Cute bones

Author: Alice Sebold
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: My last name is Salmon, which sounds like "salmon," and my first name is Susie. On October 6, 1973, I was only fourteen years old when I was murdered. The murderer was my neighbor. My mother liked the flowers in his garden, and my father even asked him how to fertilize them. In the novel, Susie Salmon makes her first appearance in heaven. From this strange new place, she looks down on the human world, telling us a bittersweet but hopeful story in the fresh and lively voice of a fourteen-year-old girl. Heaven looks very much like a school playground, with a nice swing set, and there are tutors to help newcomers, as well as friends to live with her. As long as she thinks about it, whatever she wants appears before her. But what she wants is to return to the human world and spend her life with the one she loves, yet she never gets her wish. The Lovely Bones author Alice Sebold employs bold narrative techniques to transform a human tragedy into a suspenseful yet witty and heartwarming story. It is a deeply empathetic and soul-healing novel. The book has been atop the New York Times Best Seller list for nearly thirty weeks, spending a total of over seventy weeks on the list. For two years, it has remained a bestseller. It was selected as a recommended book by the American "Book of the Month Club" and won the "American Book of the Year" award. It was also named to the "British Book of the Year" award. Ranked second in the Littérature magazine's "Top Twenty Books of 2003" in France. Currently, the book is published in English, French, Japanese, Chinese, and other languages, with sales exceeding five million copies. A film adaptation of the book will also be directed by Peter Jackson, the director of The Lord of the Rings. The Lovely Bones is a somber story, describing the thoughts of a teenage girl who was raped and murdered. The narrator is the victim herself, and the first sentence of the novel is: "On December 6, 1993, I was only fourteen years old when I was murdered." The protagonist tells the story of how her murder affects her family, the police investigation, and her life in heaven. The author writes from the perspective of Susie, a fourteen-year-old girl, looking down from heaven at the world she has left behind, like "a fish floating in the sky." Of course, she doesn't see what she wants to see: her mother is devastated by her death; her father beats her girlfriend, Clarissa, believing it is her fault that his daughter died. The real murderer is the neighbor's delinquent, Harvey, but the police are ineffective in their pursuit, allowing him to escape. Susie follows his movements from heaven. Susie still has a friend, Ruth, and a younger brother in the human world, and her soul constantly appears before them. Her friend Ruth never forgets her and, as she grows up, dedicates herself to becoming a witness to the trial of the crime. The author ends the story with Susie's voice saying goodbye to them...