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Summary: Bee Season Review
Review: Bee Season is about a girl who is at once not at the top of her intellectual senses. As soon as she wins the state wide spelling bee people start to judge her as a brainiac. Her teachers start to treat her as a studios student instead of the once lazy type she had been. Her father Saul, once blinded by her future, seems to judge his daughter and he works to make strive excellence in the classroom. While they are off studying, her mother is seeing that she has no relationship with her daughter. Aaoron starts to seek religion in the Kuhua. This book reflects that if you do good in one area one time you are judged totally different. The books starts slow, but has a good ending.
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Summary: Beautiful story, stretched too thin
Review: There is a lovely story at the core of this book; the previously lackluster Eliza suddenly discovers her gift for spelling, earning unheard-of recognition from teachers and parents. There are some religious themes thrown in here, but I found these less significant in Eliza's journey than Goldberg seems to have intended them to be.However, the book was marred for me most by its predictable, almost trite, ending. I might have forgiven it had there been less build-up (in other words, if it had been a short story). But instead, Goldberg drew her narrative out to an almost agonizing extent, tossing in lengthy passages about Eliza's brother Aaron's journey into the heart of a Hari Krishna group. This is Eliza's story, and I would have liked it more if the focus had stayed on her. But that wouldn't have been enough for a novel, which apparently, is what Goldberg was determined to write. Despite this, I am definitely impressed with her talent, and her strong, evocative style. I look forward to seeing more from Goldberg as her story-weaving skills grow.
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Summary: Dumb Parents
Review: Mother was missing motherly love--very sick person, the the father was a know-it-all person. The daughter would have won the first contest if the father had not sown the seed of doubtat the last minute.The book was well written and carried you along especially the intrigue of the mother searching other peoples homes. It was a relief to finish it, and I could not recommend it .
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Summary: very absorbing read
Review: After glancing through some of the other recent reviews I had to add my two cents. This is a great book! I read the whole thing in two sittings - I didn't find the pace to be slow at all. I agree that some of the characters could have been developed more fully, but this is the author's first novel. Based on this effort, I will definitely read her future offerings, and I recommend this to anyone with an interest in contemporary Jewish literature. If you enjoy Allegra Goodman, definitely don't miss this offering by Myla Goldberg.
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Summary: A STINGING 'BEE'
Review: This is a coming-of-age story but also examines an entire family's dynamics and how the 9-year-old heroine upsets the family apple cart by excelling in spelling. Eliza is a mediocre student in a brilliant family. Her father Saul -- a Jewish scholar -- had long ago abandoned hope for Eliza's academic success so he focuses on Eliza's brother Aaron. But when Eliza suddenly begins to win spelling bees, Saul shifts his attention to her and Eliza blossoms under his tutelage. I loved the way the author delves into the world of spelling bees. I loved the way the story mixes the details of Eliza's study of words and letters with her father's study of Jewish mysticism. And I loved the exploration of the interesting, eclectic Naumann family who begin to unravel once Eliza has upset the equilibrium with her excellence.
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Summary: WHEN PERFECTION EXCEEDS THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY TIES.
Review: The Naumann family is a sad bunch! Each member strives for unattainable perfection. Eliza does it through her prowess for spelling bees. Aaron seeks his nirvana through his blossoming affiliation with the Hari Krishnas. Saul, the family patriarch, seeks perfection through his religion, Judaism, with an emphasis on the works of Abulafia, a strange mystic. Lastly, Saul's wife Miriam seeks her kaleidoscopic perfection ("perfectimundo") in a mysterious, bizarre ten-year-long -endeavour that is only revealed in the latter part of the novel. The mystery is too good to tell and might spoil things for those who have yet to read the book!. Eliza is the most pathetic character because of her age, and because of an emerging talent that Saul has only lately come to realize. She becomes his mechanism in a further attempt at perfection. Eliza evolves as his main focus, at the expense of her brother Aaron and his guitar lessons with Saul. And sibling rivalry further alienates brother and sister who seemed to be one another's only childhood friend and companion. Eliza is literally grilled via the mystic Abulafia's method as a formula for achievement of higher order thinking. Eliza is a vessel, a mound of clay to be shaped by her father, who seems to totally lose any realization of the fact that she is, first and foremost, a solitary, lonely little girl. One of the most powerful parts of the story is when Eliza ("Jelly-Belly") loses her first big spelling bee because of Saul's cruel demonstration of his lack of faith in her abilities and tells her so. The story is narrated in the third person which gives further credence and emphasis to the fact that each of the characters are so distant from one another. A roof is all they seem to share! Myla Goldberg has an outstanding storytelling style, including a superb command of the English language, and a fascinating capability to tell a story in a poignant, humorous, intelligent manner.
