Novel Partners Post # 3

NAME: Fiona Jackson        DATE: February 16, 2011 TITLE: The Lovely Bones TIME: 3 hours AUTHOR: Alice Sebold      PAGES: 161 - 280 TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 119

What I read today made me feel extremely happy. Or at least some of what I read. What made me so happy was when Samuel proposed to Lindsey. I think that it is incredible that their relationship withstood every thing that this family has been through. But know that I think about it, it may have even made them a stronger couple. Nothing could ever happen to them that could be worse than something that they have already been forced to face and deal with. Susie's death may have even brought them together the first time back when they were 13. He approached her after it happened. That showed her that he honestly truly cared about her.  I am so glad that Lindsey had someone to go to when no one else was there. Samuel is her soul mate and he came to her when she most needed him. That is why when he proposed to her it filled me with joy. But on a different subject, what I read today also made me extremely sad. The book was talking about Buckley a lot and about how Susie's death and his mother leaving has affected him. He sounds like it has messed him up a lot. I was basically in tears when he was talking about how he has taught himself to make his heart go from heart to stone so that he can't get hurt anymore. That was when he was 4 years old. That is too early for a child to have to think like that. It broke my heart.  Another person who is really important to the story other than the main character is Susie's mother Abigail.  Throughout the story a big part of the plot has been her struggle to cope with Susie's death. She makes some interesting decisions, like cheating on her husband, but the worst thing is that she get's up and leaves. It wasn't very clear if she explained why she felt she needed to do this to her husband and children or not, but one day she decided to drive to California. I don't really understand this. Why does losing your other two children make losing your first one better? I don't get why she thought that that would help. How could she do that to her family? Those kids had enough to deal with. They didn't need to lose their mother too. That is just horrible. And you can tell that it has screwed Buckley up a lot. He lost his mother when he was 4 years old. And he doesn't even really have the comfort of having her die. She chose to leave him. She had a choice. And she didn't choose him and Lindsey. That's the worst part. But I have a feeling that she may come back.  A couple things in this book upset me clearly. But the worst thing is that Mr. Harvey hasn't been caught. He killed so many people and no one knows it's him. It makes me so mad. He deserves to be caught. He needs to be caught. Well, at least they have figured out that Susie's dad was right all along and that it was Mr. Harvey. But then he just disappears. It's incredibly frustrating. I really hope that he get's caught. He has brutally murdered like 10 people. One girl was 5 years old! It makes me sick! I can not understand how he lives with himself. He went to Susie's funeral. I would not be able to deal with that.  It's so wrong. He must have something seriously wrong with him. I'm sure he does. He must have some sort of a mental disorder. I mean come on, he kills the neighborhood animals to keep himself from killing the neighborhood kids. He needs help. I wish that he could get some.

Novel Partners Post # 2

NAME: Fiona Jackson DATE: February 10th, 2011 

TITLE: The Lovely Bones  TIME: 2 hours

AUTHOR: Alice Sebold  PAGES: 80-157

TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 77

How did what you read today make you feel? Why? 


As you might have heard, this book is a very sad and horrific one. Some people may not enjoy books or stories like this one because of that. Some people may not want to spend time thinking about the possibilities of things like a little girl being murdered are. But so far this book has taught me a lot. It's not like I enjoy sitting there and reading about horrible things, but to me books like this are a lot more meaningful, and have a better message then a silly book trying to hard to be funny. For example, this book has taught me a lot about death and about what it does to people. No one I have ever been close to has died yet. Seeing how the family deals with Susie's death has taught me a lot. I expected that because Susie died, the family would grow closer. That they would lean on each other. But the opposite happened. Abigail,  (Susie's mother) had an affair with the police officer Len Fenerman. She chose to lean and depend on him instead of her husband who was actually right about George. Lindsey went to Samuel her boyfriend. Buckley has started to talk to himself, pretending he's seeing and talking to Susie. Her father Jack focused a lot on Buckley, but when that started to deteriorate he focused on trying to prove that George was guilty. But the police gave up on him. Instead of watching this family bloom and grow together, I have watched them wilt and die. 


