Of Bees and Mist in Q&A with Erick Setiawan

Apr 06, 2010 Leslie rated it liked it

Shelves: 2011

This was a weird little book....it is a modern-day plot about family, and trust, and family relationships wrapped in a fable or fairy tale. It's set in a kind of fantastical place where inanimate objects are personified, magic abounds, prophets and southsayers play a role, and mists carry people to and fro. It's a story of the entanglement and parallels between two families thrown together because the daughter and son get married. It starts out with the one family--wealthy, popular, large house- This was a weird little book....it is a modern-day plot about family, and trust, and family relationships wrapped in a fable or fairy tale. It's set in a kind of fantastical place where inanimate objects are personified, magic abounds, prophets and southsayers play a role, and mists carry people to and fro. It's a story of the entanglement and parallels between two families thrown together because the daughter and son get married. It starts out with the one family--wealthy, popular, large house--but inside all is not well. The two parents hate each other, hardly speak, haven't said a nice word to each other in 16 years and have one daughter, Meridia, whom the father hates and the mother doesn't relate to well as a young child. The father has a mistress, whom he goes to each night (carried away but one-color mist and brought home the next morning in time for breakfast by another color mist). The mother cooks all day, talking to herself in a weird made-up language...and Meridia is left to her own devices, trying to figure out why the people in her house don't speak to each other along with all the issues you face as a teenager. She goes to school but that's all the outside activities she has, until she meets a weird friend who brings her out into the town. The friend disappears suddenly one day, leaving Meridia lonely and alone until she meets Daniel, the love of her life. They get married and Meridia moves into his family's house; however, the mother is a terror. Bees fly out of her mouth when she yells or when she is trying to guilt or persuade someone to do something her way or when she maligns someone. I'm not really doing the plot justice...there's so much detail that I can't go into it here. The story revolves around meridia and her relationship with her mother, her mother-in-law, Daniel, and Daniel's two sisters, and how relationships are formed, broken, misinterpreted, and repaired (or not). It touches on husband and wife, sibling, parent/child, employer/employee relationships and the strength of Meridia, and the other woman in the book really, as they overlook, overcome, manipulate, and/or succumb to all these relationships. I didn't hate it....its just...different. ...more

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Apr 08, 2010 CedarMoon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fairytales, magical-realism

Wow, I absolutely loved this book. I didn't want it to end, but also needed it to, as I had become quiet vested in the characters.

Welcome to __________ (we never know), where the streets are named after plants and flowers and fruit trees and butterflies. Where at one moment you are talking to a man, the next they evaporate. Where herbs can be harvested within beards and a book provides insurance against the spirits. In this world we meet Meridia. Tall, lanky, beautiful, reserved, loving, lonely Wow, I absolutely loved this book. I didn't want it to end, but also needed it to, as I had become quiet vested in the characters.

Welcome to __________ (we never know), where the streets are named after plants and flowers and fruit trees and butterflies. Where at one moment you are talking to a man, the next they evaporate. Where herbs can be harvested within beards and a book provides insurance against the spirits. In this world we meet Meridia. Tall, lanky, beautiful, reserved, loving, lonely, passionate, frozen Merida.

With Merida we navigate through the streets of the town, view family, death, life, love, loss. Hunted by bees, cloaked by mist. The spiritual world and the physical world twine, existing as one. Both acknowledged and ignored. Unlike most of the townsfolk it would seem that Merida's upbringing provides knowledge and experiance in how to deal with and navigate around others resentments and unspoken voices. Hers is also a story of love. The love between a mother and daughter, father and daughter, husband and wife, mother and son. It also moves towards the extended family and deals with jealousy, hatred, grief, forgiveness, sorrow, joy and in-laws.

