Great American Read List discussion

The winner for our November novel is The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold!



To all who voted—thank you!
To everyone—I hope you'll participate and read this selection for our monthly book club.
For those who do—share your thoughts as you read, please!

Spoilers are allowed; add a considerate warning if your comment includes any so members have the option to skip.

Feel free to begin reading it early, if you'd like, and start the discussion at your leisure.

Excited! I was hoping this one would win. I'll be joining in on this read next month:-)

That's wonderful, Trina!
I'm looking forward to your thoughts.

Some info on this novel and author:
● Alice Sebold was born September 6, 1963 in Madison, Wisconsin.
● She now lives in San Francisco, California and is 55 years old.
● The Lovely Bones was first published in 2002.
● The author’s own survival of an assault and rape at age 18 was her inspiration for the novel.
● explores: family, Heaven, living, love, and memory
● GoodReads rating: 3.79—64% rated it 4 or 5 stars
● ranked #69 on PBS's list
● A film adaptation directed by Peter Jackson was released in 2009.

I wasn't sure about this one. I thought it might be a bit much for me, given the setup (rape and murder of a young girl). But I read a couple of reviews (from the NY Times) that were generally positive, and now I'm kind of interested.

The Goodreads reviews on this one are all over the place. Lots of one-star and two-star reviews. But some good reviews too. I guess I should give it a try...

You never disappoint, Andrew! Always willing to give a group read a try.

Yes, shocking and horrendous material may be triggering for some readers. I hope Sebold handles this mature subject matter well.

Do the New York Times reviews include spoilers? If not, feel free to link them here as others may be interested in reading them too.

I noticed that. The GoodReads rating is on the low side for this list book. I don't know if that's because it's written poorly or because it was upsetting for some and that reflected in the ratings. Of my GR friends—one rated it 5 stars, one 4 stars, and one 3 stars.

I'm going to do my best to read this with an open mind.

Lavan wrote: "Do the New York Times reviews include spoilers? If not, feel free to link them here as others may be interested in reading them too. ..."

Maybe some light spoilers, but nothing major, assuming you already know the basic setup. (But if you really don't want *any* spoilers, maybe skip them.)

They ran two reviews: Here's the first and here's the second.

I read this book when it was first published. It was different, easy to read, but I only gave it 3stars. I actually liked her second book, The Almost Moon, much more.

Thank you for sharing those reviews, Andrew!

Do you remember what you didn't like about The Lovely Bones, Toni?

I'm looking forward to starting this list book in ten days!

I just picked up my copy from the library....interesting premise, I must say, lol!

I read it when it first came out. I do remember it’s grisly, and I just didn’t believe the story. There is a movie, haven’t seen it. And I really enjoyed one other of her novels.

Excellent, Laurie!
Let us know how you like it, please!

Toni—Ah, I understand. I don't like when a story is unplausible either. That definitely diminishes my enjoyment.

I'm on chapter 7 and not interested in anyone at all. Mrs. Singh caused a flutter when she suggested the dad kill Mr. Harvey, but other than that I'm pretty bored with this book. I wish I had it on audio. It's an effort to read.

I read the first 3 chapters and was not impressed. Does it get better?

I'm sorry to hear that you're not enjoying The Lovely Bones, Carl and Cindy.
I hope you feel differently as you continue the story.

Ugh. Chapter 22 is just ridiculous.

(view spoiler)[Spirit possesion so she can have sex with her junior high first kiss? (hide spoiler)]
This book stinks. Its not worthy of more critical analysis.

Tere—welcome to the discussion!
I'm glad you'll be joining in on this group read, because I'd like to hear more members' thoughts on this list book.

My copy is 265 pages.
I started yesterday. I'm on p. 51—at 19%.

For a story like this—one that includes ghosts (or whatever Sebold would refer to Susie as) and Heaven (or rather, the author's representation of)—I suspend my personal beliefs and focus on aspects such as: writing style/level, characters (are they believable, do they develop during the story, and so on), etc.

My first observation: I was not expecting a horrendous, brutal crime to be at the beginning of the story. Usually a scene of that magnitude is the climax. It's also uncommon for the victim to be the narrator and for the narrating to take place from Heaven. I like that The Lovely Bones isn't predictable (so far).

I got the impression that this was a cautionary tale, but the more I considered this the more I dismissed it, because (view spoiler)[ the murder couldn't have been avoided. It was close to Susie's house. She was walking home from school. Yes, she took a short cut, but honestly—who hasn't done the same? I know I did countless times growing up. It was a neighbor she and her family knew, a neighbor her father had spoken to on occasion. Yes, she did go with him when he asked her, but even if she hadn't—even if she'd refused I think the same would have happened. It only takes a moment for a grown man to clap his hand tightly over a young girl's mouth and forcefully take her. It's scary, but true.

