LOLA RECOMMENDS A BOOK AND A MOVIE

Gentle Readers,

The book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold is so painfully beautiful that I didn't think a decent movie could be made from it.

I was wrong.

The movie of The Lovely Bones is very good.

It's not terribly gory, which I liked, because I knew what was going to happen to Susie Salmon and that was frightening enough by itself. Stanley Tucci deserved his Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for playing the murderer, Mr. Harvey.

But more important, the movie is beautifully designed and lit. Saoirse Ronan, as Susie, has the most incredible other worldly glow. Those blue eyes of hers when she sees heaven -- WOW!

Susie Salmon: "I wasn't lost, or frozen, or gone... I was alive; I was alive in my own perfect world."

The movie even manages to have comedic relief with Susan Sarandon as Grandma.

Buckley Salmon: Are we still a family?
Grandma Lynn: Of course we're a family. Your mother's in crisis, your father's a wreck.
Lindsey Salmon: What does that make you?
Grandma Lynn: I'm in charge.

I also recommend Lucky by Alice Sebold, a memoir about when she was raped as a young woman.

Alice Sebold, you are way cool.

Susie Salmon: [Last Lines]
[voiceover]
Susie Salmon: When my mother came to my room, I realized that all this time, I had been waiting for her. I had been waiting so long, I was afraid she wouldn't come.
Abigail Salmon: [Whispering] I love you susie.
Susie Salmon: [Voiceover] Nobody notices when we leave. I mean, the moment when we really choose to go. At best you might feel, a whisper or the wave of a whisper, undulating down. My name is Salmon, like the fish. First name: Susie. I was 14 years old, when I was murdered on December 6th 1973. I was here for a moment, and then I was gone. I wish you all, a long, and happy life.

Love,

Lola