The Lovely Bones

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I remember when it won the Stoker in 2002. I was a little put off by the fact. I like the book; I think it is well written. However, despite the fact that it is a "ghost story," I really don't consider it horror. I feel it is more of a mainstream novel about coping with the death of a loved one, particularly a child. As a horror novel, I find this book disappointing. As a mainstream book about the effects of grief and loss, I find it much more compelling.

I have very specific expectations for horror that include elements absent from this story. I'm inclined to refer to it more as Gothic fiction, but I'm not sure it fulfills the elements of that genre either. To me, the most important elements of the horror genre are 1) a deep examination of a horrific theme and 2) a tendency to push the boundaries of acceptability. I don't see either of those elements in The Lovely Bones. While I don't question that the rape and murder of a young girl is horrific, I would argue that the murder is merely a catalyst for the events of the story, not the focus of the story. The focus is how that tears at the fabric of the lives of those touched by it. I actually think you could replace the murder with a hit and run accident or a drunk driving accident and still be able to cover the same themes with only minor adjustments to the plot. The parents would still be torn apart by their grief. The father would still obsess over who was responsible. Lindsay would still have to deal with seeing her dead sister in her reflection. And so on. Nor does the book push the edges of acceptability. Except for the murder, which was as I said almost a peripheral element, there was no element of shock. I never had that sense of "I can't believe she went there." The element of horror is not central to the story.

A stronger case could perhaps be made for the book as a Gothic horror, but even there, I think important elements are missing, particularly the atmosphere or mood of the Gothic horror. Although the story does take an element of the horrific and combine it with an element of the romantic as all good Gothics do, but it does not develop the rich Gothic atmosphere. I do not feel the oppressive opulence, the sweet darkness that comes with Gothic horror. Hell House and The Haunting of Hill House are both steeped in this atmosphere, just as Frankenstein or Dracula or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are. I do not feel any of that atmosphere is this story. While there is certainly sadness and depression evident in the lives of these people, I also think there is always a sense of hope for them, a sense that some day they will get through this (and even though it takes a very long time and there is much hardship to go through first, they DO get through it). There is that positive ending that is much more reminiscent of romance or mainstream fiction than horror, even Gothic horror.

That said, I am not saying I didn’t like the book. As a horror novel it doesn’t work for me; however, as a story of love and redemption, of grief and loss, of the endurance of the human spirit, this book works wonderfully well. As someone who is still dealing with her own traumas and tragedies, I could empathize with these characters completely. I could see my own family in the way these people coped with their feelings. On several occasions, I found myself tearing up as I read a poignant passage (which inevitably would happen while I was reading on the bus).

While the use of the unique POV was a fantastic device, I don’t feel it was enough to classify it in the horror genre. I’m not even sure I think of it as a “ghost story,” at least not in the traditional sense. Call of the Wild is told from the point of view of a dog, but that doesn’t make it a fantasy as one might think it would. Still, I think it is a very successful and beautifully written novel and encourage anyone who might be interested to read it.