Just finished the book today. Immersed myself in the family for two weeks and was gripped. Felt like one of the most interesting characters was Victor. He was like a metaphor for how conspiracy theory has gripped a world so unsure of itself and everything around it. We (Dickie) allow ourselves to be taken in by the allure of when nothing makes sense anymore - the devil on your right shoulder whispering in your ear when the social contract begins to crumble around us.
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
I admit I speed read it over 3 days so will have to read it again now but why does Imelda dislike Victor? And Imelda feels a stab in her eye -is that a bullet?
@hanffd
5 ай бұрын
Well said
@LiveLifeLarge851
8 ай бұрын
I think Dickie kills Cass and PJ, then himself, but Imelda survives. I base this on the fable that is originally told in an early Imelda part of the book, in which the traveller enters into a hillside and is lavishly entertained by fairies or the like, only to wake up on a hill 100 years later and to discover that everyone he knew and that all he loved had died long ago. This parallels Imelda's journey, as she allowed herself to be irretrievably drawn into the relatively posh world of the Barnes family at the potential cost of her sanity, her life and the lives of her children. As much as I'd like to believe this story has a happy ending, there are too many hints throughout that it will not. The many references to climate change, how people are not doing anything to avoid the catastrophic end that it will bring, suggests to me that Imelda, Cass and PJ's frantic search for Dickie in the woods is too little too late to reverse their fates.
@karenroyce9278
7 ай бұрын
I agree that there are far too many hints that there is no happy ending. I also agree Dickie killed both Cass and PJ and then himself. In addition to the references to climate change, there are a number of earlier hints that it will not end well for the Barnes family, beginning with the opening sentence about a man who killed his family and "the secrets he must have had." Rose tells Imelda not to let Cass come home from Dublin. She also weeps while talking about those poor little "skirls." We know that in their younger days, Cass and PJ played squirrels in the woods and there was no shortage of squirrel killing in this book. On an earlier visit to the nursing home, Rose told Imelda that "Dickie died in the wood." I think the only survivors in the woods that night were Imelda and possibly Victor.
@ajsefton7504
7 ай бұрын
Also, Victor says that the only way his children are guaranteed not to discover their dad's secret is to kill them.
@mariomayantha8429
6 ай бұрын
I believe this is a much more sensible interpretation
@mekanator108
6 ай бұрын
Well Imelda's father spoiled the whole novel with his curse
@devaette
5 ай бұрын
Liked your analysis. I had forgotten about Imelda’s fairie fable. I think you may be right, both of the kids who Dickie truly loves, will die at his hand, and Imelda will survive. I wonder what Rose was trying to say during Imelda’s last visit with her, she also reacquainted with her brother Lars. I think Imelda and Lars will end up together again once everyone else is gone. The big deal for me about the story is Paul Murray making climate change another killer character. He gives some character the words, “everyone knows what is happening in climate change”.
@SharonBakar
11 ай бұрын
Just finished the novel today. That final scene in the woods was so brilliantly paced and suspenseful, and I'm happy with the ambiguity - very clever.
@EricKarlAnderson
11 ай бұрын
👍
@vanhouten64
11 ай бұрын
Ambiguous endings used to annoy me but I think they make their own sort of powerful statement. Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, which I consider one of the great novels of the 20th century, also ends ambigously, the wounded protagonist's fate unknown as enemy soldiers approach.
@jamesduggan7200
11 ай бұрын
This reminds me a bit of Agatha Christie's famous play, And Then There Were None. In the beginning there is a house, on an island, filled with doomed people. Slowly they understand their plight and all but two of them essentially wait for death to come to them, like many people live their ordinary lives waiting for whomever or whatever it is will take them to the next place. Is that really so very different than waiting for the soldiers of the enemy (death) not knowing what comes after?
@enamitv
10 ай бұрын
Aunt Rose crying about the "poor squirrels" - the poor squirrels being Cass and PJ -- no, man, she knows what's coming
@willowflip
8 ай бұрын
But Aunt Rose has got it wrong before. She prophesied that Imelda would see Frank’s ghost at the wedding. In fact, what Imelda thought was Frank’s ghost turned out to be her own veiled image in a mirror.
@edandpamsylvabo4637
7 ай бұрын
@@willowflip0:45
@rachelpower4700
7 ай бұрын
Or they are all ghosts, metaphorically.
@cooperpeters6841
4 ай бұрын
just finished tonight wshoooooooo!!! i thought she was saying “those poor girls” maybe referring to the compound in the center of town, but i think your interpretation is better
@morganaverysispoidis
2 ай бұрын
@@willowflipno she says there will be a ghost at the wedding. Imelda assumes it will be Frank.
