One might think this was an uplifting story about a young girl who learns and grows as she discovers her talent for spelling bees. But this is more so a very dark portrait of a highly dysfunctional family with the spelling bee as the catalyst for a cascade of events. The story begins with Eliza, an eleven year old girl, an underachiever, over-shadowed by her clever, older brother, whose status is catapulted upward by her gift for spelling. Her dad Saul, a cantor at a synagogue, house husband, and student of Jewish mysticism, is overjoyed, shifting his focus from Aaron, the older brother, to "Ellie". Miriam, Ellie's mother, is a workaholic, clean freak, detached from the rest of the family. The novel starts as an engaging story of a quirky family. I even had thoughts of Ann Tyler as I read. The Jewish mysticism seemed to add an interesting element to the story. But the story devolves in the second half. The family's dysfunction is extreme and, quite frankly, creepily disturbing. I gave the book 3 stars for it's originality and the early promise. But I found the latter parts of the novel repugnant. And the prose was dense and seemed to weigh down the narrative.

Times like these I wished Goodreads would have 0.5 grading system, so I could give this book a 3.5 and not feel guilty about giving it a 3. Because I understand authors could benefit from it with their right target audience. There's a reader for every book.

Now let's get to the actual review. I am taken by surprise at how much I enjoyed it. I didn't think I would, since, it's not a genre I normally gravitate to. Whether you like the story or not, it cannot be refuted that the writing style should get a 5 out of 5. It is the kind of effortless, seamless prose with just the right amount of hyperbole I aspire for myself.

It starts off great but suffers a mid-point slump and ends with a "WHOA!". This is a story about a dysfunctional family. A mom with a personality disorder, a religious and an overzealous father, a teen in his experimental phase of life, a young girl trying to be noticed. These are people you can relate to or have met at some point of life. They all seem to be struggling with their own-self and at the same time with the shifting family dynamics. Going through the day to day hubbub, under the thinly veiled false calmness, you can sense from a mile that a ticking time bomb is waiting to go off.

There's spelling bee contests, Judaism, Hinduism, kleptomania, isolation, loneliness, teenage angst. And it can all get emotionally tiresome especially when there's very little affection or joy to balance the lows.

One of the best omnipresent 3rd person narrators I have read in quite some time and the most compelling story I have read about a dysfunctional family since THE ICE STORM. There's a lot more here than just the story of a spelling bee champion. It's a quick read which I highly recommend.

Tragic & awful & wonderful & compelling & beautiful & sad... There are many reasons I might not have liked this book -- a little self-conscious, trying sort of hard to be smart and sad, etc. But turns out I loved it, actually. The ending. Ahh.

I liked the way this story started out and the writing was engaging. Unfortunately about halfway through it became tedious and seemed to take a different direction. There was almost too much much dysfunction among the characters that never came together. I had high hopes since it was recommended to me. 2.5 stars

When choosing a book for the library discussion group, I was offered a list from a particular program the library uses. There really weren't many options, and none of the those I'd actually read before would be worth talking about.

But Bee Season had a compelling enough concept that I chose it despite only so-so reviews here on GR. Because at least people had found enough to talk about. And my group did talk about it. We talked lots about how it failed.

To be clear, we all agreed that it wasn't a bad book, just a badly-executed one. There's something almost dishonest in the construction and manipulation of the characters, and the twist at the end failed for everyone, because of lack of setup and in the character type as portrayed. Goldberg clearly had something to say: likely about the pressure of academic success on children and father/daughter relationships. You could care about Eliza, and Saul was an interesting, but static, character study.

The trip and fall near the end into the metaphysical wasn't really supported by the earlier plot, and again, the twist really only distracted from what the story had, up until then, been about. It's a build up of Eliza and her mother's story wasn't every really there, and didn't mean anything. And again, no one really changes in this book, though it seems intended as a character-driven work, the characters aren't enough to carry that description.

If this one is already on your list for whatever reason, you may as well read it. But if your list is long and you're thinking of adding another, skip. You may as well use the time to read something really worth it.

