Review by kalizahira - The Bee Sting

kalizahira 's review for:

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

3.75

challenging slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I didn't like the beginning of this book. Slice of life of people being horrid isn't my thing. If I had been reading rather than listening, I might have DNF'd it but I'm glad that I stuck with it. What I do like is subjective reality and how one event is experienced by different people in different ways, and the sort of backwards character development this entails. I also really enjoyed how the author would set up tragedies and side-step them at the last minute, so that when you get to the end you genuinely don't know what direction he is going to take it. The end flips through POV in a very cinematic way, building tension and leaning into the increasing surrealism.

I can see why people were annoyed that they had spent so long on the book and been brought to the brink only to have it unresolved, though I thoroughly enjoyed it

Im tempted to say it could have been shorter but I cant pin point what I would have removed and still maintained the real life family saga of it all. It is definitely a book that I am fascinated to learn more about the writer's process. While it's not strictly my cup of tea, I was impressed by the structure and execution of the ideas.

Content Warnings