Post by Taika of Narfell on Jan 6, 2007 5:12:15 GMT 1
I don't know if Ms. Sebold has an agreement with Kleenex. If not she should consider getting one. This book is one of the saddest books I've read in a long time.
As can be gleaned from the cover, the narrator of the book is dead and is telling her story while she watches her relatives and friends from her heavenly vantage point. Whether or not you believe in heaven and a life after death is irrelevant, because this book is not so much about exploring the after-life as it is about exploring such intangible entities such as grief, love and forgiveness.
The narrator is called Susie Salmon. A fairly normal girl 14 years of age. One day on her way home from school she is raped and killed, an experience that is described in hardly any graphics but the emotional scene that takes place is intensely described. Her killer takes her body apart and for some time nobody knows where the girl might be. A dog eventually finds her elbow and the murder investigation takes shape.
We know who the killer is. Susie knows it too, she's the one to tell us after all. At some point Susie's father figures it out as well, but it takes almost the entire book before the police gets so far that they can find enough evidence. However, this is not a crime novel, even though the basis of the plot is a crime. It's a novel describing what happens to the surroundings after such a crime. Susie up in heaven has her own thoughts about it, her parents react in widely different ways, her sister - only a year younger than herself - is affected not only with the loss, but also with how she's no longer seen as Lindsey by her peers but as Susie Salmon's, the murdered girl's, sister. Buckley, the 10 years younger brother, is shielded from it all by his parents but he catches on to much regardless. Ruth, a classmate of Susie's, experience what we'd classify as paranormal events such as having a kind of affinity, a form of contact with the dead. Ray Singh, a boy in love with Susie, Samuel Heckler, a boy in love with Lindsey, Hal Heckler, Samuel's brother, Ruana Singh, Ray's mother, and Len Fenerman, the detective in charge of the murder investigation.
They all have one thing in common, namely that Susie's death affected them in some way or another and they all try to cope in each their own way. The novel spans about 8 years, from Susie's murder at age 14 and until she would have been 22, and the development of grief 'patterns' with all the people portrayed is very thoroughly done. Some are outwardly grieving, some are inwardly grieving, some blame themselves, some blame the world, some accept it and try to move on, some remain in denial. Of all of them can be said that Susie 's murder turned their lives upside down, even if they only had a passing connection to the family.
Through these connections we're given brief albeit telling insights into these people's lives.Their thoughts, their feelings, their cares, and Susie can tell us those things, because from heaven she can see what people think and feel - and this too goes for her murderer. She suddenly knows details about the murderers childhood, and while we will never grow to like the man, we cannot help but feel some sympathy for the disturbed individual. He did not do what he did out of a choice to be evil, but because his life made him what he was, it is even worth noting that this killer had tried to control his urges by killing animals - by "taking lesser lives" as Susie says.
There is a strange acceptance radiating from Susie's thoughts and impressions. An acceptance of her own death and an acceptance of her killer. She clearly feels resentment at times, but mostly she's sympathetic because she has realised that no amount of hatred will give her back what she lost.
This is an incredibly strong novel. It will make the reader cry several times simply because of its heart-breaking nature. Susie's life is not the only one ruined and as readers following Susie, we get to see other people's lives fall apart and we get to see Susie seeing this without being able to do anything about it. While the novel is fairly consistent in its style the ending was a disappointment, it was anti-climactic in a way that made Susie become more than just Susie and had her take on more of another person's sentiments - the author's most likely. This means that the development Susie went through over the course of the book was more or less negated in this last episode - and I must say that when I say the book was worth my time I do not consider this last chapter at all. It was too far removed from the rest of the book - so much so that I had forgotten it at some point until I was reminded about what happened at the end.
A sad but warm and touching tale, but skipping the last chapter would probably be best for everyone.
As can be gleaned from the cover, the narrator of the book is dead and is telling her story while she watches her relatives and friends from her heavenly vantage point. Whether or not you believe in heaven and a life after death is irrelevant, because this book is not so much about exploring the after-life as it is about exploring such intangible entities such as grief, love and forgiveness.
The narrator is called Susie Salmon. A fairly normal girl 14 years of age. One day on her way home from school she is raped and killed, an experience that is described in hardly any graphics but the emotional scene that takes place is intensely described. Her killer takes her body apart and for some time nobody knows where the girl might be. A dog eventually finds her elbow and the murder investigation takes shape.
We know who the killer is. Susie knows it too, she's the one to tell us after all. At some point Susie's father figures it out as well, but it takes almost the entire book before the police gets so far that they can find enough evidence. However, this is not a crime novel, even though the basis of the plot is a crime. It's a novel describing what happens to the surroundings after such a crime. Susie up in heaven has her own thoughts about it, her parents react in widely different ways, her sister - only a year younger than herself - is affected not only with the loss, but also with how she's no longer seen as Lindsey by her peers but as Susie Salmon's, the murdered girl's, sister. Buckley, the 10 years younger brother, is shielded from it all by his parents but he catches on to much regardless. Ruth, a classmate of Susie's, experience what we'd classify as paranormal events such as having a kind of affinity, a form of contact with the dead. Ray Singh, a boy in love with Susie, Samuel Heckler, a boy in love with Lindsey, Hal Heckler, Samuel's brother, Ruana Singh, Ray's mother, and Len Fenerman, the detective in charge of the murder investigation.
They all have one thing in common, namely that Susie's death affected them in some way or another and they all try to cope in each their own way. The novel spans about 8 years, from Susie's murder at age 14 and until she would have been 22, and the development of grief 'patterns' with all the people portrayed is very thoroughly done. Some are outwardly grieving, some are inwardly grieving, some blame themselves, some blame the world, some accept it and try to move on, some remain in denial. Of all of them can be said that Susie 's murder turned their lives upside down, even if they only had a passing connection to the family.
Through these connections we're given brief albeit telling insights into these people's lives.Their thoughts, their feelings, their cares, and Susie can tell us those things, because from heaven she can see what people think and feel - and this too goes for her murderer. She suddenly knows details about the murderers childhood, and while we will never grow to like the man, we cannot help but feel some sympathy for the disturbed individual. He did not do what he did out of a choice to be evil, but because his life made him what he was, it is even worth noting that this killer had tried to control his urges by killing animals - by "taking lesser lives" as Susie says.
There is a strange acceptance radiating from Susie's thoughts and impressions. An acceptance of her own death and an acceptance of her killer. She clearly feels resentment at times, but mostly she's sympathetic because she has realised that no amount of hatred will give her back what she lost.
This is an incredibly strong novel. It will make the reader cry several times simply because of its heart-breaking nature. Susie's life is not the only one ruined and as readers following Susie, we get to see other people's lives fall apart and we get to see Susie seeing this without being able to do anything about it. While the novel is fairly consistent in its style the ending was a disappointment, it was anti-climactic in a way that made Susie become more than just Susie and had her take on more of another person's sentiments - the author's most likely. This means that the development Susie went through over the course of the book was more or less negated in this last episode - and I must say that when I say the book was worth my time I do not consider this last chapter at all. It was too far removed from the rest of the book - so much so that I had forgotten it at some point until I was reminded about what happened at the end.
A sad but warm and touching tale, but skipping the last chapter would probably be best for everyone.