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139th out of 514 books
—
501 voters
The Death of a Beekeeper
In the beginning of the winter thaw, Lars Lennart Westin has learned that he has cancer and will not live through spring. Told through the journals of this schoolteacher turned apiarist, The Death of a Beekeeper, is his gentle, courageous, and sometimes comic meditation on living with pain. Westin has refused to surrender the time left him to the impersonation of a hospita...more
Paperback, 163 pages
Published
November 1st 1981
by New Directions Publishing Corporation
(first published 1978)
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I first discovered the writing of Lars Gustafsson several years ago when I found his novel, Bernard Foy's Third Castling, in a neighborhood bookstore. It was such a quirky, interesting and arresting book that I have sought out other works by Gustafsson over the years.
One of these is The Death of a Beekeeper which opens with what Lars Gustafsson calls a “prelude” in which he says good-bye to the readers of this, the last part of his five-volume novel sequence. To some extent it probably reflects...more
One of these is The Death of a Beekeeper which opens with what Lars Gustafsson calls a “prelude” in which he says good-bye to the readers of this, the last part of his five-volume novel sequence. To some extent it probably reflects...more
The format is a tricky one – could be effective and could be gimmicky if it's not pulled off just right. I'm leaning toward the latter diagnosis. Some nice parts, but can't escape the suspicion that the less effective philosophical asides might be found in the notebook of a high school student. The simple prose, when funny and dry, has the faint flavor of Vonnegut – like this from the first chapter, which had me excited about the book, but was never sustained: "I clearly felt the frog trembling...more
Ich bin immer wieder im Regal meines Bruders über das schmale Bändchen mit dem eigenartigen, sprechenden Titel gestolpert, immer wieder bin ich daran hängengeblieben, doch nie schien mir der Moment zum Lesen gekommen, vor allem, da mein Bruder es als eher nichtssagend abtat.
Doch wie bei fast allen Büchern, die auf einen warten, hat auch dieses letztlich durch meine eigene Vergesslichkeit der eigentlich fürs Wochenende geplanten Lektüre in meine Hände gefunden, und ich bin froh darüber.
Ein über...more
Doch wie bei fast allen Büchern, die auf einen warten, hat auch dieses letztlich durch meine eigene Vergesslichkeit der eigentlich fürs Wochenende geplanten Lektüre in meine Hände gefunden, und ich bin froh darüber.
Ein über...more
Like Maurice Maeterlinck's LIFE OF THE BEE, this is a literary classic on bees. Unlike Maeterlinck's book, it has few explicit descriptions of bees themselves. And yet it shares Maeterlinck's great theme: the meaning of the hive, seen from the other end of the ontological telescope: Gustafsson is concerned here with the individual.
This book--the last of a cycle of five novels--is a post-modern, wispy book, consisting of posthumous ephemera from the fictional narrator's life: diary entries, story...more
This book--the last of a cycle of five novels--is a post-modern, wispy book, consisting of posthumous ephemera from the fictional narrator's life: diary entries, story...more
I enjoyed this strange book, The Death of a Beekeeper. I believe I now have met my quota for reading Swedish books for this year. The book is short, only 150 pages, all about a man dying in the countryside by himself, with his bees. I loved the poetry of it. The protagonist is haunted by memories, many of which I can relate to. My favorite is he remembers the shadows of foliage "flutter on the ground in maelstroms, yes, really in maelstroms." Ah, that's the shit, there. And he also observes that...more
Not the most novel of ideas to develop a very fragmented portray of a dying man posthumously via a couple of shorter entries in various of his notebooks. Despite this lack of originality, however, a brilliant use of language makes this one an interesting, quick read. Of course, to have some aura of authenticity retained, it is impossible for the author (as some other reviewers have complained !) to have his character elaborate on the many interesting topics. Some of the references to astronomy &...more
One day, while skiing, the dog of the main charachter of this novel, looses the smell track of his owner: something is changing in the body of this man, and his smell has changed.
This is the story of a bee keeper who finds out to have cancer, the writer says it is just the transcription of the diary that this man left.
There are many deep considerations, coming out of small everday details, there are some deep thoughts about our language, hiddedn here and there ("I, I, I....after just three repet...more
This is the story of a bee keeper who finds out to have cancer, the writer says it is just the transcription of the diary that this man left.
