The Lovely Bones

Do you believe in a life beyond this world? Is it something magical and serene? Heaven is portrayed as many things in Alice Seybold’s “The Lovely Bones”. Susie Salmon, a 14 year old girl who was raped and murdered by a man living in close proximity learns that heaven can be very different for everyone, however they are all intertwined. Susie becomes trapped in the “in-between” of what heaven truly is and hell; it is alluding to being a perfect world. Although it is not a place where she is happy; it is a place where she can’t fight the urge to linger over the lives of the people she left behind.

The way “The Lovely Bones” was portrayed from paper to screen by renowned director Peter Jackson was without a lot of detail that was needed in the understanding of some of the main concepts of the plot. Some of the events were shown out of order which was a tad confusing at times, as the family ties were also not explored to the depth that Seybold had presented them. Peter Jackson however did succeed in the storytelling of Susie’s fear and resistance of letting go of Earth and entering into the final stage that had been accessible to her the entire time. In both the book and the film Susie expresses the emotions of anger, jealousy and just straight out fear when it comes to losing what she once called her life.

Certain relationships in the film example Samuel Heckler and Lindsey Salmon (Susie’s’ younger sister) were not explored as most readers would have hoped. In the book the relationship of Samuel and Lindsey develop into a love story revolving around great understanding, compassion and undying love. In the film version this relationship was almost overlooked; pushed aside is if without any importance at all.

The malicious man who committed this fatal crime over and over was seriously disturbed possibly resulting from certain events that occurred throughout the course of his childhood. The film is flawed in this area as well as it did not refer to the troubles he dealt with in his early years regarding his mother. That got quite horrific at times.


Overall the contrasts between the book and the film of “The Lovely Bones” were great; the transfer of details was done quite poorly and with minimal character development that most readers would agree was necessary for depth that the film clearly lacked. The efforts that were made are condonable yet only receive 4 out of 10.