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thaliasoul 's review for:
The History of Bees
by Maja Lunde
Short synopsis:
The book is structured in short chapters which alternate between three different story lines and each of these focuses not only on a particular moment in the history of bees, as the title of the book suggests, but also on the relationship between the human race and nature, as well as on the particular theme of family, and all that it entails.
One story line is set in England in 1852 and follows William, a biologist who researches beehives in the hope of designing one that is more efficient and will assure his relevance in the field. When we meet him at first he is recovering from an illness, which seems to be of psychological nature, and is worried about his relationship with his only son. The more time we spent with him the clearer it becomes that William is haunted by the expectations put on him by his community but mostly put on him by himself. Not only does he put all his energy and ressources towards optimizing the prevailing beehive structure just to be told that his designs have already been patented somewhere on the other side of the world. He also keeps being disappointed in his son who fails to partake in his research while completly ignoring his one child that is genuinly interested in continuing his legacy who happens to be a girl.
In the second story line which is set in the US in 2007 we get to experience the onset and repercussions of Colony Collapse Disoreder (CCD) through the eyes of George, a beekeeper who could probably be described as conservative. Not only is he struggling to make a living with his beehives in an increasingly more competitive business but he also has to face the fact that his only son and heir is more interested in studying English and writing than working on the farm. When most of his bees abruptly drop dead without a conceivable reason his mixed emotions towards his son and their situation are amplified and force him to take inevitable decisions.
Finally the third story line puts us in China in 2098, a time in which bees have effectively become extinct and the human race's last resort for survival is to pollinate by hand. Here we meet a married couple and their son whose lives are dominated by their duty to be part of the collective and spend the majority of their time on the fields, pollinating. On a rare day off the family decides to go for a picnic and simply enjoy their being together. However their lives are turned upside down by a tragic accident during that daytrip in which their son is taken away by authorities and the parents are left ignorant on what has happened or will happen to him.
Least favourite aspect/element of the book:
For my taste the entanglement of the three story lines starts to become clear rather late. The connection besides the obvious similarities of themes touched upon only dawned on me after about reading through 2/3 of the book which left me enough time to consider putting in down on multiple occasions. The fact that the writing style of the book isn't too noteworthy neither also made it a little bit difficult to stick to it until one gets to the good part. [I should mention that I read the English translation, which seemed to be adequat but obviously still affects the reading experiences.]
Favourite aspect/element of the book:
Although it did take a long time for the connection between the three perspectives to become apparent, pushing through was definitely worth it. Their intersecting was a lot more complex and meaningful than I anticipated at first. In many ways the complicated relationships between the parents and their children can be understood as a metaphore for our relationship with nature - in both cases the connection suffers from one party wanting to control the other.The children only go back to belonging to their parents after these have accepted that they can't change who their offspring is destined to become. Similarly the bees return only when left in peace and when the human race has understood that in order to thrive it needs to run wild instead of being controlled and tamed. I also deeply enjoyed the underlying messages of the importance of community or the collective which fit so nicely with the image of the hive: "Alone she [the bee] is nothing, a part so tiny that is insignificant, but with the others she's everything. Because together they're the hive."
Recommended for people who:
...enjoy multiple story lines
...enjoy fiction which is grounded in reality
...want to find out more about the importance of bees and CCD in general
...appreciate books that actually makes them smarter
...like to interpret the sh*t out of novels
...are looking for a book that would be perfect to be discussed in a group
...enjoy reading about the often complicated relationships between family members
...appreciate flawed characters at the center of a novel
Favourite quote:
The book is structured in short chapters which alternate between three different story lines and each of these focuses not only on a particular moment in the history of bees, as the title of the book suggests, but also on the relationship between the human race and nature, as well as on the particular theme of family, and all that it entails.
One story line is set in England in 1852 and follows William, a biologist who researches beehives in the hope of designing one that is more efficient and will assure his relevance in the field. When we meet him at first he is recovering from an illness, which seems to be of psychological nature, and is worried about his relationship with his only son. The more time we spent with him the clearer it becomes that William is haunted by the expectations put on him by his community but mostly put on him by himself. Not only does he put all his energy and ressources towards optimizing the prevailing beehive structure just to be told that his designs have already been patented somewhere on the other side of the world. He also keeps being disappointed in his son who fails to partake in his research while completly ignoring his one child that is genuinly interested in continuing his legacy who happens to be a girl.
In the second story line which is set in the US in 2007 we get to experience the onset and repercussions of Colony Collapse Disoreder (CCD) through the eyes of George, a beekeeper who could probably be described as conservative. Not only is he struggling to make a living with his beehives in an increasingly more competitive business but he also has to face the fact that his only son and heir is more interested in studying English and writing than working on the farm. When most of his bees abruptly drop dead without a conceivable reason his mixed emotions towards his son and their situation are amplified and force him to take inevitable decisions.
Finally the third story line puts us in China in 2098, a time in which bees have effectively become extinct and the human race's last resort for survival is to pollinate by hand. Here we meet a married couple and their son whose lives are dominated by their duty to be part of the collective and spend the majority of their time on the fields, pollinating. On a rare day off the family decides to go for a picnic and simply enjoy their being together. However their lives are turned upside down by a tragic accident during that daytrip in which their son is taken away by authorities and the parents are left ignorant on what has happened or will happen to him.
Least favourite aspect/element of the book:
For my taste the entanglement of the three story lines starts to become clear rather late. The connection besides the obvious similarities of themes touched upon only dawned on me after about reading through 2/3 of the book which left me enough time to consider putting in down on multiple occasions. The fact that the writing style of the book isn't too noteworthy neither also made it a little bit difficult to stick to it until one gets to the good part. [I should mention that I read the English translation, which seemed to be adequat but obviously still affects the reading experiences.]
Favourite aspect/element of the book:
Although it did take a long time for the connection between the three perspectives to become apparent, pushing through was definitely worth it. Their intersecting was a lot more complex and meaningful than I anticipated at first. In many ways the complicated relationships between the parents and their children can be understood as a metaphore for our relationship with nature - in both cases the connection suffers from one party wanting to control the other.
Recommended for people who:
...enjoy multiple story lines
...enjoy fiction which is grounded in reality
...want to find out more about the importance of bees and CCD in general
...appreciate books that actually makes them smarter
...like to interpret the sh*t out of novels
...are looking for a book that would be perfect to be discussed in a group
...enjoy reading about the often complicated relationships between family members
...appreciate flawed characters at the center of a novel
Favourite quote:
I thought I had to choose, but I could manage both - both life and passion.