“They were racing above the town, away from their own stories, away from everyone who wanted to remember them; they were no one, they were together, and they were alive alive alive alive.”
A dizzying collection of storylines and perspectives (and punctuation), "The Bee Sting" coalesces into an intense, emotional commentary on moments missed, decisions made, and roads taken. Ireland is a central, unifying character in the work.
“Drive out to the edge of town and beyond it into the country the yellow hills sloping up to meet the blue sky Oak trees on the crest At the crossroads a shuttered pub a blackened sign Guinness Time the country gazes back at you like a mirror with nothing in it”
Paul Murray balances sly hilarity with terror, covering ground ranging from sexuality to physical and mental abuse to environmentalism.
“If poems were true they’d just be about walking through a giant graveyard or a garbage dump … Even the sensitive people are fucking liars, you say.”
“How can a drought cause a flood? PJ whispers. How can everything that happens just make something worse happen?”
The denouement will be controversial to many, as the convergence is a bit convenient and the lack of clarifying closure can be frustrating. However, hints at the various possibilities of the ending abound throughout the book.
“But he was very clever and very complicated and you can’t be clever and complicated and have everyone like you That is just now how it works”
Few novels are capable of the moving magnetism of "The Bee Sting," a worthy feat considering its length and the difficulty of the subject matter. Murray's characters and world are sure to stay with you for a long time.
“Put his hands on your hands on your belly and tell him again This is the world now It will be how we make it”
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