever because of that... I may not believe in it in the same way, but it did make me think a lot. Having read some reviews before reading I agree: The book does lose pace towards the end, but I think it's natural with how the story progressed and certainly wouldn't want it to have been different really. I found the story realistic and easy to imagine.. which left me feeling that good type of melancholy where you're sad and pensive but appreciative of the way in which the book makes you consider life.So others may find flaws in the story telling from the young Susie Salmon, or the supernatural elements (spoiler alert: I found when Susie "possesses" Ruth I was dragged out of the story a little. Until that point I found it could literally be a real story of a poor girls family as she watches them and that made it more universal and sad for me... But I've grown to accept that part of the storyline as time goes on after reading it) but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.Highly recommend it, and have been told by friends the book is superior to the film... So if you had previously watched and wanted a read, do it :)

'My name was Salmon, like the fish, first name, Susie I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father talked to him once about fertilizer.'Every once in a while a story comes along and hooks you right from the first page. I'm one of those people that is constantly searching for that book. With The Lovely Bones, I thought I'd found it.The greatest thing about this book is that, my God does it make you think. The opening chapters are gruesome, thought-provoking and frankly chilled me so much I started looking at fields in a completely different way searching for little booby traps and doors hidden in there! I'm not mad. Honestly. This will happen to you too.I really enjoyed The Lovely Bones predominantly for "The Chase". For those of you unfamiliar with Sebold's Lovely Bones, we are dealing with Susie Salmon, a young girl murdered by her neighbour. We watch the murder. We watch the cover-ups. We watch her family and then we follow her family and her murderers journey desperately hoping that they will figure it all out. I loved the chase and was rooting for her dad especially to chop him into tiny little pieces!What's a bit more unusual about this book is that it's actually told from Susie's perspective, and not just before and during the murder but also after it takes place from what we know as "Susie's Heaven". The portrayal of Heaven being unique to everyone was interesting. I'm not a religious person but I'd like to think that this might be pretty good if it were true. What was also particularly striking to me was the relationship between people's mental state whilst they're alive and their Heaven afterwards. To give you a small non-spoilery example, there's an old lady in the book who appears unstable and says a young girls name all the time. Sebold links this to her Heaven and how this name relates to a person in her Heaven when she will die. Honestly, it takes a while to get your head around and I think it's 50/50 as to whether you're going to like the concept.I enjoyed reading about a murderer most of it. Not the graphic portrayal of the murder, although that was very well done, but moreover the inner workings of the murderer and how he thinks or what might have led him to do what he did.The only issue I have with it has to be the ending. For such a serious book, the ending just seemed so silly to me and unrealistic in this kind of book. Perhaps it works for some people though.This novel made me tick. I was thinking all the time, making links and imaginings all the way through. That's what I personally value in a good book. A gripping first few chapters too was just the cherry on the top. I recommend you give this a read. You might hate it, I can see it wouldn't be for everyone, but it's worth the risk!

Very good.price, delivery as expected. Would use again.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold is a very strange, yet powerful book. It touches on subjects that many more established writers know to leave alone, but does so with an amount of grace and respect that makes it all worth while.The book tells the story of the young teenager Suzanne Salmon – or Suzy, as she is known. Within the first ten pages of the book, we discover that little miss Salmon has been murdered. Before the first chapter is over, we learn how she was murdered, when, why, and who|by whom. Which makes it a rubbish detective story, of course, but that isn’t the point.Suzy is telling her own story in the book – the story of her death, and then of her story of her own Heaven. How she keeps tabs on her friends and family, and how she struggles with the unsettled business in her life. Her desires for her first love. Her love and care for her sister. Her observations of how her family all take different ways in tackling her death.Not hindered by the limitations of regular narration, Sebold lets her main character move between the worlds, instantly seeing anything she wants to – for good and for bad. In a charmingly half-nonchalant half-whimsical way, the story is told in the words and ideas of a teenage girl: Badly structured, strangely paced, and overall unusual. I can say that – I’ve never been a teenage girl.The Lovely Bones has its flaws, of course: the editor ought to be fired for letting Sebold draw the book to a conclusion, then add another several mock-endings that add nothing to the book. But one thing can be said for the novel – It is one of the very few books that has made me cry. It carries much of the same hope, poise and ambition as Philip Pullman’s work, but told in a very different way.

I'm very pleased with my purchase. Not only was it an easy and seamless purchase, but I received my book the very next day!!Beyond pleased...😃 It's a great read. I absolutely loved the book.

Il libro è molto bello e ha ispirato il celebre film di Peter Jackson, Amabili resti nella versione italiana.Vale la pena leggerlo in lingua originale: una scrittura armonica, dolce, ricca e mai ridondante.L’ho acquistato usato e mi è arrivato esattamente nelle condizioni descritte dal venditore.Venditore affidabilissimo, puntuale è presente se lo si contatta, spedizione arrivata assai prima del tempo stimato.

Started reading, it's interesting

Beware, I am only at chapter four as I‘m writing this. Upon reading the first chapter I realised: I don‘t want to waste a single sentence of this book by careless or hasty reading. I‘m only just starting out, but I‘m already saddened by the fact that it has only 324 pages. The manner in which situations and people as well as their inner workings are described feels very real, precise, heartfelt and deeply touching. This is a piece I am sure I will reread, and then reread again later.

Estoy súper contenta d e haber hecho caso a las recomendaciones acerca de este libro. Me ha. Encantado la manera en la que está escrito más que nada. Es un libro muy interesante y a la vez desgarrador. Siendo una persona de lagrima fácil he llorado con cada pagina imaginándome en la situación de cada uno de los personajes. ♥️♥️Gracias a Alice sebold por esta increíble historia