@LauraDoyle-v7i
8 ай бұрын
I just finished this an hour ago so the ending is still swirling around my head. However, I was struck by one of the final things Cass mentions is 'grey squirrel'. Dickie and PJ can't bring themselves to kill them when Victor is away but instead set them free. They seem destined to die but in fact live. It's mentioned a few times how Dickie can't bring himself to hurt anything (although he does emotionally - himself, Willie, his family through deception) so I can't really see Dickie pulling the trigger. Rain, water, another potential flood all suggest new growth and a chance to begin anew. I'm going with a positive ending!
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
But doesn’t Victor say they all look the same?
@morganaverysispoidis
2 ай бұрын
They used to play squirrels and dickie was the hunter.
@jl-il2gb
23 күн бұрын
Huh, dickie and Willie….the names…didn’t occur to me before
@JayFernandes-b8c
10 ай бұрын
What are the thoughts on what happened to Big Mike and Rzasard? Did I miss something or was it implied that Augustina killed them both and took off with mikes car and the $2k that Mike brought for her?
@cazfairy
9 ай бұрын
I would like someone to clear up this part of the plot as well, it was a major story line, another ambiguity!
@ElisabettaAgostini
8 ай бұрын
I think Big Mike is fine, he texted. However, Augustine was driving his car with the money in her pocket. Maybe she left them there arguing or they knocked each other out
@rachelpower4700
7 ай бұрын
Yes, I thought that too. Mike’s text comes after the fight (and the book runs along a strict time-based trajectory throughout). But think Augustina fled.
@helenhickey3479
11 ай бұрын
The ending really reminded me of the ending of The Sopranos. This novel is a fantastic family drama, it's my winner so far.
@danielleb.7754
8 ай бұрын
YES it reminded me of the Sopranos too!!!! Glad to see someone else saying this
@modavoga
Ай бұрын
Totally agree!
@heathersneddon8866
11 ай бұрын
For me, the ending is a pure Gothic horror and the whole visualisation of the storm, people losing their way blends into this. Dickie, IMO, has so completely lost it that I suspect he does shoot his family then turns the gun on himself. And Murray, cleverly gave us the ending at the beginning of the novel. One could also read the ending as a cataclysmic metaphor of the outcome of climate change and can we bring ourselves back from that brink. One's view depends on our positive or negative viewpoint on the existing reality
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
It’s all there in Willie’s speech
@utkarshpanwar8067
11 ай бұрын
My eyes turned watery when you said "even the title of this novel is a lie". Reading the final few pages was so thrilling. I loved the tension, the shifting perspectives. I got attached to each of these characters and the climax felt like a whirlpool of emotions.
@christelvanzyl5246
10 ай бұрын
I love the ambiguity! I want to be optimistic about the ending, but the BLACK DOG appeared.... If Dickie shoots his family, it would be tragic. If Dickie does not shoot his family and returns to his straight life, while he is secretly gay, it is also very tragic for him (in my view). If Dickie does not shoot his famiky and decides to tell the truth, it would end his marraige and he might be ostracised by his family / community. That is also tragic. Whatever happens, I think being secretly gay and living a straight life, always fearing that the people you love most will find out and reject you for it, must be excruciatingly lonely. This desperate and isolating existence is brilliantly portrayed in the novel. (Hats off to everyone who is brave enough to come out.) I would be okay with this novel winning the Booker. It is deserving.
@fouziasalahuddinahmed344
3 ай бұрын
I was thinking this too but then I remembered that for Imelda the black dog isn't something bad, it's the thing that stopped her from being sexually assaulted and protected her from being harmed
@mariecarroll2079
11 ай бұрын
I like your theory. But I think that Dickie accidentally shot his family. Thus becoming like the man in the next town over, at the beginning of the book. I’m so pleased that you enjoyed it.
@-zero.3354
11 ай бұрын
Excellent theory. I liked the ambiguity. Loved this novel.
@pennybjackson7950
10 ай бұрын
I'm afraid that the first sentence the book describes the ending. Dickie murders his family and himself, and his empty home is notorious in the neighborhood. Read this twice and although I wish it weren't so, this is how Murray ended this remarkable book. In an interview, Murray said his wife was upset by all the "sadness" of the novel.
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
There was so much realistic violence to children and women yes - as well as that horrendous rape that Dickie endured (and Imelda was spared, thanks to Rose)
@KneeAches
4 ай бұрын
Wow….people think that Dickie killed the kids. Not me. Love is gonna triumph. Dickie isn’t going to shoot TWO people. Cass starts the squirrel game. The blackmailer is dead. Everything is going to get better. That’s how I am interpreting it. I feel much more satisfied than thinking the ending is tragic.
