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40x40

Julianne Moore recommended The Leftovers in Books (curated)

 
The Leftovers
The Leftovers
Tom Perrotta | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
5.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"This convinced me that grief gets easier - In The Leftovers, Tom Perrotta takes an absurd premise—the Rapture has actually occurred—and turns it into a meditation on loss and love. For me, the most difficult thing about getting older has been the loss of my loved ones, particularly my mother. Perrotta explores exactly that: How do we continue to live in a world where the possibility of loss lurks around every corner? I remember sitting on my porch last summer and bursting into tears at the end, not because it's sad but because it's so hopeful."

Source
  
    Apeirogon

    Apeirogon

    Colum McCann

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    Book

    How do we continue living once we have lost our reason to live? Rami and Bassam live in the city...

40x40

Marylegs (44 KP) rated The Lovely Bones in Books

Aug 14, 2019  
The Lovely Bones
The Lovely Bones
Alice Sebold | 2002 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.3 (66 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is another book I have felt the urge to read after watching the film. I probably would never have picked this book up if I hadn’t seen the film previously. The Lovely Bones is not the easiest story to read, as it is the story of a 14 year old girl, Susie Salmon, being raped and murdered. Told from the perspective of Susie in her heaven watching over her family, friends and murderer as they carry on with their life in the years after her death. The story develops from the initial stages of grief and devastation felt by her family and friends to how the move on and, not forget her, but learn to live again.

This story could be hard work to read due to the subject matter, but in fact it is beautiful in all the right places. It is raw in detailing human emotions, and how people can feel guilty for feeling normal after the death of a loved one occurs. It is a lovely thought, of people moving onto a place where the heaven is what they make of it, that it is different for each person and that they can build upon it and still have the ability to watch over the family they left behind.

My one bug bear with the book was the character of Susie’s mother, Abigail. I understand that grief affects everyone differently but I couldn’t warm to her due to the actions she took in the subsequent years after her eldest daughter was killed. But I found all the other characters interesting and well developed including in particular Susie’s sister Lindsey, who had to grow up to quickly and Susie’s could have been boyfriend Ray, who didn’t let being accused of her murder destroy him. Even the killers’ character was interesting to read about and whilst I never sympathised with his past history as it is told, it felt important to include more about him than just having him defined by the murder he committed. Probably the most developed and grief stricken character was Susie’s father Jack, the way he dealt with his emotions is more how I imagined a parent would act after losing a child this way. It really pulled at your heart when he had to push down his grief to still try to be a father to his two remaining children, but the whole time feeling guilty that Susie wasn’t there which obviously made it harder for his to let go. I would recommend this book but due to the subject matter, no matter how delicately it is written and dealt with, still may not be for everyone.