Friday, February 12, 2010

The Lovely Bones...






I started reading this book yesterday, put it down
for a bit, but ended up reading to 6:30 this morning
because I had to finish it. Captivating. Gripping.





The main character is 14 year old Susie Salmon who
was raped and murdered. The story is told in her voice
after she arrives in "her heaven".

I didn't know it was made into a movie until I looked
for a link at Amazon. The movie reviews there sound
disappointing but I'm willing to take a chance on it.

I will, absolutely, be reading the other books written
by Ms Sebold (Lucky, a memoir, and The Almost Moon,
wherein she kills her mother).

click on either photo above to go to the Amazon site.

I have about fifty pages to finish The Hobbit. ho-hum.
The Trilogies are sitting close by but the chances are
very good that they'll be getting dusty.

The next two books to be read will be A Town Like Alice (1950)
and On the Beach (1957) by Nevil Shute.


You can see my reading tastes are somewhat varied.
Let me know in comments what you might recommend.

9 comments:

Ed Bonderenka said...

I wonder what would attract you to "On The Beach".
Saw the movie again last year and had forgotten how depressing it was.

boneman said...

Musashi.
While it can be purchased as all five volumes, it can also be bought one volume at a time and in paperback (ah...sweet cheapness)

Well worth the look.
I was hooked from the very first paragraph.

Jean said...

Hi, Ed. Welcome to Pondering.......
I recently read, on several blogs, that his books were worth reading. I like variety in topics and different styles of writing. Reading often inspires my own writing.

Berry, you've mentioned him before and I keep forgetting to find a copy. Thanks for the reminder, honey.

boneman said...

One more note worth noting (then back to drawing)
Lord of the Rings...I tried to read them. Got lost in his words a lot. But the movie? Wow. Especially the extended versions. Even the appendices were good.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest...Never before had I seen a movie that so accurately described the book. Fantastic.
Musashi...holy cats, all the movies ever done on that book sucked. Terrible things. Not one expressed the honor, courage, love, tenderness, or charisma of the book.

There are more than a dozen all told. The one I speak of often is the translator Charles Terry, who does a marvelous job.
Another translator, William Scott Wilson, I think doesn't get at the core of the man Musashi.
Wilson also translated a book called Taiko, also by Eiji Yoshikawa (who was the original writer of Musashi) and it takes nearly a chapter and a half before a common gait can be found.
Terry seems to have grasped the essence of Yoshikawa's words and meanings right from the start, and, wow! What an adventure!

http://books.google.com/books?id=FWNor84X_vQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=musashi&lr=&ei=dMl2S42uBY_AM-DB4NEE&cd=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false

is a start of the book (and while I say five volumes, the book as a whole is actually seven greater books, but I believe it is a matter of evening out the volumes for American consumption.
Mine must have tasted good to Rich, as I have never seen Volume One again after loaning the set to him.
HA!
If I know Rich, there was mustard invloved!

Jean said...

Berry, I had thought I might give you my copies of Tolkien but you've already tried, eh?

Thanks for all the details and recommendations! Getting added to my list.
d:-)

(keep after Rich for that volume.)

Froth said...

I tried the Trilogy and just got bogged down.

The Lovely Bones was one of those books that you sorta don't want to approach, but once you do, bam. It's awesome. Picoult's books are likethat.

You might enjoy Richard Russo-he did Empire Falls, Straight Man,Nobody's Fool. I really have enjoyed him.

Jean said...

I read Picoult's The Pact. She's very good.
I'll check out Russo, too. Thanks!

Michael Morse said...

I first read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings in High School, then again when I was in my late twenties, third time in my forties. I don't think I would have enjoyed the books if i waited till now to start.

A great alternative to adult fantasy is Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. The first, Wizard's First Rule is one of my all-time favorites.

Of course, everybody should read Rescuing Providence!

Jean said...

Michael, I think I'd pick Rescuing Providence before another fantasy. :-)