@jacquelinemcmenamin8204
11 ай бұрын
Anyone from Ireland reading The Bee Sting , cannot help but know a real life case of family murder suicide. It was in a small rural area in the midlands. A man who was well liked in the local community. It was shocking and caused a lot of media talk about violence/mental health/ women in abusive relationships. The ending made me think of Shakespeare’s plays. Lot of them involve getting lost in the woods. I wonder if Paul Murray just didn’t know how to end it? Or deliberately ended it that way?
@EricKarlAnderson
11 ай бұрын
Ah interesting! And I think it was deliberate.
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
Yes absolutely I thought of Lear! (And Gloucester’s eye) madness in a storm in the woods
@hairylittlewombat
10 ай бұрын
I loved this novel. I was captivated from start to finish. That final chapter is truly suspenseful and so well structed. The ambiguity of the novel's conclusion is perfect, although I believe the novel ends in tragedy.
@LiveLifeLarge851
8 ай бұрын
I wish I disgreed, but sadly, I think you are 100% right.
@enidlacob1157
10 ай бұрын
the book started with a family murder I think that is echoed in the final chapter
@Olhado256
2 ай бұрын
My take is that the ending simply does not matter. Most of this novel happens in the past and its tension (and comedy) comes from uncovering the family's secrets, not anticipating what happens next. By the end of the story all secrets are uncovered but it would be unsatisfying to have the family simply drift apart so Murray came up with this dramatic cliffhanger to get people talking. At boy did it work.
@Rigoletto64
9 ай бұрын
I just finished this book and couldn’t help but feel that Cass, with the promising future (recognized for her writing), was the one who gets hurt. Rose warned that Cass should not go back, must not go back. But I wanted Dickie to realize that he could not actually pull the trigger or pulls it in on himself since he had earlier suicidal thoughts. Thought provoking and brilliant book.
@LiveLifeLarge851
8 ай бұрын
I think it also one of the more likely outcomes is that Dickie kills himself without shooting any member of his family. I think someone dies. Not sure who, or exactly how, but a happy ending is not in keeping with the trajectories and themes of the book.
@shannonswan9493
4 ай бұрын
Sadly the ending book ruined the whole thing for me. You took us there for 100 pages and then left it ambiguous. Unforgivable.
@suzannedoonan9246
7 ай бұрын
The book is brilliantly written, but the characters are unlikable and narcissistic.
@flufftronable
5 ай бұрын
Except PJ.
@LarryHasOpinions
11 ай бұрын
spoilers i like your interpretation but i think it's a tragedy, Imelda might be the only one who survives i'd say i just finished it today and really loved it, i hope it wins the booker!
@EricKarlAnderson
11 ай бұрын
Bleak! 😅
@robinodonovan1
9 ай бұрын
Yes, and that would also tie in with the curse Imelda’s father predicted on her wedding day. She’d lose her children, her house, everything…
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
@@robinodonovan1the little people under the hill (sidhe)taking her that kept coming up throughout
@pixieanna2058
11 ай бұрын
I just finished this book minutes ago and I'm so afraid he shot the children! 😬
@maevemcnamara7458
5 ай бұрын
Im in this exact situation now and raced to the Internet to find out other people's theories!!
@Zar2244
10 ай бұрын
Well said Eric. Thoroughly enjoyed this book. The ending was a little disappointing though, I was hoping he didn't go so nutty as to be planning a murder. Maybe just move to England and get a new phone number. I was also hoping that Dickie would stay with the love of his life who he met at Uni.
@jefferyannesheridan6612
7 ай бұрын
I go back to that "curse" of sorts that Imelda's father spoke over her outside the church. He told her she would eventually lose everything.
@ladydiana71
11 ай бұрын
Excellent analysis Eric! It is such a thought provoking ending that challenges the reader to really connect all the clues in the story. It's an ending that no one who reads this brilliant story will forget!
@EricKarlAnderson
11 ай бұрын
Thank you!
@kwilsonnc
9 ай бұрын
Brilliant, thank you for that. Personally, I appreciate the ambiguity of the ending, and its invitation for each reader to fill in the blank. We have sufficient evidence to create multiple narratives about what lies ahead. Aint that life, too? What a thought provoking read.
@courtneydaniel2196
11 ай бұрын
Interesting take but i think it's a bit too optimistic for me. Spoiler: The other foreshadowing is the red squirrel traps. PJ asks Victor what happens if he catches a red squirrel, and Victor says there aren't any. But we know there are as PJ has seen one. My reading is that Cassie is the red squirrel and sacrifices herself to save PJ. This fits in with Aunt Rose's prediction and final words.... I like your idea better though!
