Summer Reading: The Lovely Bones

The book that I read this summer was called The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Sebold's writing is bold, true, and indeering, and left me with a feeling of faith in not only humanity, but the universe. The Lovely Bones is the story of 14 year old Susie Salmon's family's life after her brutal rape, and murder, from her perspective in heaven. The Lovely Bones is the best book I have ever read for so many reasons, and I highly recommend it. Namely, is the fact that Sebold effectively integrates a mystery, romance, and tradgedy into one brilliant, surprisingly uplifting novel. The effect that the combination of these three genre's being combined creates is completely absorbing. Sebold writes as if she has lived the story first hand, with all its realities, in the fact that death is part of life and life must go on. The second reason I enjoyed The Lovely Bones, and recommend it, is that it suggests spirituality not only exists, but that we can tune into it. I believe in the sixth sense, and that the ferocity of the business world, and the stress of everyday life, distract us from this sixth sense. Sebold dares to question the laws of the human body, and of what we are told to believe, and writes that Susie's father can feel her presence, and that Susie actually comes back in a different body and lives for a small period of time. 

The characters I would cast if I were to make The Lovely Bones into a movie would be Lindsey Salmon, Susie's younger sister, and Mr. Harvey, the man who raped and killed Susie. My choice for Lindsey Salmon would be Dakota Fanning. Lindsey's character is very complicated, and I feel that you would need a strong, experienced actress to play her, even though her part isn't a leading role. Lindsey finds conflict in every part of her life after her sister's death. She finds love, but is conflicted with the fact that she feels selfish, that she has the chance to be in love. Her mother leaves her, so she is forced to take care of her broken father. She is conflicted with the fact that she is known by the town as "the younger sister of the girl who got murdered" rather than as Lindsey Salmon, ambitious wild-child, and young lover. I feel that Dakota Fanning could play this part perfectly, as to all her roles she brings great strength, as well as great relatability. The actor I would cast as Mr. Harvey would be Philip Seymour Hoffman. Mr. Harvey's character is very intrieging for so many reasons, but the main one is that he seems to be obsessive compulsive. The care with which he plans and plots murders is disturbing, almost as though it is a game for him. This grade of phycological disturbia can be played by few people, and Philip Seymour Hoffman is one. This is not to say Hoffman is some sort of psyco, but that he has the ability to look past what we see the character as, and into how they see the world.

- Sofia Campbell