The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones was an interesting choice for me following Jemima J. As I mentioned in my profile, I don’t read very much at all, so my first thought was why would someone pick a book like this? What kind of affect will this have on me that I could write about? It was later in the book, after reading about how much Susie didn’t want to leave and wanted to be back on Earth that I had quite a bit of trouble. One of my best friend’s fiancé recently committed suicide, and I had a hard time dealing with that entire situation. From being there to comfort him, to cursing her for hurting him so, to reflecting on my own life and loved ones, this book really hit me pretty hard. So, my trouble was that I was really hurting reading this book. I had spent quite a bit of time this last month pondering why someone would hurt people they love, pondering the loss of life, and realizing just how precious time can be. I had to put this book down every now and then, to take a break because the emotion not only towards this recent situation but one I will describe later was too much for me. However, in hindsight, I guess that what’s makes this a good book, and that was point of the entire book. My entire personal experience was one of figuring out the importance of people in my life, and trying to answer questions similar to those Susie’s family asked.

When Susie tells her story from her “heaven,” I was surprised to find that she was still in so much denial. She says, “ What I found strange was how much I desired to know what I had not known on Earth. I wanted to be allowed to grow up” (Sebold 19). Why would Sebold create such a place, when all my life the church has preached that heaven is a place where there is no pain, there is no suffering? Susie was allowed to grow in her heaven, meeting both Holiday and her Grandfather for some time, but I think Franny was the one who helped her grow even though it was made clear she was not a substitute mother. However, she was there to guide Susie through the growth, whatever it turned out to be. When Susie and Ray were able to connect at the end, I think this was symbolic of her having been allowed to finally grow up. Susie was finally able to experience what she has longed for the entire novel, and when she declared the “Leaving Earth again was easier than coming back had been” ( 311), I feel she finally was able to accept her fate as best as she could. At this point, Susie’s tone changed as she told the end of her story, she told it in more of an objective view, describing the events and less of her feelings and wanting to be there too.

The family proved to grow throughout the book as well. Grandma Lynn not only breathed life into the family again following the death, but I felt she remained the rock for everyone following Susie’s death. Even though she was written as bringing life and humor back into the Salmon family, I think she was one of the most motherly figures of all. I think she ultimately did her best to keep the family moving on, but I think she grew too. She was first described as being somewhat flighty, concerned with fashion and such. Yet when she attended the memorial without her trademark makeup because she had taken care of Lindsey, that’s when she began to change. Not only was she classy enough to take over the motherly role for her daughter at home, but she remained there for Lindsey, Jack and Buckley while maintaining enough of a relationship with Abigail to help mend fences among them all in the end. One thing I found especially interesting was that everyone let Abigail go and move on without much repercussion. I found it beautiful that a family could have so much love, and that a husband could have so much compassion towards his wife that he simply loves her all over again. I teach elementary school, an the one crisis I deal with all the time is parents separating, and how it affects the children. In this case, Lindsey and Buckley seem to blossom by finding a companion replacement of some sort (Samuel or Hal and Jack). Some of the kids that I see are not always able to do this, and build so much resentment towards adults that they don’t seem to let anyone in. True, Lindsey is angry over the broken promises that Abigail made, but I wish families could reconnect like this more in real life.

I think the thing that touched me the most of this entire book was Jack’s devotion to his family and to his daughter. Even Abigail finally clearly sees this in the hospital, asking him how he does it. He says “There’s no choice….what else can I do” (279). Susie also admits that “he had never left me” also finally realizes that she will have her whole life ahead of her in his eyes (279). I think that he put so much into loving Susie, and working towards remembering her that he eventually broke. I found the heart attack to be so unfortunate, yet so fitting and natural in the plotline of the story. He had spent so much of the book sheltering Buckley, that when he finally saw his son hurting it physically took a toll on him and literally broke his heart. This part of the book reminded me so much of my dad, and his devotion to our entire family. I have seen Jack in my dad at times. One of my brothers has type one diabetes, and although controllable, there was a scare last year in which he ended up pretty sick and it was a bit touch and go for a day or two. It was one night around then that I saw my dad break down, and I could relate so much to Lindsey sitting on the top of the stairs listening, watching, and making herself hard yet strong so that no one would see the hurt and compassion I felt towards him. I

So all this being said, I am afraid I had a hard time taking an objective look at this book, blogging about the novel. Instead, what I found through this book was more than some basic reaction that I originally wanted. When the book jacket said this was a story about healing, I didn’t really think a book could showcase that. What I found was that not only did every character in the novel find some sort of healing, but perhaps I did to by seeing that other people have gone through things too. While none of my situations have been nearly as gruesome or horrific as the one presented in this book, they are real, and if a family can heal even in the world of fiction, it made me see that both myself and the people I love around me can too.

Source: Sebold, Alice. The Lovely Bones. Boston/New York/London: Little, Brown and Company, 2002.