Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

42 reviews

baileyana's review

dark funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Homophobia, and Violence

amandaredinger's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Car accident

jessiedoodah's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Alcoholism, and Death

Moderate: Classism, Misogyny, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

mtferal's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It's a quintessentially Irish story about a family hurtling towards a collapse that could be avoided if they were simply honest with one another. I loved the way the characters were laid out from each others' perspectives, and how the shift in those perspectives filled in the gaps of each other's understandings and made each of their situations more relatable. At times it felt like Jonathan Franzen's "The Corrections" if it was written by an author who wasn't such an asshole and clearly loved his characters. 

To address some points from other reviews-- yes, it's long. I didn't feel it overstayed its welcome, or dragged on too long in any direction before switching to a different character or plot thread. There is indeed a 100+ page stretch with no punctuation, but there aren't any quotation marks on dialogue to begin with, and proper capitalization is maintained so I found it easy to follow. I thought this contributed to an overall dreamlike feeling that made that section particularly memorable, especially since it lays out much of the core trauma that drives the engine of the story.

I really can't recommend this one enough. It went down easier than a 600+ page book about Irish family trauma should. The ending is ambiguous but thought-provoking, and I bet a re-read would be rewarded with tons of details that foreshadow the author's true intent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Gun violence, and Car accident

Minor: Bullying, Pedophilia, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

hclin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Homophobia

misscaitie's review

challenging dark slow-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

1.5

Barely finished it. 600 pages of misery

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, and Bullying

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Infidelity, Cursing, Stalking, Death, and Dementia

Minor: Gaslighting, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Addiction, and Biphobia

gvstyris's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

So many of the bad things that happen in the world come from people pretending to be something they’re not. 

The Bee Sting depicts a family on the brink of collapse, its four members incapable of emotional vulnerability and ravaged by years of shame and trauma. It is devastating how little the POV characters know about one-another, especially the married couple, Dickie and Imelda.

The consideration of these four perspectives is where much of The Bee Sting's genius lies. Cass and PJ's two-dimensional perception of their parents' beliefs and ambitions, for example, is challenged as soon as we reach Imelda's first chapter. I was surprised by how convincingly Murray writes each character, portraying both women and younger voices with sensitivity and understanding. Each perspective adds something to the overall narrative, and I particularly enjoyed delving into Dickie's psyche.

Murray's prose also plays an important role in this novel's success. Imelda's chapters are written without punctuation, offering the reader a stream-of-consciousness that seems to mirror her anxiety and disorientation with her life's trajectory. That being said, I did listen to the audiobook and would recommend it for a more seamless reading experience -- a couple of Murray's stylistic choices would likely have bugged me without it. I also loved how each section decreases in length as the novel progresses, slowly building the tension as it becomes clearer and clearer that the Barnes' family is irreparably damaged. Similarly, the symbolism here is beautiful: the squirrels, Imelda's fairytales, the bee sting itself. 

Given that this book is a 650 page marathon, it delves into too many other themes to summarise here. The discussion around climate anxiety and human destruction also stuck with me, as well as the religious guilt that underpins much of Dickie's (and Imelda's, I suppose) struggle. I will be thinking about the ending for a long time, but am definitely a believer that

the novel's opening lines foreshadow its conclusion. There is something suitably tragic about the catharsis of Dickie committing suicide after unintentionally shooting the two children.

On a pettier note, though, I was slightly tempted to take half a star off because

the names of the two gay men are Dickie and Willie :sob:

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Grief, and Rape

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Dementia, and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident, Vomit, and Lesbophobia

dahlialover's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Very complicated book with intertwining stories that focus on the hardship of being human and living in this world. Relationships are fraught and never really honest. I like how the author incorporates elements of Irish folklore (visions, fortune telling) into the story. I did become obsessed with the storyline and find myself rooting for various characters as the story progresses. A few things didn’t work for me but don’t want to include any spoilers. The ending is somewhat disappointing but perhaps that was the only way forward. Would definitely recommend 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia

torihope98's review

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Homophobia, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Antisemitism, Animal death, Infidelity, Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Pedophilia

stephenhunsaker's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Paul Murray you have made me question if I can’t read. Who knew leaving all punctuation, including periods, out of writing would make it soooo damn hard to understand. 

This book is truly one of the bleakest books I have read and utterly destroys any semblance of hope for people and society. It’s a hard read, one with no resolution to grasp on to for relief, just empty darkness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, and Outing

Moderate: Stalking and Homophobia