Lucky - Alice Sebold

This was a pretty hard book to read. Not because of the way it's written, but because of the story and it's unflinching honesty. Sebold did a fantastic job with this.

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Lucky is the autobiographic story of Alice Sebold, focusing in particular from the night when, as a college freshman at Syracuse Uni, she was beaten and raped on her way home, the subsequent trial, and how she, her friends and family cope in the aftermath of the rape.

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Right from the off this story gets under your skin. Sebold leaves nothing out. After reading her story and realising how awful it must have been you get the impression that writing this story was something that the author had to do. She says herself in the book that she is the kind of person do just let it all hang out - and in this book she certainly does. She details the rape itself which makes very difficult reading indeed. But more importantly are the observations that she makes in the aftermath; how people's reactions and opinions change towards her; how she is seen differently in the eyes of those who no her; how the the police and detectives deal with her. It is a harrowing yet brilliantly written piece of writing. Sebold is so so good at picking out what matters in the story (I hate using that word with this book - it suggests fiction, or something trivial which this certainly is not) and in eloquently drawing out what you know is lurking in the back of your mind but can't quite pin-point. This is one of my favourite quotes from the book:

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"I also discarded certain assumptions I had held about how the world worked and about how safe I was." (This quote was actually taken from the piece that she wrote in the New York Times on Feb 26th 1989 entitled 'HERS; Speaking of the Unspeakable' but appears in her book also).
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I think that this quote just sums up everything about the whole experience. Particularly in the way you no longer feel safe, how you no longer fit into your life from that point on, how everything is measured in terms of "before the rape" or "after the rape", how people see you differently even though they don't mean too. And most importantly how it impacts the rest of your life, not just through post-traumatic stress disorder, but also in the decisions you make be they subconscious or conscious.

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When I read The Lovely Bones last year I said that I didn't like where it was going. Having read Lucky I suddenly feel like I understand The Lovely Bones a whole lot more. I realise now where Sebold was coming from. The purpose and plot has now slotted into place.

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Would I recommend Lucky as reading material to someone who had been raped? Tricky question... But I would say yes. Sebold is a heroine. She goes round the hard way (her words!) but doesn't give up, and I think that her honesty and ability to unflinchingly put into words the emotional turmoil involved are so effective in bringing the reality of rape out into the open. I have immense respect and admiration for her.

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

I think that when you are reading a book there are two questions you need to ask: a) Was it good; and b) did you enjoy it.
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The Lovely Bones is a very good book. It has a sympathetic approach to it's subject and is intelligent in its construct and I had heard people rave about how brilliant it was. However, throughout the majority of the book I couldn't stop myself from thinking that actually, I'm not really enjoying reading this however much I wanted to enjoy it. Only in the last chapter did I begin to fully understand and like where the story took me.
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But maybe this is what Sebold had intended all along due to the subject of the book? The story is told by 14 year-old Susie who one night on her way home is raped and murdered by a man in her neighbourhood. The rest of the book details how she sees her family's attempt to come to terms with her senseless death as she looks down on them from Heaven; as they try and make sense of it, and most notably at the end, how their lives have been irrevocably changed and linked to one another by it. Thinking back, maybe the reason I didn't enjoy the majority of the book was because of the emotional changes that happen to the characters as they try to make sense of Susie's death - this in itself would be a hard time for anyone unlucky enough to have to experience it which maybe Sebold, in her cleverness has managed to convey to her readers perfectly.
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As Susie's family and friends try to get on with their lives you sense there is a heavy veil of longing over the them - a sense that they will each of them have to find closure in their own way especially since Susie's body or her killer are never found. This is where the book for me at least, starts to come together at the end when the family realise that their longing and hanging on can not continue and that they need to get on with their lives whilst remembering Susie in their own way. Only in this way can Susie herself let go and move into the next part of her Heaven. Sebold explains to us the comforting thought of how the dead never actually leave us even once their loss has been accepted by those they love. They are always with us and their legacies however small will remain forever which she explains in a very sympathetic manner.
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There is no doubt that this in an elegant book which taps into the heart of love, loss and grief and reluctant acceptance. It is honest in its conclusion highlighted by the fact that Susie's killer is never found and eventually dies an unremarkable and unnoticed death himself. Sebold is a very clever writer who does expect you to read between the lines on occasion. All in all a very good book but as to whether it was enjoyable to read, you'll have to make up your own mind on that one.
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I've released this book into the wild via http://www.bookcrossing.com/ and its BCID is 196-5133324 - enjoy!