@JayFernandes-b8c
10 ай бұрын
What do you think of the scene with victor dressing a red squirrel in front of, or more specifically FOR PJ who he already knows is against killing any animals at all? Was this just cruel on victors part, a way to keep PJ away? Seems to have worked but it was a gross sad scene to me
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
@@JayFernandes-b8cI don’t know, still wondering, hope someone answers this
@TheGabrielberki
11 ай бұрын
Aunt Rose had the Shining
@tonebonekoneable
11 ай бұрын
I liked the ending and the theories it has created. I’m happy with not knowing though (unless Murray writes a follow up), it was more about the journey of the character’s lives along the way to reach that converging point.
@elmina66
4 ай бұрын
Brilliant novel - right up until the last page. A novel is contract - you follow a plot, believe its characters, feel for their dilemmas, visualise its settings and enter into its dramatic tensions but the deal with a novel is a resolution- that’s why you keep reading, even for 600 pages. Agree with your optimistic theory as to what might happen. But I don’t want a speculation, I want an ending! Murray should be fined for leaving us hanging
@tjs723
Ай бұрын
Totally agree Elmina! Pah to all these who think the ending was 'genius'
@cherimiller82
3 ай бұрын
One word - Sequel
@leolamoon11
11 ай бұрын
This is my first short list read for this year and the first time I read a book by this author. Murray has chosen to let the reader pick the ending…and written the novel in such a way that you can justify either a tragic or not so tragic ending. Very clever. This novel definitely has wonderfully realized characters and is compelling. But, I found the drama in it a bit contrived and, at times, annoying. I don’t think I can get behind it for the win and I’m hoping I feel differently about the other novels on the short list…
@DesireeGrey
10 ай бұрын
My interpretation of the ending is that Dickie accidentally shoots and kills Cass, mainly because of his reminisces toward the end about how she was so tiny, dependent and vulnerable when firstborn that she could fit into the palm of his hand. Also that she was the first character introduced in the novel through whose consciousness we were told about the family murder suicide in the next town. But I love that the ending was deliberately ambiguous, even though as you note the convergence of all main characters did stretch the limits of plausibility somewhat 🙏🙏 fantastic novel though. It was my forerunner to win the Booker. 🎉🎉
@lesliefarrar2264
29 күн бұрын
I was disappointed, too, with the ending. After enjoying the prior 100’s of pages and the messed up family members (all desperately in need of therapy), the ending is open to so much very unsatisfying speculation. Nor was there a clear conclusion to Big Mike, the Pole and the Brazilian.
@joangavrilik3009
11 ай бұрын
I totally agree with you. I think it's a smart ending. And I think (or just want to believe) that everyone survived. And I hope it wins!
@EricKarlAnderson
11 ай бұрын
😊👍
@drewok1967
Ай бұрын
Put it this way, Rose had not envisioned PJ being abducted by that old guy in Dublin despite it being a super close call yet she had envisioned Dickie shooting both PJ and Cass. Even Lar is having visions about the black dog which no good ever came from. The visions don't lie, they got blown to smithereens in the end
@kemalakyuz5429
Ай бұрын
I've just started to read. I cannot help laughing and being sad about how characters live their own problems. Especially when PJ awaits his turn in front of Nev's TV.
@cindyhaiken5644
11 ай бұрын
I usually hate ambiguous endings but I don’t mind this one. I think that’s because I want to believe in your theory but I think more of the book leads in the other direction. So the ambiguity allows for the possibility of a happier outcome. Of the six shortlisted books, this one is my favorite but I think Prophet Song will win.
@burningrumm
4 ай бұрын
As an avid hater of ambiguous endings, I dont think this novel wouldve worked without it.
@janethansen9612
11 ай бұрын
I was fine with the ambiguous ending. My view is that the family would continue to lurch from drama to drama regardless of who was or wasn’t shot, there being no redemption because they were all so lacking in awareness.
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
Author re Willie speech: The character of Willie, a minor hero of the novel who stays chiefly off stage, is given one stirring political speech about climate change that Murray admits does “slightly break the fourth wall” and which expresses many of his own views. “Willie is being a politician at that point, and is wooing a crowd, but I agree with much of it,” he said.
@JayFernandes-b8c
10 ай бұрын
I agreed 100% with your analysis. Great read! Compulsive read is a good description- I found myself at different times throughout my day wanting to steal away and dive back in to the lives of the characters
@fouziasalahuddinahmed344
3 ай бұрын
A lot of people online have said that the whole book itself is a depiction of climate change. For me the ending is still unwritten ie like the the story lots of different factors are converging together and MIGHT end in catastrophe, but will we let it? We can still write the ending to be a good one.
