Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for “The Bee Sting” by Paul Murray.
Folks, this is it. The last iteration of this epic, earth-shattering column that was initially cooked up in a dusty old basement under Curtis Hall in the wee hours of the morning. It’s been such a delightful journey for me, from browsing the shelves at Waterstones in Chelsea to digging through stacks at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, as I try to find the next best read.
And so, for our final hurrah, I went all in: this 600-page masterpiece, cooked up by an absolute genius, that I had already been eyeing months ago but never committed to buying until a couple of days ago. Paul Murray’s “The Bee Sting” has a lengthy list of accolades — and rightly so — because it is one of those books that fundamentally alters your understanding of what stories are possible and how books can be written.
Everything that you need to know about the plot is given to you in the synopsis. The book features a family where every character — Dickie, Imelda, Cass and PJ — is facing a distinct tipping point in their life. Cass has a toxic relationship with her best friend and is drinking her way through her finals. Dickie is getting blackmailed and gradually turning to conspiracy-level crazed apocalyptic missions in the woods. Imelda is in distress about the lack of money and is busy fighting her own mental demons. PJ is fearful of a potential divorce and wants to run away.
So, you have a band of weird main characters. And what’s so special about that? Well, the fundamental question that the author asks is: What started it all? How did we get to this point, with a family so messed up nobody ever communicates, and they live in a house filled with pervasive self-hatred and disgust?
Was it when Dickie was assaulted by a man he met in college? Was it when Imelda chose to get married to her dead fiance's brother, got stung by a bee on her eyelid the day of the wedding and saw a ghost? Was it when Cass accidentally let slip that her dad works at the car garage? Was it when PJ decided to befriend Ethan?
Will we ever know which event, which choice, which decision is the one that sets us down a path of no return?
While you mull over that, this book also does an amazing job of crafting a story through each character’s stream of consciousness as memories resurface in the middle of a conversation and flashbacks occur at the most inopportune times. It’s honestly hard to explain how the author managed to achieve this effect, but it really works. Each character has a very distinct voice, from Dickie, who catastrophizes everything and mentally tortures himself into justifying his actions, to Imelda, whose thoughts never pause. It’s such a unique stylistic choice that really brings out the oddities of each character, as you feel yourself following their logic and understanding how they perceive themselves in situations.
One last bit. The ending is arguably the biggest cliffhanger I’ve ever come across. There’s plenty of online discourse over what happened, so I’ll just say that I think it was genius. In my opinion, the details of what happens next don’t really matter.
Something will happen. And that something has the potential to completely change your life.