What do you think about a particular character's actions? Was he/she right or wrong to do that? 
When I realized that Abigail was falling for Len, it upset me a great deal. I had faith that the family would not fall apart. And I understand why that she did it. She needed a way to get away and forget Susie. But why couldn't she do it in a different way. I think that cheating on your husband would never be the right way to go in a situation like that. How would Jack feel? He didn't do anything crazy like that! All he was concerned about was getting evidence about George killing Susie. I think that that actually may be the reason that she went to Len for comfort. He is a police man. His job was to catch Susie's killer. No matter what Jack says, Len would always be right and know best because he is a Police man. Even though Jack was right, and Len was wrong. I also feel ashamed of Len. I can't believe that he would do that to their family given the situation. And he knows exactly what their situation is. Everyone does. He is the one trying to help their family and all he does is make it worse. Much worse. And obviously other people are going to find out. Lindsey will, or Jack will. Lindsey's grandma could just tell from seeing Abigail. She confronted Abigail about it, and Abigail completely ignored it. I think that Abigail's actions were wrong, but I don't really blame her actually. She had to do something. But she wasn't strong enough, so she chose a  very bad outlet. I feel sorry for her. I feel sorry for Susie. I feel sorry for their whole family. 


What was one of your favorite lines (or sentences) in what you read today? Copy it down and tell why you liked it.


"It's one of my secret pleasures," she admitted. "After all these years I still love to watch the souls that float and spin in masses, all of them clamoring at once inside the air." "I don't see anything," I said the first time. " Watch closely," she sad, "and hush." But I felt them before I saw them, small warm sparks along my arms. Then there they were, fireflies lighting up and expanding in howls and and swirls as they abandoned human flesh. "Like snowflakes." Franny said, "none of them the same and yet each one, from where we stand , exactly like the one before."

I really liked this quote because it kind of confused me but intrigued me at the same time. It is a interesting way of describing souls, like snowflakes. But I liked it, because it seems like it would be correct, especially if you were in heaven watching all these new people come. They are all different and unique people, but all the same. They all made the same mistakes, they all feel the same way. I also thought that this quote was kind of meaningful because it made me wonder if Franny had been watching when Susie's soul was leaving Earth. And then there they are now watching even more people come. It also made me kind of sad because it talked about how many souls they could see, and that obviously represents how many people are dying, and that made me start wondering how many other people's death was like Susie's, so horrific and wrong. This quote was interesting to me, so I included it. 

The Lovely Bones Post #1

NAME: Fiona Jackson                  DATE: February 3, 2011

TITLE: The Lovely Bones            TIME: 2 hours

AUTHOR: Alice Sebold                 PAGES: 1-80 

TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 80

Would you read another book by this Author? Why or why not? 

I would definitely read another book by this Author. So far in the book the Author has a very interesting and creative writing style. I find it really interesting to be reading part of the book through the perspective of the girl in heaven. I like the way the author describes heaven and think that the way she writes the story is really cool. I would read another book by her because this book is written so well. I like the idea, and how she keeps dropping hints about what the rest of the book is going to be about that leave you wondering and wanting to read more. I would read another book by her hoping that it would be as unique and intriguing as this one. 

What does this book make you wonder about? Why? 

This book makes me wonder a lot about heaven, and what happens after you die. The reason for this is that the girl who dies, (Susie) goes to heaven and talks about what it is like for her. In the book it is described as being a good place, or somewhere were you get everything that you want or desire except to be alive again of course. So basically, if you just think about wanting a hamburger, then you would get one. But you have to realize this gift in order to really be able to use it to your advantage. Also, in your heaven, you are not alone. You are with other dead people. And you can share your house with a friend or be alone. Again, it's whatever you desire. Also you get to watch the people on earth. So Susie gets to look down and see how her parents are coping with her death. In my opinion, I don't think that that would be a very fun thing to have to do. It also seems like it would be incredibly frustrating to know exactly were your body is and who killed you and not be able to tell your parents or the police. So this book really makes me wonder what happens after your dead. Is it something like what it is described to be in the book? Is it nothing like it? Is there no such thing as heaven? There is an endless amount of possibilities. 

Explain how the Author creates suspense in the book. 

The author creates suspense in an interesting way in this book. She is starting to drop hints that Susie is going to find a way to communicate with her family. For example, Susie accidentally made her face appear in a collection of broken glass which leads her father to believe that Susie is trying to talk to him. She makes it sort of clear that it's going to be a reoccurring theme in the book, but doesn't explain why or how.