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Rating: 
Summary: The Keeper of the Bees
Review: As a teenager, I balked at my mother's suggestion of reading the old book which was falling apart at the seams. Much to my surprise, I actually enjoyed "The Keeper of the Bees" and I'm looking forward to reading other books by Gene Stratton-Porter. This story is of an injured soldier who runs away from the best hospitals the military could offer and escapes to the beach to die. Much to his surprise, rather than relying on others constantly, he finds himself helping others throughout his journey. This experience helps improve his health both mentally and physically. This is an excellent book for readers of all ages and a must for the home library collection.
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Summary: Old-fashioned and Uplifting
Review: I, too, read The Keeper of the Bees as a teenager. The vivid images and reliable wisdom of this book are useful to me even now, forty years later! This is a classic, and I am delighted to see it still in circulation and well-read. The beekeeping principles that are woven into the story are authentic, as I found out a year or two after reading the book. The medical principles of healing are still being explored, but the vital role of the patient's frame of mind have been demonstrated to be important. There's a lot of truth to be learned from Ms. Stratton-Porter, and I recommend The Keeper to readers of any age, and particularly to young men.
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Summary: A useful classic, well-remembered
Review: I, too, read The Keeper of the Bees as a teenager. The vivid images and reliable wisdom of this book are useful to me even now, forty years later! This is a classic, and I am delighted to see it still in circulation and well-read. The beekeeping principles that are woven into the story are authentic, as I found out a year or two after reading the book. The medical principles of healing are still being explored, but the vital role of the patient's frame of mind have been demonstrated to be important. There's a lot of truth to be learned from Ms. Stratton-Porter, and I recommend The Keeper to readers of any age, and particularly to young men.
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Summary: A very special book.
Review: Just a couple of weeks ago my aunt gave a copy of The Keeper of the Bees.(a first edition) It was falling apart at the seems outside, but inside it was the best book that I have ever read in my life! The morals that are stated, ever so quietly, are wonderful. I wish authors wrote like Mrs. Porter today. Since then I have read A daughter of the Land and I am starting Her Father's Keeper.( all first editions) I personally love her books. Unlike others I do not wish that she had written a sequel. I feel that it would have taken away the individuality of the Keeper of the Bees. This is a book that should be treasured for all time.
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Summary: Enjoyed all Gene Stratton Porter books
Review: My mother and I have enjoyed reading and re-reading all of Gene Stratton Porters books over many years, probably more than 50 between us!My mother is no longer able to read due to failing eyesight. She is now in her 80's. Does anyone know of a source of cassette tape versions of any of Gene Stratton Porter books?
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Summary: "Bees" is a Keeper
Review: Reading "Keeper of the Bees" is a very sensual experience. When the action takes place in the Bee Master's garden I was tempted to actually pick some of the blue flowers. There were times when I was certain that I was smelling the salt air as I heard the Pacific's Ocean's waves crash on the sandy beach. And when the scene shifted to the apiary, it took a concerted effort not to recoil as the swarms worked their magic, and of course I craved the delicious honey fresh out of the hive. The wholesome adventure involves a slowly recovering World War I veteran who runs away from the hospital to die in the tranquility of the California's coastal countenance, but instead finds redemption by coming to the aid of an assortment of fleshed-out characters. While the book is a beneficial read, I had a few structural complaints. At times Mrs. Stratten-Porter's style seemed haphazard and in isolated incidents, I was delayed by choppy sentence structure. The departure of the Brunsons--minor characters relevant only to the early chapters--seemed disturbingly abrupt, and the presence of the androgynous Little Scout will no doubt be deliberately misinterpreted today in ways that the author never intended 75 years ago. Winnowing 50-100 of its 500+ pages seemed like a feasible option that could have dulcified the work. Tragically, Mrs. Stratten-Porter did not live to see this book's publication. (Perhaps her untimely death prevented the final proofread which may have assuaged the mechanical drawbacks I referenced.) It was a posthumous swan song that capped her palmy career. Based on this beneficent tale, I am very interested in exploring some of her earlier efforts.
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Summary: Charming tale!
Review: The mixed reviews about this book are a good indication that you get from this book what you bring to it. There are many points where readers today may find the plot devices dated (as noted in the next review). But the characters, especially the main character and little Scout, are well written.
In all, I think that this book (more so than other Stratton-Porter books) should be read as a historical fiction. That is, it gives the reader a good story AND a sense of a changing American society after World War I. I think critical readers with an appreciation of early 20th century literature will enjoy the book.
Rating: 
Summary: sadly dated
Review: This 1925 novel does not hold up as well in the 21st century as do the author's others, such as "A Girl of the Limberlost" or "Michael O'Halloran," probably because she's delving into grown-up themes. The good side of the culture, the parts for which we feel nostalgia, can be found in those latter titles, but "Keeper of the Bees" shows the dark side of the same culture. An unmarried woman risks the good name of herself and her entire family if she gets pregnant, and because of this, the novel has an overbearing message of the sullying effect of premarital relationships. It sympathizes with women who consider suicide because they (or close relatives) are unmarried and pregnant -- because the child would forever after be considered a "shame baby." To hide this shame, otherwise "noble" characters in this novel concoct elaborate lies to mislead others, all because of the supposedly ruinous effect an out-of-wedlock pregnancy would have on both of the parents, as well as the child and the extended family and friends. The ruin is not just social, by the way, because the relationship puts the souls of mother, father, and child into eternal peril as well. This book also has an unbelievably precocious, androgynous child called "The Scout" as a central figure. Michael O'Halloran was much more endearing than this overwrought character. The parts about beekeeping and nature were my favorites, but overall I was happy to be done with this dated, unpleasant tale.
Rating:
Summary: sadly dated
Review: This 1925 novel does not hold up as well in the 21st century as do the author's others, such as "A Girl of the Limberlost" or "Michael O'Halloran," probably because she's delving into grown-up themes. The good side of the culture, the parts for which we feel nostalgia, can be found in those latter titles, but "Keeper of the Bees" shows the dark side of the same culture. An unmarried woman risks the good name of herself and her entire family if she gets pregnant, and because of this, the novel has an overbearing message of the sullying effect of premarital relationships. It sympathizes with women who consider suicide because they (or close relatives) are unmarried and pregnant -- because the child would forever after be considered a "shame baby." To hide this shame, otherwise "noble" characters in this novel concoct elaborate lies to mislead others, all because of the supposedly ruinous effect an out-of-wedlock pregnancy would have on both of the parents, as well as the child and the extended family and friends. The ruin is not just social, by the way, because the relationship puts the souls of mother, father, and child into eternal peril as well. This book also has an unbelievably precocious, androgynous child called "The Scout" as a central figure. Michael O'Halloran was much more endearing than this overwrought character. The parts about beekeeping and nature were my favorites, but overall I was happy to be done with this dated, unpleasant tale.
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