Is not about honeybees. Is about Spelling Bees (not bees that spell, either!).

An interesting read about a family at cross-purposes, each member working toward the next level of their own (as they've got it planned) future:

Saul - the patriarch of this family, and is a cantor, working on his connection to God and making sure his children have meaningful spiritual connections with their culture and God.

Miriam - the matriarch, who is also a successful attorney, leaves much of the parental duties to Saul.

Aaron - Oldest child, only son. I liked him as a character, but could have done without report of every act of self-stimulation. He is a supportive brother to Eliza, if not a little neglectful - but not from lack of affection - he's just a teenager. (And he's busy off wherever he is with business at hand.) He also has discovered that the one thing he and his Dad have in common - being a Jewish male - is a problem. He's shopping for a new religion.

Eliza - Youngest child, only daughter, a fifth-grader. A reader gets full doses of each character in this family, BUT we start with Eliza, end with Eliza and the Title Of The Book is firmly grounded in her world. Eliza believes she is the weak link in this family - everyone else is above-average in some spectacular way. That all changes when it becomes clear she is gifted with words, especially spelling. She triggers something in her father who then assists enthusiastically with her training for the upcoming Spelling Bee (because it is Bee season. . . .get it?)

All, in all an ok read. 3 stars because of too much of some mentions, and not enough of others. Just felt a little unbalanced and left me . . . .wanting.

52:29

Do not read Bee Season if you want books to be a comforting blanket. But if you enjoy a little discomfort in a while, and want to experience a dysfunctional family, let Goldberg take you for a ride with the Naumanns.

My Original Thoughts (2000):

Interesting novel! Definitely engrossing. Eccentric family. Compelling. Strange ending. So much pain--almost unbearable. This is not just a story about a spelling bee.

My Current Thoughts:

I only have a vague recollection about this novel, but I remember that I read it with an online book group and really liked it. I might have watched the movie, but I honestly don't remember! I haven't read anything else by this author. Any recommendations?

This took me ENTIRELY by surprise. A former spelling bee champ myself (no, really, it's true...) I laughed aloud multiple times at Goldberg's exquisite description of the motions and emotions of any "bee." I had no idea that the plot would become so complex or moving. I'm not sure who I feel for most: Saul, the well-meaning but simultaneously over and under active parent? Aaron, the boy who loses and finds faith at the risk of losing his father? Or Eliza, the too-young-to-understand-yet-determined-to-please spelling champ to believes her success will save them all? As for Miriam, I have nothing but anger and disdain.

Kudos to Goldberg for capturing the immense complexity of Jewish mysticism as well as daring to delve into some of the dark worlds her characters inhabit. Reading this as a writer, I was in awe of her talent for both ideas and words. I'll go so far as to compare her even (prepare for it) to Toni Morrison in her meticulous word choice and decisions of when to reveal what.

As one of the choices for the 11th grade summer reading, I was a bit surprised by some of the text's graphic nature, but at the same time, I understand its function and thus am happy it's on our list. I wonder how many students will choose this one; it's certainly not a fast read nor is it easy on the emotion or intellect. I actually had to put it down at times when Eliza was deep in the letters, fearing I too might start trying to "feel" the sounds. Crazy, I know.

I probably would have put this down after starting had it not been "assigned," and I'm glad that that did not happen. This will definitely be a book I recommend and return to myself from time to time.

I actually started this book a year ago, but never got past the first chapter. This time I stuck with it and was rewarded for it. Eliza delves into Jewish mysticism, her brother into Hari Krishna, and her mother into madness. Her father is oblivious to all. The book asks what the differences really are between those descents or ascents. There’s an image at one point of a brain smoothing out, and there are aural images of resonant chanting. Together those make me think of our need to ritual to attempt to soothe fear.

Would like to be able to have given 2.5 but rounded up. Overzealous, religious father + mentally ill mother + teenage son looking for an identity and acceptance by his father + mentally challenged daughter who finds her strength in spelling bees and wins the affection of the father = a dysfunctional family. The journey resulted in resolution of some of the problems. I think many people would like the story; there was something that just didn't click for me.