@dunnadam
10 ай бұрын
As with climate change, we get to the point of no return and keep our foot on the gas pedal, literally. I don't think there was a happy ending.
@jamesduggan7200
11 ай бұрын
Sounds very much Post-Modern, which anticipates a certain degree of uncertainty as well as unreliable narrators. Personally, I enjoy PM writing, I think that there is behind all things an objective truth but we're unable to reach it totally, and must perforce accept the bits and pieces we receive. It would be nice if everything resolved into a neat little bow but that's not life, which is uncertain. The alternative, which we find a lot in Modernism, is that nothing matters much except to oneself; and I remain uncomfortable with that formulation. So, ambiguity is the nature of truth - maybe (idk).
@redneckinthebardo
9 ай бұрын
It's interesting hearing your perspective and reading those of the other commenters. I see I'm not alone in concluding Dickie tragically shoots his whole family. I am alone in thinking it was a given that Imelda was shot. There's a moment near the end while Imelda is walking in the forest and she says something sharp poked her in the eye, same eye as the bee sting, must have been a branch. From that moment on I read her thoughts as her life flashing before her eyes. At the same time she thinks she's running but not going anywhere. For me, one of the major themes of this book was Men Being Awful, via weakness, self absorption, misogyny, and male violence, particularly male violence towards women and kids. With that in mind, I think Augustina was the only survivor, with Mike and Ryszard having killed each other, or possibly her having a hand in their demise.
@cazfairy
9 ай бұрын
At the end, they had their sights on the two children, not Imelda.
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
@@cazfairyyes but what got stabbed her in the eye?
@sherylgerety471
8 ай бұрын
I think it’s a mistake not to include Victor in the possibilities, primarily because Dickie _has_ been taken in to some degree by Victor’s survivalist mentality, leading up to a High Noon scenario. to me victor is the wild card because he is not a family member, he lives this stuff of last man standing rather than trying to inhabit it as Dickie is doing. A possibility for the ending is that Victor shoots everybody including Dickie then manages to fade into the scenery
@ThirtyBooks
5 ай бұрын
PJ broke my heart! I'm conflicted. The very beginning of the novel foreshadows the final scene - of a man killing his family. However, as much as there d bad luck through out the book often times people narrowly escape tragedy. Especially PJ - what happened that boy who was beating him up for money? Where did that story line go? And we think Cas is going to fail her exams and she doesn't. And we think she's going to relapse back into alcohol and she doesn't. So I wonder perhaps if they avoid bad luck again. Dickie not so much. EDIT: I wrote the above before I watched your video !
@devaette
5 ай бұрын
Dickie paid off the family of the kid that beat up pj.
@bstephens44
11 ай бұрын
A very good analysis. I am fine not to know what happens next but your theory is sound especially about the repeated cliffhangers in the book. I think this is a strong contender with the prize, on par with Prophet Song. But that comparison also highlights the difficulty with judging a book competition. Quite apart from the subjectivity of the reading experience, how does one great work nose out another in a race? I don’t envy the task of judges.
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
I really think This Other Eden should have won. I say this having read all 3. Prophet song broke me of course. The quality of the writing in the bee sting is unparalleled. It should be made into a tv series (and Claire Keegan Small things like these is now a film!) But This other Eden affected me the most.
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
I loved them both but think this was a better novel And This Other Eden the best in the shortlist
@davidswerdloff9027
7 ай бұрын
Wonderful interpretation. I thought he'd shot Imelda, mainly because I couldn't bear the thought of losing Cass and PJ. All the commentary here has made me rethink that. And maybe I'm a dense reader, but what happened to Big Mike and Ryszard? No resolution to that either.
@reeegs90
4 ай бұрын
I think it's implied that they killed each other in the struggle, Augustina driving away in Big Mike's car with the line 'Behind you the house is silent once more'
@thinkpiece
6 ай бұрын
I've read numerous reviews in all the usual places that are so unsatisfying -- totally ignoring the ending, so thank you for "going there," and especially for recognizing The Bee Sting is, at it's core, a domestic thriller. I think Dickie is completely unhinged by the end of the novel, full-on paranoid survivalist, dissociative and brainwashed by Victor. The final line about love -- well, by this point for Dickie, the definition of love is mangled by paranoia over 1. the blackmail that threatens his constructed identity; 2. being "unseen" by his real love Willie. As he looks through the night scope, he says "There's two of them..." -- that's Cass and PJ. Imelda is still running. He shoots out of love gone poisonous, delusional. And then, who knows. He's dead no matter what, as is Imelda.
