The Lovely Bones

I finished this novel the other evening at midnight by the light of my small Eiffel Tower light sitting next to me on the end table while my wife had been asleep for hours. I borrowed this book from the library over a week ago, and a friend of mine lives by this book. To her it's my Girlfriend in a Coma. At first I found the tone sophomoric and histrionic, although I came to realize this was the exact point. I know someone who was reading this book at age 12, before her mother ripped it from her hands. Of course, at that age, I would not suggest that this book is read by many although I truly believe that age does not matter. People are always worried about how old this person is our that person is, and too many people base everything on age rather than who the person truly is. Susie in Sebold's novel is a 14 year old who was raped and murdered. She told much of this story from a playground that was her heaven. It continued for years on Earth until people grew up and dealt with her murder. They showcase a snippet of friends to sample how people her age continue on, and I realize that Sebold could not include every person who ever knew the little girl, but I wonder if the inclusion of pigeonholed steretyped kids was a little too much. Ray is indian and goes to Med School. Ruth likes girls. Two misfits get together and stay together, her sister loses her virginity, her mother has an affair and her father never really copes. Stylistically this was well done once I realized it was well done, but I found the relationships between several of the characters to be something out of Ordinary People. When I write my dead girl book, it'll be different. I will try to do something fresh, but how can we ever truly do that. I do not know. As for Sebold she hit a winner with her frank 14 year old voice, which several people obviously continue to enjoy.