Lucky question

I found this book incredibly interesting. It is very hard for anyone to put themselves "in the shoes" of a woman who has been raped - to imagine the real impact of rape on one's life. This book clearly conveys in a very honest way what women who have been raped are going through and dealing with. This book helped me to understand. For anyone who has ever survived a great tragedy, you do move on, but you are never the same. The title "Lucky" conveys well the feeling that others think you are lucky to have survived, while at times the pain is so deep and the struggle so hard, that you wonder.

I agree its a very hard book to read but that is what made me so happy it was written the way it was. We live in a society that does not do nearly enough to shine a light on the rape culture that surrounds us. Hearing what a victim goes through and feels when those feelings are still raw was very powerful.I applaud Alice Sebold for having the nerve to put her story out there.

I felt that Alice Sebold should have waited to write her memoir. She is clearly no where close to being over what happened to her - she writes like a victim. Which isn't helpful to anyone, herself or her readers.

Writing a memoir like this should be a cathartic experience, a way to end that chapter of a persons life and move on, something she obviously wasn't yet ready to do when she wrote it. So yes, in answer to your question, I do think it is loaded with triggers and very upsetting.

had she waited until she felt that she was 100% over what had happened, could move on and be a much stronger woman for doing so, this book would have been a lot more positive. Instead of teaching her readers that they don't always have to be the victim, and they can recover from traumatic events and grow as people, she is giving the impression that if you're a victim once, then you always will be.

I agree with Helen, she did write like a victim. But that was what drew me in; it was so honest and emotive. Yet it was the first novel concerning the sensitive topic of rape that I've read which wasn't full of cliches or skims past the tough bits; it's raw, passionate and yes, at times, very difficult to read and digest.

But what do we expect reading a true story about rape; it was hardly going to be easy reading when we knew the events actually took place and weren't fiction.

I again agree with Helen's closing statement; it is not an optimistic ending or one which shows she has moved on. Regardless of that, I think it is a very important story for both men and women to read. It is perhaps the strongest reminder that though the act of rape can only take a matter of minutes to complete, the consequences can live on forever.

An ending in which she completely "moved on" (however one defines that) would have been too simplistic. That's not how life works. If she would have written that kind of "I've moved on, and I'm so much stronger now" ending, it would have weakened the book because it wouldn't have rung true. I realize that some memoirs probably end that way, but the authors are likely trying to wrap things up neatly, even when they aren't that neat in reality. She demonstrated her process of moving forward in her life all the way through the book. People move forward from horrible things, and they adapt to a new normal; they don't just "move on" with all signs of the trauma erased forever.

It was hard to read this one. At times I would but it down, simply because of it's sensitive nature. I finished it and I ironically felt "Lucky" to be me.

In the introduction to Lucky, Alice Seabold writes: “I…wrote the beginning of The Lovely Bones before I wrote my memoir, so the violent crime that occurs in Susie’s life happened, in terms of writing about it, before a description of my own rape was written by me later. I think in order to separate the two stories, to make sure that Susie was not doing any of my work for me when I returned to the novel, I stopped to write Lucky. … [I got] all the facts of my own case down, so … I could go back to Susie and she could lead me where she wanted to take me and tell me her story in a the way she wanted to tell it, as opposed to me feeling perhaps that I needed to really tell the real deal about every detail of rape and violence. I did that in the memoir as opposed to the novel because I wanted my characters to rule the novel, not some sort of desire to talk about rape and reveal rape to readers.”

I thought it was an incredibly brave book. I would rather have the raw truth of someone's life than the sunny aftermath. It strengthens us to know, intimately know, about the messes in life, the dark corners, so that if we ever find ourselves there we can know that we are not alone.

Here's a post I wrote about the book back in 2005 when I read it: http://kiiniibura.com/2005/07/12/vol-...

I read this book, because I have read 2 others by Alice Sebold. Although it was not a "happy" story, I am hoping that it was a catharsis for the author. I could feel her frustration, with the legal system and the anger that that wretched being could manipulate from inside the prison to orchestrate the crime of hate to her friend. I don't want to give away any too much of a spoiler.
I know we are supposedly an evolved society. I realize that our primal responses are still inside us. I personally wanted to go hurt this person. well- actually both of them. Some people are just not worth the air that they breathe. And in respect to having him free and wander among us---well there is nothing I can say but nuts to that. That is the best comment I can come up with so I am not bleeped.
I have only good wishes for Alice, and her future.