Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The Bee Sting
The Bee Sting
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One of The New York Times Top 10 Books of the Year
Winner of the An Post Irish Book of the Year, the Nero Gold Prize, and the Nero Book Award for Fiction
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Writers' Prize for Fiction
Finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction
One of The New Yorker's Essential Reads
One of The Washington Post's 10 Best Books of the Year
One of TIME's 10 Best Fiction Books of the Year
A Dua Lipa x Service95 Book Club Pick
From the author of Skippy Dies comes Paul Murray's The Bee Sting, an irresistibly funny, wise, and thought-provoking tour de force about family, fortune, and the struggle to be a good person when the world is falling apart.
The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie's once-lucrative car business is going under--but Dickie is spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife, Imelda, is selling off her jewelry on eBay and half-heartedly dodging the attention of fast-talking cattle farmer Big Mike, while their teenage daughter, Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge drink her way through her final exams. As for twelve-year-old PJ, he's on the brink of running away.
If you wanted to change this story, how far back would you have to go? To the infamous bee sting that ruined Imelda's wedding day? To the car crash one year before Cass was born? All the way back to Dickie at ten years old, standing in the summer garden with his father, learning how to be a real man?
The Bee Sting, Paul Murray's exuberantly entertaining new novel, is a tour de force: a portrait of postcrash Ireland, a tragicomic family saga, and a dazzling story about the struggle to be good at the end of the world.
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Long story (600 pages) of a family in chaos. No one feels happiness in their lives. No one has the courage to express their true feelings. I found this story sad and left me hoping for a positive outcome. The ending is quite twisted. Be prepared should you decide to read this novel.
The characters are so incredibly real that you expect to see them on your street. Paul Murray is an incredible writer who gets into the very heart and soul of every character. Can't praise it highly enough!
Confession: I gave up at 85%. I didn't see any end in sight for the constant flood of obviously stupid decisions made by the protagonists. There are many other repression-themed novels out there: The Price of Salt, Room with View, Brokeback Mountain, in which the characters have the occasional happy moment. Just one would've helped me throught this mournful slog ... ugh.
While the story’s theme is relatable—would you change your story if you could go back in time, and how far back would you actually have to go—the punctuation style makes the book very hard to read with any speed. Ummm, there really isn’t any. Be prepared to go more slowly than usual. All-in-all, I think it was worth it, but I should’ve been prepared beforehand, so I wouldn’t have been frustrated.
I had heard so much buzz about this book (no pun intended) and was intrigued by the premise so I went in with high hopes. While there are certainly positives to be found — the author is talented and the story has moments of originality — I ultimately didn’t enjoy this book. Here’s why:1. I never really connected with the characters.Despite spending a lot of time inside their heads, I found it hard to care deeply about any of them. Their choices often felt frustrating or emotionally distant, and I struggled to feel invested in what happened to them.2. Imelda’s stream-of-consciousness chapters were difficult to read.I appreciate literary experimentation, but the lack of punctuation in her sections made them feel disjointed and, at times, exhausting. Rather than pulling me into her world, it pushed me out.3. The ending didn’t work for me.I had hoped for a more satisfying or redemptive conclusion. Instead, I was left confused and a bit frustrated, wondering what the message was supposed to be.I know this book has its fans, and I can see how some readers might appreciate the layered storytelling and unconventional structure. But for me, it was a tough and often unenjoyable read that didn’t ultimately pay off. I’m glad I gave it a shot — but I don't recommend it.
Long story (600 pages) of a family in chaos. No one feels happiness in their lives. No one has the courage to express their true feelings. I found this story sad and left me hoping for a positive outcome. The ending is quite twisted. Be prepared should you decide to read this novel.
The characters are so incredibly real that you expect to see them on your street. Paul Murray is an incredible writer who gets into the very heart and soul of every character. Can't praise it highly enough!
Confession: I gave up at 85%. I didn't see any end in sight for the constant flood of obviously stupid decisions made by the protagonists. There are many other repression-themed novels out there: The Price of Salt, Room with View, Brokeback Mountain, in which the characters have the occasional happy moment. Just one would've helped me throught this mournful slog ... ugh.
While the story’s theme is relatable—would you change your story if you could go back in time, and how far back would you actually have to go—the punctuation style makes the book very hard to read with any speed. Ummm, there really isn’t any. Be prepared to go more slowly than usual. All-in-all, I think it was worth it, but I should’ve been prepared beforehand, so I wouldn’t have been frustrated.
I had heard so much buzz about this book (no pun intended) and was intrigued by the premise so I went in with high hopes. While there are certainly positives to be found — the author is talented and the story has moments of originality — I ultimately didn’t enjoy this book. Here’s why:1. I never really connected with the characters.Despite spending a lot of time inside their heads, I found it hard to care deeply about any of them. Their choices often felt frustrating or emotionally distant, and I struggled to feel invested in what happened to them.2. Imelda’s stream-of-consciousness chapters were difficult to read.I appreciate literary experimentation, but the lack of punctuation in her sections made them feel disjointed and, at times, exhausting. Rather than pulling me into her world, it pushed me out.3. The ending didn’t work for me.I had hoped for a more satisfying or redemptive conclusion. Instead, I was left confused and a bit frustrated, wondering what the message was supposed to be.I know this book has its fans, and I can see how some readers might appreciate the layered storytelling and unconventional structure. But for me, it was a tough and often unenjoyable read that didn’t ultimately pay off. I’m glad I gave it a shot — but I don't recommend it.