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
Is she dead though? Isn’t she the man from the ancient story about the Sidhe who took him underground and when he came out, 100 years had passed and all his family were dead?
@dideemn
11 ай бұрын
The click was the gun zeroing in on Ryszard. He is shot. The whole family works together to dump him into the well, and they live happily ever after!
@ginsoakedgirl4
10 ай бұрын
Just finished this novel finally lol. Ryszard comes back to the house in the nick of time to save Augustina from Big Mike's attack. He doesn't go into the woods at all. And it does seem that there's a happy ending for Augustina at least, as she's driving away from the town, with the cash, on her own (which implies that Big Mike & Ryszard killed each other)?
@nathancooper9391
10 ай бұрын
Or Ryszard kills Mike then heads back to the forest. Augustina uses that chance to flee toxic Ryszard & a murder scene. So many possibilities.
@flufftronable
5 ай бұрын
@@nathancooper9391if going chronologically , no as big Mike texts Imelda after.
@ravenmiller9697
10 ай бұрын
Did anyone else notice that the bad punctuation happened when we were reading Imelda’s point of view?? Murray was showing her lack of education and roots even in the way he wrote for her!
@Zar2244
10 ай бұрын
Yes and how she talks in an Irish lingo
@palimpsest1903
10 ай бұрын
it's a literary device- her lack of punctuation reflects her lack of education
@kaes7041
9 ай бұрын
Yes, and I think this is one of the weaker aspects of the novel. Besides making the Imelda parts hard to read, it is sort of classicist in a predjudiced way. Nobody, even public school educated "upper class" people do their inner thinking in correct grammar and punctuation.
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
I didn’t find it classist, it got us in her emotional state so well
@tjs723
Ай бұрын
Thank you for providing us with a platform and your own insights, very much appreciated. I am not one of the many here who think the ending was genius. It was indeed clever and the build up was believable and the tension incredible but leaving us hanging like that after going through so much with these people was almost unconscionable. Why? If we could make up our own stories, we wouldn't invest time and money in reading an author's book. Paul Murray was the one telling the story, not us. We had faith through 600 pages as the characters developed and began to have some self awareness, that there would be a conclusion, a resolution, a tying up of all the threads we had followed so carefully and meticulously. I think this books ending was a tragedy in and of itself. I will probably never read one of his books again I feel so strongly about it.
@user-yg6ft1iu1i
2 ай бұрын
Well I finally got around to this novel. So now I can read your thoughts they seem to be pretty spot on, but I was sucked in and found it to be a page turner. I don’t really have anything to add about what happens to the family, but where does Big Mike, The maid and the blackmailer fit in weren’t they in the woods as well . Thank you for titling your video Your theory of the ending so I held off watching it . Sorry it didn’t win the booker
@palimpsest1903
10 ай бұрын
Can anyone explain who PJ's "internet friend" was? There's a creepy old man in the game shop in Dublin but who is he? So many characters, so many questions.
@dunnadam
10 ай бұрын
There was a creepy old man outside in the street. The sister was in the game shop, not the old man
@kwilsonnc
9 ай бұрын
I wondered if the house they passed with the UFOS belonged to him. The all caps, the creepyness, the almost going in two separate times😬....?
@homeyginomolly
8 ай бұрын
Before Cass showed up the man grabbed PJ's shoulder. The friend Aaron was not a child and had the worst of plans for PJ. I worried about that from their first phone call.
@homeyginomolly
8 ай бұрын
Before Cass showed up the man grabbed PJ's shoulder. The friend Aaron was not a child and had the worst of plans for PJ. I worried about that from their first phone call.
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
Ethan never spoke to PJ on phone, go back and check, it was always texts. PJ got suss when he saw the photo of the video game in Ethan’s house. He also asked his Dad about people pretending to be someone they’re not. Far fetched that a kid in contemporary western country would not know about internet predators promising puppies, mam’s cookies, dad’s new car, pizza, movie, video games etc - Ethan used every paedophile cliche.
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
Author on writing the ending (he must’ve been thinking of King Lear!): Working on The Bee Sting was enjoyable, Murray said, although he admits that its tense denouement - one that has troubled many readers - was “very hard” to write. “I tried out all sorts of epilogues, where things would be clarified. In my mind it was all very clear. But they didn’t work. And so if it is ambiguous, well, then everyone’s reading is as valid as anyone else’s.”
