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A review by nancf
The Bee-Loud Glade by Steve Himmer
3.0
While I liked and enjoyed reading this book, it did not live up to expectations. Perhaps my expectations, based on some reviews, were too high. I liked the story and Finch was certainly an original character, but I wished that the writing would have been more lyrical. I expected more from Finch, a blogger, who had previously created several online personas. Nearly, done with the book, I thought perhaps the simple reporting-style writing was Himmer’s intention, but I would have enjoyed the book more if I had enjoyed the words more.
Finch is an employee of Second Nature. He seems to hide in his cube, not doing much of anything, though he has created several online bloggers in his job of “brand-awareness.” After he is fired, he becomes a sort-of-hermit in his apartment. Then, through online spam, Finch becomes a “decorative hermit” (loved that term!) in the garden of millionaire, Mr. Crane. As a decorative hermit, Finch’s days are directed by Crane and his contacts are limited to Mr. and Mrs. Crane and the butler, Smithee.
I liked and didn’t like that the Old Man and the scribe were not really explained. And I’m not sure if I liked or didn’t like the introduction of the hikers, though I guess they were Finch’s future. I wondered about friends and family Finch left behind. And what became of Mr. and Mrs. Crane and what was Mr. Crane’s crime – Was he a Bernie Madoff type?
I now want to reread Thoreau’s Walden to which The Bee-Loud Glade was compare. I suspect that I will find the prose more satisfying.
“Without those variations of light and shade, my mornings in this garden might become as mundane as they were when I worked for a living.” (139)
“It’s hard to tell, sometimes, in such a wild and tangled part of the world, whether I’ve left the path or am still walking on it. So I try to worry about only one step at a time, not where those steps are leading in accumulation.” (164)
“I pretend my solitude is isolation, that I’ve erased myself from the world, but I’m more in it than I’ve ever been. Which is to say, not very much, no more and no less than anyone else – we may have a more lasting impact on the world when we break down into nutrients and raw material that nourish a whole chain of life, insects and earthworms and grass, than we ever have when we’re alive. Perhaps that’s the closest any one of us comes to knowing how things fit together.” (203)
Now, looking back and rereading sections that I had marked, I am reconsidering. Maybe the words are more beautiful than I had thought….
Finch is an employee of Second Nature. He seems to hide in his cube, not doing much of anything, though he has created several online bloggers in his job of “brand-awareness.” After he is fired, he becomes a sort-of-hermit in his apartment. Then, through online spam, Finch becomes a “decorative hermit” (loved that term!) in the garden of millionaire, Mr. Crane. As a decorative hermit, Finch’s days are directed by Crane and his contacts are limited to Mr. and Mrs. Crane and the butler, Smithee.
I liked and didn’t like that the Old Man and the scribe were not really explained. And I’m not sure if I liked or didn’t like the introduction of the hikers, though I guess they were Finch’s future. I wondered about friends and family Finch left behind. And what became of Mr. and Mrs. Crane and what was Mr. Crane’s crime – Was he a Bernie Madoff type?
I now want to reread Thoreau’s Walden to which The Bee-Loud Glade was compare. I suspect that I will find the prose more satisfying.
“Without those variations of light and shade, my mornings in this garden might become as mundane as they were when I worked for a living.” (139)
“It’s hard to tell, sometimes, in such a wild and tangled part of the world, whether I’ve left the path or am still walking on it. So I try to worry about only one step at a time, not where those steps are leading in accumulation.” (164)
“I pretend my solitude is isolation, that I’ve erased myself from the world, but I’m more in it than I’ve ever been. Which is to say, not very much, no more and no less than anyone else – we may have a more lasting impact on the world when we break down into nutrients and raw material that nourish a whole chain of life, insects and earthworms and grass, than we ever have when we’re alive. Perhaps that’s the closest any one of us comes to knowing how things fit together.” (203)
Now, looking back and rereading sections that I had marked, I am reconsidering. Maybe the words are more beautiful than I had thought….