Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable nine-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his st...
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Oct 23, 2011
Lisa
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This book was masterfully written and extremely surprising. I picked it up off my roommate's shelf thinking, "Oh, this looks like a sweet little book about spelling bees." I don't even know where to begin in describing how wrong I was. That was one thing that made the book so stunning: it completely circumvented my expectations.
The story is complex, with overtones that are varyingly dark and bright and intriguing. I think you could have conversations for hours about the More...
The story is complex, with overtones that are varyingly dark and bright and intriguing. I think you could have conversations for hours about the More...
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Jun 11, 2008
Sandy
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What a disturbed and messed up family..... religious obsession in any form, any religion, is warped and vile to my senses. The father here is so caught up in the pursuit of his 'perfect' view of Judaism and what behavior does or doesn't fit his picture, that he has totally failed to see that every member of his family is being damaged, by his obsession. He ignores his daughter in favor of training his son to fulfil his own (the father's) dreams, and then rejects his son in favor of his daughter
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Dec 16, 2009
Anne
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This book is totally about my family and my childhood, except it was written by Myla Goldberg. (And I must admit it's more exciting and disturbing than my family or my childhood...for one, my only brush with Hare Krishna was at the Crazy Wisdom Tearoom in Ann Arbor, where they played a soundtrack that chanted "Hare, Hare, Hare Krishna" all day long. Great for grading papers.)
So yes, Bee Season is a great read (I devoured it in two hot-and-heavy days) and it makes some ve More...
So yes, Bee Season is a great read (I devoured it in two hot-and-heavy days) and it makes some ve More...
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Sep 17, 2011
rachel
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Sometimes when a person I've just met or a well-meaning family member talks about my future children, I stop to correct them. "Oh, no, I don't want kids," I say, laughing breezily to lighten this very personal revelation. This answer garners one of two responses, neither of which are very polite. Either my conversation partner will look at me with eyes of wisdom and upraised chin and say, "You're young, you'll change your mind," or they'll screech "WHAT???!!! Yes. You
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7 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Dec 31, 2008
Ed
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Tracey and I listened to this Audio book together. I think we bought this 10 CD unabridged 12 hour set while visiting Minnesota last August and started it on the way to Oregon for Thanksgiving, and finished it on the way to Tucson for Christmas 2008.
I won't put any spoilers here, so don't worry.
It was read by the Author Myla Goldberg, and she is an excellent reader. Some authors are not good readers, and the probably don't know it. But Myla is really creative and capti More...
I won't put any spoilers here, so don't worry.
It was read by the Author Myla Goldberg, and she is an excellent reader. Some authors are not good readers, and the probably don't know it. But Myla is really creative and capti More...
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Jul 22, 2008
Jenny
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I am hearby stating that my new rating policy will be based on whether or not the book moved or uplifted me in any way.
I really was excited about this novel because I'm a sucker for any young-girl-coming-of-age novel, but this one left me flat at the end. I couldn't stop reading, but the entire time I read I had this "yuck" feeling. This family is dysfunctional beyond words. The characters continually misunderstand each other. I was always waffling between sympathy an More...
I really was excited about this novel because I'm a sucker for any young-girl-coming-of-age novel, but this one left me flat at the end. I couldn't stop reading, but the entire time I read I had this "yuck" feeling. This family is dysfunctional beyond words. The characters continually misunderstand each other. I was always waffling between sympathy an More...
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(3 people liked it)
Mar 28, 2008
Bree
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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(4 people liked it)
Apr 04, 2007
Leslie
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This book is unique in the sense that it addresses a common storyline (coming-of-age while under intense academic pressure) in a quite uncommon manner. While guising as a simple plot involving a girl's quest to win a spelling bee, this book explores topics all the way from mental illness to religious awakenings.
The heart of the story, though, rests in a young girl's observations of and interactions with her family. An omnisceint narrator threads the plot together, as s/he explains t More...
The heart of the story, though, rests in a young girl's observations of and interactions with her family. An omnisceint narrator threads the plot together, as s/he explains t More...
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(5 people liked it)
May 27, 2008
Tifnie
rated it: 
UGH! I couldn't get through this book fast enough and I couldn't resign myself to not finish it.
Baiscally this book is about a disfunctional jewish family. Eliza, who is at first mentally challenged, soon becomes a spelling bee champ. Saul, her father, drops guitar lessons with his son to teach Eliza about Abulafia which is a sophisticated theory of language. He brother, Aaron, becomes disengaged and starts to explore his own identy outside the jewish faith. All the while, the More...
Baiscally this book is about a disfunctional jewish family. Eliza, who is at first mentally challenged, soon becomes a spelling bee champ. Saul, her father, drops guitar lessons with his son to teach Eliza about Abulafia which is a sophisticated theory of language. He brother, Aaron, becomes disengaged and starts to explore his own identy outside the jewish faith. All the while, the More...