@padders67
6 ай бұрын
Love the optimism but sad to say it's almost certainly misplaced. It's an Irish novel after all- we do tragedy very well - and often ! I really enjoyed the book , was disappointed with the ending but having sifted through the clues go along with most people's take that everyone except Imelda was killed. Looking forward to reading his other novels
@MartinBraonain
9 ай бұрын
Thanks for the review and thoughts, very interesting. The ending reminds me of the storming ending to The Sopranos - it is a closure on their lives and what more could be said. That said, I thought it was over dramatic, I didn't think (as you said) their issues couldn't be worked out - not happily, but allowing them to move forward. None of them were bad. That said, gripping read, wonderful metaphors, and touching characters and moments. Well worth a read. It is very much in Franzten territory. After 400 pages, I was thinking of giving up as I couldn't see where it was going, until (SPOILER) Dickie has his titanic encounter with the stranger. That drove me on to finish it. As an aside, it is notable how novels use gay characters or queer experiences in books - it seems like this is de rigueur. If you are going to have queer aspects then should they be central and not just possibilities, or character traits - the sublimation by Dickie is see but not really dwelt on by him. What was going on with him - he seemed so unreflective. Also, I don't think I agreed with the fatalism of the book - the events of the past weigh on people, but are they also the anchors the book suggests? I might give Skippy Dies a read, but I am rushing on to North Woods by Daniel Mason. I would like to go back and re-read Anna Karenina and War and Peace - both amazing books about individuals, society and family.
@bianca71479
3 ай бұрын
in my opinion this ending is more of reflection about what is a story when it fall out of the book ?it is fiction after all so if is not written in the book ,maybe is just about the reader?As a reader you might constantly think whos character you dont want to die. maybe your attachment to the character become more important than the story itself. And who did you want to die?
@pchevasath
9 ай бұрын
Not really relevant, but I was wondering… initially when the Findlay boys attacked young Imelda, Lar later told her that he saw no Black Dog. But later when they met at the nursing home, he told her that he saw the same Black Dog as the one on that day with the Findlay boys?? So did he or did her not see the dog back then? Especially when he told Imelda he started having visions during his time in prison.
@dunnadam
10 ай бұрын
I would have liked more background on how Dickie met Victor and why he agreed to start the bunker. It seemed to be taken as a given. Also I'm not sure if Dickie was really gay, or bi. I don't think his life had that option.
@JayFernandes-b8c
10 ай бұрын
I agreed 100% with your analysis. Great read! Compulsive read is a good description- I found myself at different times throughout my day wanting to steal away and dive back in to the lives of the characters
@carolgable7051
7 ай бұрын
thanks so much for your review, helped me reflect on what I read and thought as just finished today. It was a great book, particularly the ending. I think it reflects on our future as a world community and whether we address climate change or not, embrace violence or not, and what we do in the name of "love". so much to think about and outcome unknown.
@AmandaMagrath
6 ай бұрын
His analysis is thought-provoking. However, I wish the video had not been edited in such a way that there are no natural pauses in his speech. It rushes madly from one idea to the next with no breaks for the listener to absorb what he has said.
@burningrumm
4 ай бұрын
The one thing I can say for sure is that Dickie is dead, be it physically or metaphorically.
@trainorsue
11 ай бұрын
I really didn't like this book when I finished it months ago. Listening to your review makes me reconsider all of my opinions about it.
@ElisabettaAgostini
8 ай бұрын
I love your explanation very well crafted and supported by the clues in the book! I’ll definitely post it when we finish the book in our bookclub. ❤
@LadyJaneBooks
11 ай бұрын
I actually have not heard of this one before, but I am adding it to my TBR after watching this. I love family saga genre books. Really enjoyed hearing your thoughts!
@molly___reads
4 ай бұрын
great review!!! I love when books leave more questions than answers.
@kaes7041
9 ай бұрын
Did anybody discuss if the naming of the characters has any specific meaning? They don´t seem to go together too well. Cassandra specifically points to doom and forebearing, but Imelda (Marcos?), is this a name an uneducated irish drunkard would give to his daughter? Dickie? PJ? Unfortunately I am a native German speaker and have never lived in Ireland/UK, so maybe I am missing something here....
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
Imelda is the pretty girl’s name in the band in the commitments isn’t it?
@fallingwickets
11 ай бұрын
in the queue so couldnt watch....thanks for the spoiler alert :)
@KelliMcNeil
11 ай бұрын
What happens to Ryzard & Big Mike? If the Barnes family lives & so does Ryzard, then the blackmail still exists.
@pixieanna2058
11 ай бұрын
I think Ryszard and Big Mike killed each other, which is why Augustina makes off with everything.
@PanthareeSujitvarong
5 ай бұрын
Anyone thought that Willie is a ghost, like imagination friend of Dickie that he created every time his inner sexual desire occurs?