The house on Magnolia Avenue stands as strong and proud as the women who live there. There is not much that you would find interesting about the house except perhaps for the penetrating cold that makes one wear a jacket in the mid summer. The cold seems to seep into everything and everyone. Relationships stagnate and die. Merida becomes invisible as her mothers resentment clouds her eyes. Some days Merida is only seen by the yellow eyed grinning ghost who appears in mirrors. Merida's mother, Ravenna finds solace in cooking. The neighbours are constantly under an onslaught of smells that permeant from the kitchen. Her father Gabriel locks himself in his study, writing, recording and observing, with his stern disapproving air that repels visitors and family alike. The house is silent but for the sound of movement. There are no warm echo of voices as words are very rarely exchanged. Though no mention of clocks are made, the house itself functions as one, everything happening to pattern and time perfectly. At exactly the same time every day the mist appears to whisk of Gabriel. A second mist descends whilst he is gone, and a third mist delivers him back on the doorstep. It is within this environment that Merida is brought up. An awkward child, with no explanation necessary really though it is provided, she moves through the motions of life, always on the edge. This is except for two exceptions that pull her in. Hannah and Daniel.

While at a spirit festival Merida meets Daniel. They fall in love and are soon to marry. For Merida this marriage can not take place soon enough, as she is marrying not only for Daniel but also to be inluded into a real family, for a house filled with warmth. But unfortunately, as often is the case, things are not entirely as they seem, and soon the slight sound of buzzing can be heard.

This novel is heavy on the magical realism. It's sitting on the boarder of full fledged fantasy really. For me that was the reason it took awhile to settle into the story. I had to really stop and adjust my expectations before I could enjoy it in its entirety. It is beautifully written with descriptive chapters, full characters and the actual setting is left blank enough that the reader can fill in the environment. This lets one settle into the story and imagine how you feel the town should look.

It is interesting that I looked at Erick Setiawan goodreads profile while reading one day, as I had just decided I absolutely loved Of Bees and Mist, and read that he is born in indonesian and immigrated to America in his teens. As soon as I had read that some things really fell into place. It is fairly common knowledge that the Dutch invaded Indonesia back in 1600's and that they're rule there wasn't to benefit the local people but to exploit for spice and other trades. So the exploitation that followed would have had allot of hush hush rumours, and these stories and feelings would have been passed down over time. And the reason I bring this up is because of Ahab, Ahabs personality, description (blond, blue eyes, stature, accent, facial features, whiskers) and the line "we'll ship you back ass first to the windmill hell you came from". So then I thought of other things, like the names and the spirits.

There is one other thing I wan to note and that is the way that Erick Setiawan understood his female characters and the trials he put them through. Whether this is from the cultural upbringing and the closeness of families or research he did an amazing job of describing things like birth. And scary birth at that, which I could relate to but not fault. So that is something I thank him for.

I would give this a 5 star but for the amount of time it took me to settle into the story. Actually I would love to give it a 4.5 but as its not possible a 4 it is. I also wasn't completely convinced on the ending either, but maybe that is more because I would have preferred something different but not because it should have been something different.

Great great read and will be on my favourites self. ...more

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Aug 18, 2019 Andy Brennan rated it it was amazing

This is an unusual book, and I'll preface this by mentioning that I don't read a lot of fiction. It usually doesn't grab me. I'm more of a visual person, and all the dry description and exposition dumps leaves me bored. Of Bees and Mist is unusual and kept my attention because it is more focused on delivering surreal imagery and painting a world set out of time and place than it is with creating a rock solid narrative. It dodges so many cliches. It's not a fantasy setting, and it's also not real ...more

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Sep 01, 2009 Mawgojzeta rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-and-horror

I chose this book because the description stated it was "reminiscent of Keith Donohue's 'The Stolen Child'", a favorite of mine. I would not really agree with that statement. To me, it was reminiscent of Mark Helprin's "Winter's Tale", another favorite of mine.

Regardless, I really enjoyed this book. I thoroughly enjoy suspending my disbelief. The characters are fleshed out enough to care about, back stories fully covered, drama enough for those who are more drawn to the drama and at the same tim ...more

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