Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Book of the month

Find reading inspiration on our Book of the Month forum.

Original poster

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

38 replies

GreatOrmondSt · 11/01/2010 16:26

Hey every one my name is Amy, hope you all are well.

I am reading the Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold at the moment and I find it an amazing yet very emotional book.

I was wondering if any one else is also reading it or has finished reading it?

Hope to hear from you soon
Take care.

OP posts:
mrmump · 11/01/2010 19:02

yes its a lovely book. Try Elsewhere when you have finished. Its a teen novel but a nice idea of Heaven.

choufleur · 11/01/2010 19:05

I've read it. but before i had DS. don't think i could read it now. It's a good book. though. i enjoyed Lucky by seabold too.

Goober · 11/01/2010 19:06

The film is due for release in the next few weeks.

Yes, the book is one of my favourites.

GreatOrmandSt are you new here? Very formal post.

YouLukaAmazing · 11/01/2010 19:10

Message withdrawn

crumpet · 11/01/2010 19:14

I'm afraid I thought it was utter tripe. I did finish it but only to see whether it woudl get any better.

PfftTheMagicDragon · 11/01/2010 19:17

I thought it was rather rubbish I'm afraid and I don't imagine the film will be any better. I finished it but only because I seem to have a morbid curiosity about how crap things turn out.

LongDroopyBoobyLady · 11/01/2010 19:19

I'm another who didn't like it and only read it as it had been recommended to me.

crumpet · 11/01/2010 19:21

Definitely will not be going to see the film!

BooHooo · 11/01/2010 19:22

Really maudlin and the death scene was quite offensive to me actually...

sorry but this book just rubbed me up the wrong way

maamalady · 11/01/2010 21:40

I was a bit about The Lovely Bones - it could have been so much more powerful than it was. The idea was sort of interesting, but the writing was dull. It's a shame, really - a better author would have been able to do the story more justice. I imagine the film will be even more lacking in substance.

PfftTheMagicDragon · 12/01/2010 07:58

yes, giraffe, I thought that it could have been so much more. Certainly it could be a wonderful film but the reviews seem to indicate that it doesn't make any more of the idea than the book.

bootoyoutoo · 12/01/2010 14:25

One of my favourite books. Loved the writing, just after reading a truly macabre passage about thye murder the writer jumps to beautiful images of the afterlife. Felt that stopped the book from becoming too maudlin.

Original poster
GreatOrmondSt · 18/01/2010 11:48

Hello every one, hope you all are well

Goober - So sorry if my post came across very formal, I was still in serious work mode while writing this post . Glad to here this book is one of your favorites too. I didn't know until very early this month that the book would be coming out in the cinema, can't wait to go and see it. Are you planning on going to see it in the cinema?

YouLukaAmazing - I work for Great Ormond Street, I love working for them it's amazing. I am near finishing it and I don't know what to expect, I am hoping to finish it before the film comes out!

Are there any other good books that anyone would recommend? I really need to increase the amount of books I have.

Thank you all for your opinions this is why I love mumsnet so much.

Amy xx

OP posts:
thislittlesisterlola · 19/01/2010 21:54

I read your thread as I read this book after 'The Time Travellers Wife'- it was recommended on the back of the book. If you havent read it or seen the film. I loved it! I didnt know it was turned into a film or it was a teen novel. In hind sight it does explain the writing style. I did like it but was a heart breaking read and the style was not to my taste.

suwoo · 19/01/2010 22:08

Greatormondstreet, do you not get much time to read? You appear to have been reading this for over a week now

I think I read it in about 2 hours and thought it was shite for want of a better word. I did enjoy The Time Travellers Wife however which is also considered dross in some circles.

I am starting an English degree in October and can't begin to imagine how I am going to get through the reading list along with working and having 3 kids. I expect my MN habit will have to suffer

Original poster
GreatOrmondSt · 20/01/2010 10:06

Morning every one, how are you all?

suwoo - No I am afraid it takes me a long time to read books. I normally read books on the way to and from work, don't really get much time at home to read

I am going to try and make some time this week to finish it completely and move onto another book.

thislittlesisterlola - I definitely agree it's a heart breaking read.

I am going Waterstones this weekend to treat myself to some brand new books, so I can keep up with every one

Will keep you updated on my progress!

Amy x

OP posts:
sasamaxx · 20/01/2010 10:15

Hey it's fair enough - gone are the days of reading a book a day (or couple of days)- I'm lucky if I manage a chapter before falling asleep, exhausted these days

I've had the Lovely Bones languishing on a bookshelf for ages now - can't do with upsetting books at the moment - is it very sad?

I quite liked The Time Travellers Wife but am afraid I found it unnecessarily smutty at places

expatinscotland · 20/01/2010 10:22

'I've had the Lovely Bones languishing on a bookshelf for ages now - can't do with upsetting books at the moment - is it very sad?'

Yes. It's about a 14-year-old girl who is raped and then murdered by a neighbour and how she has to learn, from heaven, to leave behind this Earthly life and all that is in it or she cannot move on herself.

And how there really is no justice in this world for some.

It should be mandatory ready for all solicitors, barristers, magistrates, parole boards, etc. And for anyone who believes in anything other than life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for anyone who murders and/or rape/murders.

Especially as it's told with the author's own perspective: when Alice Sebold was 18, she was brutally raped, beaten and left for dead.

suwoo · 20/01/2010 14:00

Expat, I had no idea that that had happened to Alice Sebold . I have just read about it on wiki. That makes the book all the more poignant really.

expatinscotland · 20/01/2010 14:40

She talks about it in her book, Lucky, in a lot of depth, su.

She called it 'Lucky' because, when she was in hospital following her attack, the police told her she was 'lucky' because another girl had been raped, beaten and murdered in the same spot.

The Lovely Bones comes from a very unique perspective in that respect: from the viewpoint of a young woman who desperately wanted to live, but did not.

Original poster
GreatOrmondSt · 20/01/2010 16:20

Wow, I didn't know that either. Also read from Wikipedia that she recognised the person who raped her and he received a maximum sentence.

I think "Lucky" is going to be my first book purchase this weekend.

OP posts:
sasamaxx · 20/01/2010 16:21

"'I've had the Lovely Bones languishing on a bookshelf for ages now - can't do with upsetting books at the moment - is it very sad?'

Yes. It's about a 14-year-old girl who is raped and then murdered by a neighbour and how she has to learn, from heaven, to leave behind this Earthly life and all that is in it or she cannot move on herself.

And how there really is no justice in this world for some.

It should be mandatory ready for all solicitors, barristers, magistrates, parole boards, etc. And for anyone who believes in anything other than life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for anyone who murders and/or rape/murders.

Especially as it's told with the author's own perspective: when Alice Sebold was 18, she was brutally raped, beaten and left for dead."
OMG that is AWFUL.

cyteen · 20/01/2010 16:30

I didn't hate this book but thought the quality was quite patchy, with strong and evocative scenes bumping up against total tweeness.

BooToYouToo · 24/01/2010 19:24

Hi GSOH, maybe too late if you have already been shopping but strongly recommend Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson. Combines tragi-comic family life (her mother is truly awful) with lots of wonderful descriptions of living in England from Victorian times through to the Second World War as the narrator zips around her family tree. Lots of laugh out loud passages and fantastic characters, a real joy.

vanimal · 24/01/2010 21:08

I love this book, I have read it a couple of times now, and I cry each time.

Met Alice Sebold at a book evening thingy, it was quite amazing to hear her speak about writing that book, as a consequence of her own horrific experience.

Try 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini. It's a really engrossing read, I could not put it down.