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mistyd's review against another edition
2.0
This book was kind of weird. It's obvious that the author has a lot of talent, but this book is not that great. There are four main characters who are all seriously troubled and yet none of them really has any resolution by the end of the book. The "resolution" she has for the little girl is crappy. Normally I would find the mysticism in it intriguing, but she just doesn't handle that part of it very well. I might read something else by her, but I'm not sure.
hallemarie00's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
casspro's review against another edition
4.0
Goldberg's words are hyper-realistic, even when depicting the mystical physicality of letters. Her words make your skin tingle as you read, the feeling of the story getting underneath. I became absorbed in the text. It's a book to make you think about the power language and family and faith have on our lives. A good choice for philosophical readers.
jacwol's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sksrenninger's review against another edition
4.0
I loved Eliza—thoughtful, funny, passionate and curious—but this book was hard to read, because I couldn't stop feeling like each family member was barreling down the path to what they bought was enlightenment but was just an ugly reckoning with each other and the real world. Saul was especially tragic as the author showed us all the times he came so close to doing exactly what his loved ones would have wanted, and how so many small linked quotidian decisions have consequences to create so much distance in our relationships and end up making us feel so alone.
xeyra1's review against another edition
4.0
When I was reading this novel and attempted to start another book, I had to put that one down because I could not possibly read it without frowning at how lackluster the writing was... This had nothing to do with that particular second book but with Bee Season itself and the way its author's writing flows. Goldberg's writing is beautiful, poetic, evokative, masterfully weaving the story of a disjuncted, disfuntional family, each with their particular dreams, hopes, fears, secrets and characteristics.
At first one might be trhown by the use of first person present tense, but as you keep on reading, you realize the novel could not have been written any other way. The richness of its writing makes this one of the most enjoyable books I've had the pleasure of reading this year. This does not make it perfect, though. I fell in love with this novel when I first started it, but somewhere along the middle, the focus of the novel changes somewhat and becomes no longer a story about a family that's falling apart at the seams and their inability to do something about it, but a spiritual journey: Aaron's, the eldest son, and his attempt to childishly, I may say, go against his father's religion and his fears of telling him of his decision about his new way of life; and Saul's and Eliza's, in their search for Kabbalistic enlightnment... Instead of having this family and Eliza's new spelling talent as the focus, it changes into a well-worded but sometimes confusing and belwildering religious dissertation. Maybe that's why I couldn't rate this higher...
Despite this, it's a novel that I found impossible to put down, and I ended up enjoying the new focus of the novel, wanting to know what choices the characters made, how they might end up "fixing" their family life, and how would the conflicts that arose be settled. Bee Season is a masterfully-told story about the unraveling of a family which was clinging together by the barest of threads and I must say I really liked it.
At first one might be trhown by the use of first person present tense, but as you keep on reading, you realize the novel could not have been written any other way. The richness of its writing makes this one of the most enjoyable books I've had the pleasure of reading this year. This does not make it perfect, though. I fell in love with this novel when I first started it, but somewhere along the middle, the focus of the novel changes somewhat and becomes no longer a story about a family that's falling apart at the seams and their inability to do something about it, but a spiritual journey: Aaron's, the eldest son, and his attempt to childishly, I may say, go against his father's religion and his fears of telling him of his decision about his new way of life; and Saul's and Eliza's, in their search for Kabbalistic enlightnment... Instead of having this family and Eliza's new spelling talent as the focus, it changes into a well-worded but sometimes confusing and belwildering religious dissertation. Maybe that's why I couldn't rate this higher...
Despite this, it's a novel that I found impossible to put down, and I ended up enjoying the new focus of the novel, wanting to know what choices the characters made, how they might end up "fixing" their family life, and how would the conflicts that arose be settled. Bee Season is a masterfully-told story about the unraveling of a family which was clinging together by the barest of threads and I must say I really liked it.
beccamonster44's review against another edition
5.0
This book was slow to get into but when it finally grabbed hold, it held on tight and left me wishing for more. I definitely recommend it.
nickburkaotm's review against another edition
5.0
a story i never knew i needed. soooo good. simple, straightforward premise. talmudic in its execution and elaboration.
zwe's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
By the time I got to the last about 50 pages I was skimming. This book was... weird. It was so slow paced it took me forever to read and I never fully got into it. Eliza was the "best" character, though Miriam was the most intriguing. A lot of the religious stuff made me feel kind of icky - the way the children were being exploited both by Aaron's cult and Saul for their own agenda. I don't think I fully understand the ending either. Did Eliza mess up on purpose? I like to believe so, but nothing leading up to that makes the reader think that's what happened... I don't know. It was a weird read. I did like the writing style of sort of divided segments of perspective, but at the same time there was so much being mashed together it was a bit much.
mschrock8's review against another edition
3.0
Checked out from the Franklin branch of the Johnson County Library.