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Summary: worth the time
Review: There was a lot I enjoyed about this book. I liked the character of Elly. I think many of us who grew up in intellectual Jewish (and also non-Jewish) families can relate to the portrayal of being a child in that environment, with its emphasis on intellectual achievements above other aspects of being human ... I could also relate to the way Goldberg portrays the desire of a child to please her parents. elly deeply wants her father to love and respect her and at the same time, she is angry at how at times he treats her like a means to his own end, and at how insensitive he is to her feelings.. the scenes between Elly and her father Saul are among the best in the book. I also liked the character of Aaron, Elly's nerdy brother who seeks meaning in life and finds it in the Hare Krishnas.. A neat next book for Goldberg would be to trace Aaron's future development after his initial fascination with the Hare Krishna cult. you get the feeling this attraction will wear off, and I found myself drawn to Aaron enough to wonder what would he do next... The scene where he cooks Krishna food for his family is quite amusing and I thought, realistic - one of the few that had some humor in it -- this is NOT a funny book. I also liked the interactions between Elly and Aaron -- they reminded me of my own experiences as a sibling. Elly wants to feel close to Aaron but also scorns him, in some ways looks up to him, and sees through his lies even when his parents don't -- all things that real brothers and sisters do. What I didn't like about the book was the mystical, kabbalistic aspect of it, where Elly reads the books in her father's study written by religious sages. I just couldn't relate to this and felt it didn't mesh with the rest of the book. It was too mystical and heavy, especially the scene at the end where elly has a weird mystical experience on the floor. I also couldn't relate to the character of Miriam, something a number of readers have also expressed. It was hard to sympathize with her. She came off as cold and distant with no redeeming qualities because Goldberg never opens her up to us, never gives her any humanity or provides insight into her bizarre kleptomanic behavior and other obsessions. still, no book is perfect and the writing is at times stunning. I look forward to her next work and hope it doesn't lean as heavily in the mystical direction.
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Summary: A flawed but fascinating novel.
Review: Bee Season is far from a flawless novel, and certainly not for every reader. I came very close to abandoning it several times in the middle, and if I had reviewed it without reading the final third, I would have given it no more than two stars. But in the end it comes together so beautifully that itÕs impossible not to forgive the author for some clumsiness along the way. The novel is about family dysfunction and the search for spiritual transcendence, and if that makes it sound like an Oprah Winfrey book, nothing could be further off the mark. WhatÕs fascinating is the way Goldberg weaves the two themes together. Each of the four members of the Naumann family is on a spiritual quest. The father, Saul, tries to reach God by reading ancient Kabbalistic texts. At first, his teenage son, Aaron, shares his fatherÕs spiritual path, but when the father begins paying more attention to his sister than to him, he veers off into studying Eastern religions, finally joining a cult. The mother, Miriam, who lost her parents in a car accident as a child, finds a strange spiritual fulfillment in stealing valueless objects that she feels she has lost (just as she lost her family), and arranging them in what seem to her perfect and beautiful patterns. Finally, the daughter, Eliza, discovers a gift for spelling that takes her to the national spelling bee. But spelling becomes, for her, a form of meditation that leads, finally, to an encounter with God. The family dysfunction comes about because, while each Naumann searches for God, none of them recognize that they are all longing for the same thing. Ironically, and tragically, their search for God pulls them farther and farther from one another. And in almost every case, that spiritual search leads them close to madness, or completely over the edge. Only Eliza, in the end, finds a balance. In a breathtaking conclusion, she finds God, and rejects her familyÕs obsession with spiritual perfection. The flaws in this novel mostly have to do with how Goldberg describes the religious obsessions of Aaron and Saul. When Aaron talks to members of the Krishna cult he joins, the dialog is as dull as you would expect a conversation between a nerdy teenager and someone in an orange robe to be. SaulÕs attempts to explain the Kabbalah to Eliza suffer from the same soporific writing (and the 10-year-old ElizaÕs instant understanding of it is utterly unbelievable). Unfortunately, those bits of conversation take up quite a bit of the middle third of the novel Ð the place where I almost stopped reading. But in the end, it works. This isnÕt an easy, feel-good book, but I think anyone interested in spiritual themes (and willing to hang in there through the awkward parts) would find it fascinating. IÕm much more aware of the mystic tradition in Catholicism than in either Judaism or Eastern religions, but the tension between the desire to transcend the world and the need to be part of it is a universal spiritual dilemma that has challenged people of all faiths, I think. And Myla Goldberg has dealt with that dilemma in a very soul-satisfying way.