@flufftronable
5 ай бұрын
No, as Cass listened to him speak at the lecture.
@davidlona7553
4 ай бұрын
is the bee sting like the novel the corrections
@beverlyburke8204
5 ай бұрын
Who died? Cass or PJ?
@juliewoan298
11 ай бұрын
I loved this book but 2 things disappointed me - 1) the ending 2) the lack of punctuation in a few of the narrators…otherwise really loved it!
@Zar2244
10 ай бұрын
The lack of punctuation seemed to me to be highlighting Imeldas rough upbringing and how some Irish talk with a heavy accent
@flufftronable
5 ай бұрын
I think the lack of punctuation was a plot device, to show Imelda's lack of education, which Dickie also commented on.
@GunpowderFictionPlot
11 ай бұрын
I love your analysis, especially picking up on all the foreshadowing at the very beginning of the novel. I was left with the feeling somebody dies, but I wasn't sure who or how many. Very much hope this wins the Booker.
@SineadScrap
10 ай бұрын
Thank you, Erik! Just finished The Bee Sting, and indeed I felt a little "stung" at the ending, although I liked all the family seeking each other out in the woods, sort of like one of P.J's video games. I wonder mostly about the soft kiss between Dickie and Victor.
@rachelpower4700
7 ай бұрын
That kiss was purely a brief fantasy in Dickie’s mind, I think?
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
That was not real it was Dickie’s thoughts
@CharlieBrookReads
11 ай бұрын
I have rewritten the ending to have a more Disney-esque touch as I love these characters so so much. So I hope you are right in your theory. What a brilliant book. Always great to hear your thoughts Eric.
@cammisweetheart
7 ай бұрын
Also! Imelda always complained about Victor and his presence in the family. Each time he would “repair” something within their house it caused more harm than good by patching the problem then having it return 10x worse. The latest stint was where Dickie and him were physically ill with the bacteria in the water. The harm is slowly creeping closer and closer with potential of being extremely devastating. Killing the kids would bandaid the problem In the sense of they physically wouldn’t be here to find out but the damage would be irreparable for Imelda or Dickie and Imelda’s relationship.
@andrewevansmusic3222
11 ай бұрын
This is a relatively minor point (and I guess minor spoilers), but in such a long book I may have inadvertently missed something. Was there an explanation as to how Cass managed to pass her exams? We leave her in the exam hall, unable to write. Then PJ observes her studying obsessively, after the fact, once it's too late! Did she just turn out to have done OK?
@utkarshpanwar8067
11 ай бұрын
I was wondering the same tbh!
@andrewevansmusic3222
11 ай бұрын
@@utkarshpanwar8067I know the book is full of cliffhangers where what you think is going to happen doesn't quite happen. But usually there was some kind of explanation!
@kaes7041
9 ай бұрын
Well, haven´t we all been in this situation? Experiencing writer´s block in important exams just until the point that the panic sets the energy free and things start flowing off the pen? I Think one hint is that Cass also thinks the exam question is a perfect theme for her. Maybe the novel being already over 600 pages long, the editor suggested making some cuts here and there 😀?
@aleanbh3808
6 ай бұрын
Agree, it does not make sense. I felt she was doomed from the moment she decided not to apply for the scholarship and study with the girly swot. But the novel does this repeatedly: scares us then Ah well false alarm!! Like PJ not being kidnapped by paedophile network over and over
@DaveNYC
11 ай бұрын
Those are both great possible theories. Personally, I chose not to read the ending entirely literally but instead as an extended metaphor on the family’s plight- all running around at loose ends, not hearing or seeing each other, etc. and as a result, as another commenter noted, bound to repeat their mistakes over and over. What happens when you do that? Anyone’s guess. Possibly tragedy. Also, practically speaking, I could not quite conceive of how Dickie could accidentally shoot three people all coming in different directions. And I don’t think he had it in him to murder them all in cold blood as a spur of the moment course of action. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the many theories circulating as to the meaning of the ending. Thanks for sharing!
@kaes7041
9 ай бұрын
Well, there is also Victor with a gun... I think there are so many clues within the book that hint to tragedy. And Dickie made his mind up that shooting in this situation is "what a man has got to do", so I think it is wishful thinking that all of this will end up in a big, teary eyed, hugging happy end. Even if just one person gets shot, even if it is "just" Victor who fires, Dickie would end up in jail and I think non of the supposedly surviving members of this family would forgive him and live happily ever after.
@helennewdick3070
7 ай бұрын
So illuminating, thank you! - I like your personal affirming conclusion! I think I felt the same, but needed a reminder of the pointers you brought out to build your case. Really a help to me.
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