After thinking this through, my worry is—if kids read this, will it make them feel unsafe? The realization that there are senseless wrongdoings in life that you can't stop is tough enough for adults to cope with.
The Lovely Bones is an adult novel, but given that it's narrated by a fourteen year old girl it probably attracts a younger audience.

Did anyone else have this concern? (hide spoiler)]

I really enjoyed the premise of this book, and I read it more as a study of how the people left behind deal with a tragedy. How was each character changed by the experience?
I liked that Susies absence isn't total-her memory fills a space in the lives of all who knew her. That space is occupied in the novel by her ghost, narrating the events as she would see them.
Even the hokey scenes, like the one Carl mentioned, I look at as the intrusion of memory or a what if. If Susie had lived, what would this experience have been like? Would it have happened?
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book because of its unique set up. Every person has an impact on the world, so much so that their absence ALSO impacts everyone.

I’m still at the beginning. If you haven’t started yet be warned.
TW : child rape , murder

Amanda wrote: "I’m still at the beginning. If you haven’t started yet be warned. TW : child rape , murder"
Yeah, thanks for mentioning that. This book does need a trigger warning. The murder is mentioned in most summaries of the book, but not always the rape, so it's worth mentioning for anyone who'd have a problem with it. It's not *terribly* graphic, but some folks could certainly have trouble with it.

I'm only on chapter 3 of this book, but I'm noticing a lot of references to other books. Not sure if that continues through the whole book, but here's everything I noticed so far:

To Kill a Mockingbird (also mentioned in the "GAR Books That Mention Other GAR Books" thread),
Fear of Flying,
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret,
and Resistance, Rebellion and Death: Essays.

Interesting mix there.

I finally finished reading this today. Here's a link to my review, for anyone who's interested.

Going back and looking at some of the comments above, now that I've finished the book: The bit in chapter 22 that Carl mentions is indeed a bit questionable, but it didn't bother me that much. I think my view on it is closer to Bethany's. Still, it was a... curious narrative choice. You could certainly interpret it as a *bad* choice, and I wouldn't argue with you too much.

Overall, I think it was worth reading, and it made me think about grief and the way I've dealt with losing people over the years.

I am only 36% in as I have many obligations around this time of year and my stack of to-read before the year is over is climbing into the double digits, but I am enjoying this read. It is kind of mystical and magical and tragic and healing and cathartic.

This book's themes center on grief, loss, death, and family. I really love what Bethany commented on this book. I am excited to chat about it some more if I can get more read.

By the way, I watched the movie version of this book over the weekend, on Netflix. It's interesting, but flawed. I thought some of the actors were great, and the visuals were really good, but the narrative was a bit of a jumble. I don't think it really held together that well and I don't think it really communicated the theme of the book that well either.

One of the problems is that the main characters (other than Susie) age over the course of the book, and that's hard to communicate convincingly in a movie. A lot of stuff with Lindsey and Buckley just gets lost.

I'd be disappointed if I'd paid to see it, but as something to watch on Netflix, if you have a couple of spare hours, and low expectations, it's not a bad choice.

Bethany—I thoroughly enjoyed reading your insight and understanding of The Lovely Bones. Thank you for sharing! Now that I'm much further along I feel the same as you've expressed. There's no doubt that this list book is unusual in many ways.

Amanda—As I mentioned in message 3 under 'Some info on this novel and author:' Alice Sebold's own survival of an assault and rape at age 18 was her inspiration for the novel. Writing about such a personal and painful event was undoubtedly brave of her. Hopefully, it was therapeutic as well.

There are a great deal of various books and authors mentioned throughout the story, Andrew. I noticed that too.
Also, I enjoyed reading your review. Well said, and thank you for linking it here for us! (I'll go back and peek at your spoiler once I've finished the book.)
I'm glad you were able to connect and relate to the story in a personal way.

I'm growing more and more curious about chapter 22 as members mention it. I'm on chapter 20 now, almost there ...

Please, take your time Larissa! We can all relate and understand holiday responsibilities and end-of-the-year books to finish.
I agree that this story centers around healing and the themes you've mentioned.

I think I'll skip the movie adaptation after reading your take on it, Andrew.
Has anyone else seen it? If so, what did you think?