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Mar 02, 2008
Alison
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There is nothing in the title or the book sleeve of this debut novel from Myla Goldberg to prepare you for what's inside. This is less a coming-of-age story of a young spelling prodigy, than it is a dysfunctional family drama that dissects the needs, insecurities, and emotional baggage of each family member. They're all empty, and they're all looking to be filled.
This is original and eccentric story-telling. She's a fabulous writer. The sentences are fresh and well thought-out. I More...
This is original and eccentric story-telling. She's a fabulous writer. The sentences are fresh and well thought-out. I More...
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Jun 23, 2007
Chanpheng
rated it: 
I picked up this book from a book exchange, not sure if I could finish something on spelling bees - but this book is entirely something different. It's about obsession. A family is falling apart and suddenly the daughter wins spelling bees.
As an aside, there's an Indian boy whose parents were deported - he's become a master speller since they left, in part to deal with his grief and loneliness at being left in the US. In the story in the IHT, he talked about his techniques for s More...
As an aside, there's an Indian boy whose parents were deported - he's become a master speller since they left, in part to deal with his grief and loneliness at being left in the US. In the story in the IHT, he talked about his techniques for s More...
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Jan 04, 2010
This story about how a Philadelphia suburban dysfunctional family's individual search for God consumes them around the time the youngest member's previously dormant talents start to shine and make her a spelling bee star.[return]The champion speller is Eliza, who was previously categorized as unremarkable and was an unspoken embarrassment by her more illustrious family members. When she starts winning spelling bees, her father, Saul, finally takes notice of her and she replaces his eldest son wi
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Jan 25, 2009
Bonnie Jeanne
rated it:
So much is made in other reviews of this book of the family that seeks perfection only to fall further and further from it, but I think the story isn't so much about perfection as it is about just plain seeking. It didn't end like "American Beauty," but I think the ending is just as it should be.
I didn't see the Naumann family as at all eccentric. They are a family like any family, with communication trouble, secrets, and compulsions. What difference does it make if a comp More...
I didn't see the Naumann family as at all eccentric. They are a family like any family, with communication trouble, secrets, and compulsions. What difference does it make if a comp More...
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Feb 09, 2012
Karo
rated it:
Bee Season is the story of the unraveling of a family which was clinging together by the barest of threads, with two parents so engrossed in their own obsessions that they listened but never heard. We have Aaron, the older brother, who is consistently bullied at school and feels at peace only at the Jewish temple where his father, Saul, is the cantor. Saul has created a world for himself in his tiny study full of books from which her emerges only to cook dinner for the family as his wife, Miriam
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Nov 29, 2011
Patrice
rated it:
This is a wonderfully crafted novel that centers around the Naumann family. Each family member is a unique individual with their own set of quirks, interests, and obsessions. There is really nothing commonplace about the Naumann family, which is both delightful and frustrating at times. I wanted to throw this book across the room several times thinking to myself, "These people are so neurotic - I'm over it."
In all honesty, it's the neuroticism, mental instability, religiou More...
In all honesty, it's the neuroticism, mental instability, religiou More...
Nov 21, 2011
Tom
rated it:
In the beginning was the Word: Logos. If spelling the knowledge and faith contained therein were a requirement for salvation, more than likely most of us would find ourselves cooling our heels in some form of remedial purgatory, seeking divine revelation in a book rather than in ourselves and our fellow sinners. Such is the downward path set before poor Eliza: she just wants to be loved by an attentive father; he wants to create a prodigy fed and nurtured on syllables instead of understanding.
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Nov 04, 2011
Elizabeth
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Aug 06, 2011
Nikole
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I really really enjoyed this story. The concept of spelling bees initially seemed like a fairly boring topic to base a story around, but I soon discovered that the spelling bee world is just a tiny little part of this story, and in reality it’s more of a book about the Naumann family and what happens when the family dynamics change.
The characters in this book are extremely interesting and complex…which is surprising, given that the book was short. It seems that most of the shorter nove More...
The characters in this book are extremely interesting and complex…which is surprising, given that the book was short. It seems that most of the shorter nove More...
Apr 26, 2011
Beverly
rated it:
This is the story of a dysfunctional family's journey into fragmentation. Eliza, the daughter who has been relegated to the slow classes and the fringe of her family, suddenly finds that she has a hidden talent. She can spell. She unexpectedly wins her school's spelling bee and cannot find a way to tell her father. Her brother Aaron has always been the apple of her father's eye. They spend time together studying and playing the guitar. Her mother is withdrawn and has OCD. With her newfoun
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Jan 06, 2011
Travis
rated it:
This book was amazing. There is not a single thing I didn't love about it. I loved the writing, the storylines, the utter dysfunctionality of the characters. I've seen some complaints in other reviews about the ending, but I thought it was perfect. It ends at exactly the right place.[return][return]I'm impressed with how many threads she managed to weave together. The search for something spiritual they all share, the hints of Miriam's mental imbalance in Aaron and Eliza, the way both parents ar
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Mar 05, 2010
Mimi
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book ... it kind of made me think of many of the books I used to read by authors such as Chaim Potok (in its discussion of the acceptance and denial of Jewish mysticism and religion as a whole) and Judy Blume (in that it dealt with growing up with all-to-human parents, rites of passage and much more). ...And yet this is a book for adults and deals with adult emotions and issues!