There are many deep considerations, coming out of small everday details, there are some deep thoughts about our language, hiddedn here and there ("I, I, I....after just three repet...more
The thoughts of a dying man, read posthumously, as they were written down in three notebooks, each with a different tone and purpose. An exploration in the last months of his life, going back to his past and his memories and testing his imagination. A man stuck in the realm of doubt and hope (because the only thing that could have confirmed his condition was a letter from the hospital which he chose to burn instead of opening it), with pain as his only indicator.
Very interesting in some parts, i...more
Very interesting in some parts, i...more
Swedish. Simple. Very lovely. About a dying man. The beauty of his daily life is thrown into perspective in contrast to the constant pain he feels as he dies. Very lovely reflections on love and life. Like a less cliche-ridden, more austere "Tuesdays With Morrie".
Deshilvanada novela presentada como una especie de diario, pero en realidad (a partir del segundo capítulo, en el primero había un rumbo) es una escabrosa arenga filosófica disfrazada de novela. A Gustafsson no le salió el truco. No supo estructurar la obra, mucha escasez de material, el proyecto quedó disperso en los planos.
great book, the last of 5 in a series. many great philosophical attempts to explain the topics why life and why pain and why god.
Excellent. I love this novel. It's again full of wisdom, but also funny, it excels in the art of digression
wasnt my cup of tea. some parts were interesting, but overall i felt quite depressed.
Still a sentimental favorite. Always always.
contemplations/nostalgia before death
Pure genius.
Aug 04, 2012
Erica
marked it as to-read
At first, the author's writing style was a bit of a chore to sink into, but it soon happened and this book was quite enjoyable to read. Written as an accumulation of diary entries by a Danish man who is a beekeeper, it tells the story of how his life unwinds tragically ending in his death by cancer. It paints an interesting social landscape.
Dec 26, 2009
Thom Dunn
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
aging-death-dying,
europe,
fiction,
a-own-softcover,
read-again,
scandia,
manners,
own-want-hc,
mortality
Wonderfully absorbing. Find myself drawn--as Keats by the song of the nightingale--into Narrator's view of his own death, his independence with relation thereto. Want to call out to him, "Don't go just yet ! Stay and talk with me awhile.....about these doctors...."
Have you ever noticed that they way you write depends on upon the outlet for your words? Utilizing this structure the reader develops a portrait of the main character through his own many voices (3 notebooks).
My feelings about the book: peace, love
It is short novel, slow flowing, but yet worth reading. A dying man and his view of life, and his thoughts.
It is short novel, slow flowing, but yet worth reading. A dying man and his view of life, and his thoughts.
Seems I read the last book of the series first...
May 20, 2013
Alexandra Ferrera
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2013
Yvonne Gallagher
marked it as to-read
Apr 30, 2013
V3n0M93
marked it as to-read
Apr 29, 2013
Rob
is currently reading it
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Lars Gustafsson is a Swedish poet, novelist and scholar. Hecompleted his secondary education at the Västerås gymnasium and continued to Uppsala University; he received his Licentiate degree in 1960 and was awarded his Ph.D. in Theoretical Philosophy in 1978. He lived in Austin, Texas until 2003, and has recently returned to Sweden. From 1983 he served as a professor at the University of Texas at A...more
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“ The usual heresy consists in denying the existence of a god who has created us. It is a much more interesting heresy to imagine that possibly a god has created us and then to say that there isn't the least reason for us to be impressed by that fact. And certainly not to be thankful for it.”
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2 people liked it
“A humanidade, que ao longo de milhares de anos foi atormentada pela ideia falsa, bizarra e infeliz de que era dominada por uma figura paternal severa e quase cheia de ódio, no espaço de alguns dias descobriu o seu erro.
Em vez dele, havia uma mãe.
Enquanto a existência a cada momento se afastava, a uma velocidade crescente, do estado descritível para entrar num reino para o qual já não existiam palavras, A LÍNGUA COMEÇOU A MORRER.
Um dos últimos fragmentos de linguagem dizia:
SE DEUS EXISTE, TUDO É PERMITIDO.”
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1 person liked it
More quotes…
Em vez dele, havia uma mãe.
Enquanto a existência a cada momento se afastava, a uma velocidade crescente, do estado descritível para entrar num reino para o qual já não existiam palavras, A LÍNGUA COMEÇOU A MORRER.
Um dos últimos fragmentos de linguagem dizia:
SE DEUS EXISTE, TUDO É PERMITIDO.”