I'm on p. 219—at 83%.
I know I had thoughts that I wanted to share from 19% (since my last update) to now, but as it's been about a month I can't recall them clearly. Instead, I'll focus on what's come to mind from what I've read recently, in the past three days.
I'm seriously bothered by how Susie's mother, Abigail, handled the loss of her daughter. The more I read, the more I want to yell at her, to tell her to stop being so selfish. To tell her that being a parent isn't supposed to be convenient. That you don't get to check out and solely think about yourself and what you want. That as a parent, you have to put your kids first. Always. Whether you "wanted" them or not. (She didn't want children, but she had three? What on earth?)
I feel as though I'm going to get attacked for venting this, because I know that unless you're actually in a situation yourself you shouldn't judge. I understand that everyone grieves in their own way and I can't possibly fathom what Abigail, or any of the family, are feeling, thinking, or experiencing while going through it.

But I'm still irritated that (view spoiler)[ she had a fling, then took off and left her kids when they needed her most. I'm glad Buckley reacted the way he did towards her on the drive from the airport. She totally deserved that and so much more. (hide spoiler)]

I finished yesterday. I was conflicted whether to rate this 3 or 4 stars, but decided 3 was closer to what I think. There were parts that didn't make sense to me ...

(view spoiler)[ Susie's father, Jack, had a feeling that George Harvey was his daughter's killer merely from talking to him for a short time. What if he was wrong? It seemed far-fetched that someone would assign blame so quickly and be that adamant that they're right.

Susie's mother, Abigail, learned that her daughter Lindsey broke into Mr. Harvey's home and her reaction was ... to leave the house. She didn't say a word to her daughter about this dangerous, not to mention illegal, act. She didn't say anything to her husband who seemed to approve of this behavior. On that note—Jack basically gave Lindsey the idea to commit this crime without a thought of the possible consequences. Wasn't he concerned that he may lose another daughter by encouraging her to put herself in harm's way?

The controversial chapter 22—I didn't have a problem with it until the part when Susie (who'd possessed Ruth's body) "made love" with Ray. Uhm ... what? How did Ruth feel about Susie using her body to do that? Was she honestly all right with it? Didn't feel violated in the slightest?
This scene reminded me of a part in the movie Ghost starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore.

I literally rolled my eyes at the icicle bit. I didn't care for Mr. Harvey's ending. It could have been much better. (hide spoiler)]

Even with these complaints—I think Sebold is a good writer. There were excerpts that I thought were beautifully done and parts of the story did reach me and make me feel.

Has anyone read any other works by Sebold? I'm curious if this novel is actually her best.

She has a second novel-A Second Moon which is much more we’ll-written. I enjoyed it very much.

There’s also her memoir of her own rape experience-Lucky.

Toni wrote: "She has a second novel-A Second Moon which is much more we’ll-written. I enjoyed it very much."

Thank you for these suggestions, Toni!

I finally finished!

Larissa wrote: "I finally finished!"

Oh, good!
I read your review (thank you for writing one, by the way). I felt pretty much the same way, as my comments above show.
Thank you for participating in this group read and discussion, Larissa.

I noticed you're currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on that list book!

I have read To Kill a Mockingbird before but it was a very long time ago and I was going to try to catch up and try to read Go Set a Watchman but I think I will just start from scratch and read whatever we are reading in February- is it Pride and Prejudice? I have read that one already too but I will see if I can reread it (at least I will try). I want to be more involved. Our family hit a bit of bump right at the beginning of the year- my youngest daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and we are trying to get a new normal, which is tough, but reading has always helped me through crisis so it will not be abandoned. Hopefully no crazy stuff will happen in February and I will be ready to go!

No worries, Larissa!
The discussion for Go Set a Watchman will be there for whenever you do decide to read it and share your thoughts. I like when idle threads are revived.

Yes, our stand-alone novel for February is Pride and Prejudice. I hope you're able to reread it with us, and I'm happy that you're planning to participate more! Active groups are the best groups.

I'm terribly sorry to learn of your daughter's condition. Know that my thoughts and best wishes are with you, your daughter, and your family as you adjust and cope.

Like you, I believe reading can be a comforting diversion when life is challenging. I hope it will be for you during this difficulty.
Thank you for sharing such a personal part of your life with us.

Larissa, sending good thoughts and hugs to you and your family. My da and grandda were both diabetics, so I know some of what you're going through. If you ever need a shoulder, just yell. Mine are plenty wide.

Thank you for everyone's thoughts and well wishes especially since I am practically a stranger but united with our love for books and reading makes us friends. We are getting into a rhythm at home and my stack of reading has not diminished.

Larissa wrote: "Thank you for everyone's thoughts and well wishes especially since I am practically a stranger but united with our love for books and reading makes us friends. We are getting into a rhythm at home ..."

Larissa,

Happy to hear you guys are doing better considering the challenging diagnosis. Sending you and your family virtual hugs and high fives.

Good luck tackling your TBR; mine is out of control as well:-)

Happy Reading!