Thanks to the break I took from blogging, the Books of September post doesn’t exist. It’s probably a good thing since I read the grand total of one book in September; I’m just a reading machine! Conveniently I only read one book in October too so I’ll just cheat and combine those 2 months into one. Don’t tell anyone!
So the first book I read in October (or September if I’m being truthful) was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I’ve owned this book for a good 5 years or so and although I’ve seen the movie several times, I’ve never actually attempted to get past page 30 of the book. Now that I’ve read it, I think my past self was right for not even attempting to finish this. I know some people adore The Lovely Bones but I wanted to throw it out of the window.
The Lovely Bones tells the story of Susie Salmon (“Salmon, like the fish”) after she is raped and murdered by a neighbour. She watches her family and friends deal with her death from her version of heaven and ultimately, has to watch her brother and sister grow up and have their own lives without her.
Throughout the book, we’re supposed to feel angry, sad and happy. The Lovely Bones is supposed to break you down and put you back together again but I’m either devoid of human emotion or this book just doesn’t do it for me. At no point did I feel any strong emotion towards the story. I didn’t feel frustrated that Susie’s murderer basically got away with not only her murder but the murder of several girls, I wasn’t happy when he finally got his comeuppance and I definitely did not feel any form of emotion at what should have been a fairly nice ending.
Maybe The Lovely Bones would have resonated with me more as a teenager but it’s just not my thing as an adult. Maybe I am devoid of human emotion.
Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr was another book I read in October (I actually genuinely did read this one in October). Requiem for a Dream is both my favourite book and movie so it only seemed natural to get stuck into Last Exit to Brooklyn.
I wish I could describe the plot of this book but I don’t even know where to start. It follows the lives of multiple disgusting characters; each more tragic than the next. Their lives range from that of a drag queen who just wants to hook up with a guy to a teenage girl that goes off the rails and is gang raped to a guy who gets too involved with money that isn’t his and eventually sexually assaults a child. Each character, aside from perhaps one, is significantly viler than the last and even when I found myself liking a character, she ended up doing something horrific and my want to like her disappeared.
Last Exit to Brooklyn is equally as psychologically distressing as Requiem for a Dream; maybe even a little more as you never actually find out what happens next to each character after their heinous moment is over. Each story is left open to interpretation which only makes things more disturbing as it allows your mind to create things you never thought you’d be capable of.
Last Exit to Brooklyn has joined Requiem for a Dream on my favourite books list – and my dad is currently reading and enjoying it so I guess that explains something about me – whereas The Lovely Bones is in the “never read again” pile. I somehow went for 2 contrasting novels to read and the more twee one just didn’t cut the mustard for me. Saying that though, The Lovely Bones has been enjoyed by many so it must have something going for it, I just can’t find that thing.
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