The lovely bones - Book review

I've been reading "The lovely bones" by  Alice Sebold for the last 2 weeks along with "The boy in the stripped pyjamas". But I'll do a review on this one first. Also, I believe that this one hasn't had the Vietnamese version just yet. Or maybe it does but I haven't figured it out.

First,I do get the idea of "don't judge a book by its cover".  However, I would say this book does gain credit for having an eye-catching cover.

The story was based in Pennsylvania in the 70s. It started with a girl. Actually, it was told by a girl.
"My name was Salmon, like the fish; last name Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."
I would claim that is a great way to hook the readers into the story. At least the one who was telling the story is dead. Not just dead, she was killed.
Most people would leave those sentences as the very first impression of the book but there is a little paragraph before the story even begins.

" Inside the snow globe on my father's desk, there was a penguin wearing a red-and-white stripped scarf. When I was little my father would pull me into his lap and reach for the snow globe. He would turn it over, letting all the snow collect on the top, then quickly invert it. The two of us watched the snow fall gently around the penguin. The penguin was alone in there, I thought, and worried for him. When I told my father this, he said:" Don't worry, Susie; he hes a nice life. He's trapped in a perfect world"

I guess we will all be trapped in a perfect world after we suffered from this harsh one. Maybe being trapped in a perfect world isn't the perfect thing we've been dreaming of. Maybe "perfect" is an illusion and we are psychos desperately trying to reach it. But who knows, someday "perfect" might be something reachable.

The book wasn't that easy to read because she was narrating a lot during the flow of her story. But I'm sure it's a worth reading one. It was dramatic at first and then got softer as I  go through it. 

The pain of a girl who was murdered at the age of 14; who had a life ahead but not anymore; the desperation she had to suffered from: wanting to be alive again, the running murderer, the family which had to endure the feeling of loosing a daughter/ sister after all the searching, what they can find is her elbow; the hope at first that she maybe still be alive out there, living well without an arm:

" I could feel them both thinking the same thing then, but neither of them said it. That I was out there somewhere, in the rain.That they hoped I was safe." 

And especially, how people live in the world without her. All of those were described in a thoughtful way by Alice Sebold. 

This book may piss you off when you read through a certain number of pages. 

Sometimes, the best thing is to let the past flows to the dusty corner of your heart instead of tracking for the truth. and being forgotten is obvious.

It is painful to die or to know that someone around your surrounding is now gone. But just like what Neville from Harry Potter said:" People die everyday." 

Yes, they do. We will end up rotten under our grave someday.

On the other hand, through Susie story I assumed that it is obvious to die. It would be odd if we don't. But it is not an easy job to accept someone else's death or even your own.

Last but not least, my favorite quote from the book: " Life is a perpetual yesterday for us".

It sure is. you'll figure it out sometime.