The characters created by Myla Goldberg are wonderfully crafted.
* Saul, t More...
The characters created by Myla Goldberg are wonderfully crafted.
* Saul, t More...
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Oct 25, 2009
Lori
rated it:
Odd, interesting, dynamic, mystic, weird, all of these adjectives describe my reactions to this novel. I waited a long time to get this book from the library and although I didn't find it boring, I was mildly disappointed after all the hype that surrounded it.
Eliza a second grader is not your average child. Enmeshed in a most dysfunctional home, ignored and a loner she discovers an incredible talent accidentally during a spelling bee. Her father Saul latches onto this and centers his atten More...
Eliza a second grader is not your average child. Enmeshed in a most dysfunctional home, ignored and a loner she discovers an incredible talent accidentally during a spelling bee. Her father Saul latches onto this and centers his atten More...
May 05, 2009
jess
rated it:
Bee Season exists at the baffling intersection of Spelling Bees, Jewish mysticism, Hare Krishna recruitment, and mental illness. Each family member has a sort of unconventional relationship with the others, although it's difficult to see how very strange things are until they start to fall apart. (Oh, Chinua Achebe, you go everywhere with me).
The very average, younger sister becomes the favored child when Eliza suddenly displays her surprising aptitude for turning words into careful More...
The very average, younger sister becomes the favored child when Eliza suddenly displays her surprising aptitude for turning words into careful More...
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Dec 12, 2008
Jacki
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I felt like this book was mainly a story of obsession. I thought that it was great how at the start of the story, the author just gave you little hints that there was something just-not-right lurking below the surface. As the story went on, each family member's own obsession grew and grew until they could not all fit in the house together.
I thought it was scary how quickly Aaron was suckered into that religion- out of loneliness & fear mainly and I just wanted to shout at the Dad t More...
I thought it was scary how quickly Aaron was suckered into that religion- out of loneliness & fear mainly and I just wanted to shout at the Dad t More...
Mar 31, 2011
Doreen
rated it:
This is a well-written, troubling story of a Jewish family plagued by secrecy, lack of affection and mysterious compulsions. The young daughter obsesses over words and qualifying for the next spelling bee. The teenage son is lost in his own obsession, questioning his religion and secretly turning to the Hare Krishnas.
The siblings, close as youngsters, now are in competition for their father's attention and praise. There are four people in this house, but they show no patterns of b More...
The siblings, close as youngsters, now are in competition for their father's attention and praise. There are four people in this house, but they show no patterns of b More...
Sep 30, 2010
Jillaire
rated it:
I heard about this book years ago and merely knew that it was about an unremarkable young girl who becomes distinguished in the spelling bee world. My brother-in-law attended the national bee years ago, so our family has more than a passing interest in spelling bees, and I was intrigued.
Young Eliza is the daughter of a well-meaning Jewish cantor (assistant to rabbi?) and an emotionally distant mother. Her older brother is the star of the family and the synagogue, but socially a " More...
Young Eliza is the daughter of a well-meaning Jewish cantor (assistant to rabbi?) and an emotionally distant mother. Her older brother is the star of the family and the synagogue, but socially a " More...
May 01, 2010
krisabelle
rated it:
What started off as a promising novel with an interesting main character and excellent use of adjectives quickly veered off the tracks into Depressionland. I felt more and more dispassionate about the story and characters as the book progressed until I began to strongly dislike both. The father is so wrapped up in his own intellectual pursuits that he fails to notice anything falling outside of his scope of interests, most pointedly the fact that his behaviors and actions have completely alien
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Nov 17, 2010
Elaine
rated it:
Bee Season by Myla Goldberg has already been made into a movie with Richard Gere as the father. I didn’t know this or care when I bought the book because the story itself looked interesting. It was but it suffered the similar fate as “By the River Piedra…” reviewed above. It started off strong then suffered from the often seen “dragging it out too long” syndrome. It was better than Coehlo’s book though and it was still a good read that was hard to put down. In essence, the book has no chapters.
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Oct 23, 2010
Noor
rated it:
This is Myla Goldberg's debut novel, and by the fifth page I was convinced that she has immense talent. I finished the book in three days, though I would have finished it sooner if I didn't force myself to put it down every once in a while. Although my family is nothing like Goldberg's fictional one, I still felt true empathy for the characters in an odd way. It's a weird mishmash of a family, too - a religious Jewish father, a nerdy 16-year old son, a C-student 11-year old girl, and an eccentri
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Jan 11, 2010
Jmarie
rated it:
I am on the fence about this one. I could not put the book down. It is an extremely well written book. The story was compelling and descriptions captivating BUT what a messed up family. I did not like the characters or their developments. Everyone living in the same home but in their own designated and isolated world. It was insane and hard to swallow. Saul "loved" his children and wife BUT he could not find time to really "see" them. He saw them through his own selfi
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