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Summary: Some excellent writing, but the story doesn't pull together
Review: I, like many other readers, expected "Bee Season" to be about how a young girl's success in spelling bees changes her family's homeostasis. And it was. But the impact was perhaps too strong and therefore not very credible. Miriam, for example, was a distant mother, but it is unlikely that she could have been that ill for that long (and not working) and no one noticed that she was more than a little odd. Her "kalaidascope," well-described, didn't quite fit with her kleptomania. Further, if she was shoplifting all day, five days a week, for 10 years, isn't it likely she would have been caught sooner?! Her final break and the diagnosis given to her don't quite make sense, either. The relationship between Eliza and Aaron rang very true. The rivalry felt real, as did their deep connection that transcended the events in their lives. Further, Aaron's search for spirituality was very realistic. (I was impressed that Saul was willing to discuss it with him and even spoke with Chali.) The relationship each of the children had with Saul also had many moments of poignancy and reality. Children want to please their parents and are excited by personal attention. But I, like others, have trouble believing that a 9-year-old could grasp Kabbalistic principles (and I keep thinking she's 11, like another reviewer). Her meeting with G-d was incredibly concieved and described, but left me wondering what it meant to her. This says to me that the book does not work. And, while I can guess, I don't know why she makes the choices that she does in the end. Further, I have no clue what will happen to her or to the rest of her family. Much of the book felt rather familiar to me, and I think the culture of Jewish families comes through. However, I do agree that Miriam was too extreme (she deserves her own book!) and detracted from the story. Still, it's worth reading, if just for the descriptions of Eliza's relationship with letters.
Rating:
Summary: Some excellent writing, but the story doesn't pull together
Review: I, like many other readers, expected "Bee Season" to be about how a young girl's success in spelling bees changes her family's homeostasis. And it was. But the impact was perhaps too strong and therefore not very credible. Miriam, for example, was a distant mother, but it is unlikely that she could have been that ill for that long (and not working) and no one noticed that she was more than a little odd. Her "kalaidascope," well-described, didn't quite fit with her kleptomania. Further, if she was shoplifting all day, five days a week, for 10 years, isn't it likely she would have been caught sooner?! Her final break and the diagnosis given to her don't quite make sense, either. The relationship between Eliza and Aaron rang very true. The rivalry felt real, as did their deep connection that transcended the events in their lives. Further, Aaron's search for spirituality was very realistic. (I was impressed that Saul was willing to discuss it with him and even spoke with Chali.) The relationship each of the children had with Saul also had many moments of poignancy and reality. Children want to please their parents and are excited by personal attention. But I, like others, have trouble believing that a 9-year-old could grasp Kabbalistic principles (and I keep thinking she's 11, [...]). Her meeting with G-d was incredibly concieved and described, but left me wondering what it meant to her. This says to me that the book does not work. And, while I can guess, I don't know why she makes the choices that she does in the end. Further, I have no clue what will happen to her or to the rest of her family. Much of the book felt rather familiar to me, and I think the culture of Jewish families comes through. However, I do agree that Miriam was too extreme (she deserves her own book!) and detracted from the story. Still, it's worth reading, if just for the descriptions of Eliza's relationship with letters.
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