Bee Season discussion thread

[SusanH]

Here is our discussion thread for Bee Season by Myla Goldberg.

Tell us how much you've read and what you think so far! Be warned that other posts may contain spoilers; if you haven't finished the novel, read this thread at your own risk!

[SusanH]

It's been a week since I read it, and I still don't know what I think of it. It kind of reminded me of The Royal Tenenbaums. I could actually hear Alec Baldwin reading the narration at times. I'm not a big fan of narrative, usually preferring dialogue, so this book was hard going for me at times. So much narration! So dry and dispassionate. I think it worked for the novel, but there were times when I wanted to put it down for a while. I also found the subject matter a bit depressing at times. Dysfunctional family stories worry me - what if my kids end up hating/resenting us?!

Any thoughts on the ending? I felt a little like Lisa Simpson: "Mom, I'm confused. Is this a happy ending or a sad ending?" Marge: "It's an ending. That's enough." I was saddened that she decided to walk away from the Bee, but on the other hand I couldn't blame her for wanting to. And perhaps she has ascended to a higher level or something now. I didn't fully follow that part, to be honest.

There is so much to talk about in the book! I haven't even gotten to her mother (I would love to have seen her kaleidoscope, but I suppose it has to live in your imagination), her father and her brother. I think I'm going to mull over the novel a bit more and wait until someone else has read it before commenting more.

[ebmomma]

I'm very glad this book was chosen for the group read, I probably would have never picked it up otherwise.

What an interesting book! So emotional! Like you said, Susan, it was very depressing. It took me much longer to read this book than I thought it would. It was hard to get started in it, then I ran into a couple of places in the middle where it was so depressing that I just didn't want to read anymore. All the complexity of the problems was so intense. I loved how the author protrayed generational sin, for lack of a better term. In their own form, every generation had the same problem as the generation before. I feel like the ending was Eliza's way of solving the problem for herself.

I was disappointed that their wasn't more closure. I wonder if, since it is the author's first book, she will continue these characters in another book. It is a little frustrating to not know what is going to happen to so many of the characters!

I loved the author's ability to describe. In the beginning it was frustrating that she spent so much time telling you the details, but she paints a beautiful picture with her words.

Hope she writes another book soon!

[Chelsey]

I just finished, so I'm not through processing everything. I almost didn't want to finish, because the book wasn't entertaining, in the sense of being enjoyable. But the language was so beautiful. And I became invested enough in the characters to want to know how they ended.

I liked Miriam best, at least in terms of how she was drawn. The descriptions of her being pulled to a particular house were so compelling. I would have liked more back-story, especially more about her parents, and their deaths, and how that contributed to her adult personality. There was a brief mention of a schizophrenia diagnosis, but to me that doesn't seem right. I thought her interactions with the kids were sad most of the time, but there were brief glimpses (like when she offers Elly a blouse) that you could see she had some complexity. I thought parts of the novel painted Saul as the bad guy, especially with Aaron. I don't know if that's true, or if the family's dysfunction was part of a larger whole.

I enjoyed learning more about both mainstream Judiasm and Kabbalah (although I'm afraid Madonna and Demi Moore have ruined that for me). I loved the descriptions of the bee, especially her characterizations of the other competitors and the comfort givers. This was my first group read, and, like Valarie said, it wasn't something I would have finished on my own.

[carissanboys]

Finally finished! First I have to say how beautifully the author writes. I really enjoyed reading her descriptions...such a way with words. Reading a book like this makes it difficult to pick something else up because the writing just doesn't compare for me. She definitely has a gift.

I was confused as well about the whole higher level thing. But I took the ending to mean she decided it wasn't worth going through the whole bee thing again and she realized how harmful it would be to her family if she won (mostly to Aaron and Miriam) because of all that Saul would put into it. I think maybe she took what Aaron said (about Saul living through them) and really thought about it and that also played in her decision to lose.

I didn't find the book as depressing as others (maybe because *I* come from a dysfunctional family ). I thought Saul was a pretty good father. I see the main problems with the family coming from Miriam's lack of involvement. I kind of see Saul and Aaron's problems being pretty normal...father wants son to be a certain something (rabbi), but son wants to break free of that.

I might read something else by this author just because I love her style of writing so much.

[Maribeth]

I've been trying to put my thoughts into words for this book since I finished it - at least 2 weeks ago. Somehow, I just can't articulate my feelings at all! There many things I liked about the book and many I didn't. I agree with Susan that it's difficult to get into a book with so much narration. That makes it difficult for me to truly feel close to any of the characters - couldn't get into any of their heads!

I didn't find the book depressing as much as I felt a great deal of sadness. Miriam was fascinating and the psych major in me wanted to know more about her. I think Eliza was the most normal and in some ways, she reminded me of me at that age (kinda scary to think about!). She had "often felt that her outsides were too dull for her insides, that deep within her there was something better than what everyone else could see." I can absolutely relate to that.

I'm still processing the ending too. I change my mind every time I think about it. Perhaps it was Eliza's way of protecting her family. Saul won't become totally invested in the bee and can focus on the whole family - well, I can hope We know Eliza had the ability to win and that's enough.

I wouldn't have read this if it hadn't selected as a group read. As odd as it was, I'm glad I read it. One thing this book does is make parents think about their own parenting skills. Like Susan said, "what if my kids end up hating/resenting us?!" My husband and I have often thought (both before kids and since) that we came to parenting with a lists of things our parents did that we'd never do. And, after 17 years of parenting, we've honored those lists . . . BUT, our kids will have their own lists. I hope they're short and inconsequential

One of my pet peeves is seeing parents play obvious favorites with their kids, and Saul was like that. Perhaps it wasn't so much playing favorites but totally investing himself in one child or the other - he didn't seem capable of investing in both at the same time on the same level. That bothered me a great deal. He could have studied with Eliza and still practiced guitar with Aaron, etc. I could go on and on about the whole plot line between Aaron and Saul but I won't because I'll jump on a soapbox. I have two teenage sons and I was angered by Aaron's treatment and parenting. It's no wonder that he sought a family elsewhere with the Hare Krishnas.

Interesting read!
Mari