Early Chapters, 1-9

[bookowlie]

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MarieBurton wrote:

I am on page 62 and I must say that this is not the book that I expected. I did not understand that there was a lot of mysticism or witchcraft/paranormal things going on, which I must say is just not my thing. So once I've gotten my head around that aspect of it, I am glad that there is something else going on in Meridia's life (meeting Daniel) otherwise I would not have had much more patience for the book. Definitely a slow start here.

As far as 'who is hannah?' I couldn't tell if she was imaginary or not. The whole reality vs. mystic (mists!) is hard to figure out, and I hope I do figure it out.

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I am also glad that there was a little too much mysticism in the beginning of the book.  It's also not my cup of tea.  I was glad when Meridia met Daniel and she had a way of the "darkness" of her family life.

[vivico1]

I am not sure what I expected in this book. I am not into ghost stories or paranormal stories but I do like cultural things with psychological aspects. I have been torn between...is this truly going to be a fantasy book, is it that something is wrong with Meridia and her vision of the world is unreliable and we will find this out? Or is this a story of a dysfunction family told through not just metaphor, but ones maybe found in the Asian culture? That last aspect I am really interested in knowing. Would these images be more common in the Asian culture as maybe the boogie man and tooth fairy are to us?

Having said that, I really don't know yet if these visions are meant to be real things Meridia sees but they are great metaphors for the people in this house. Meridia becomes invisible in her own home, not literally, but as many unfortunate children do when the parents are so at war with each other that the child is either a symbol of the problem to them, or there is so much hate or pain in their lives that there is no room to care for or "see" the child standing there, wanting, needing love. Ravena's demons seem to have overwhelmed her and makes her drift from reality even in the middle of a rare serious talk with Meridia. The father is just as invisible to the house, in the sense that he stays away from them as much as possible, leaving the house but also keeping to himself inside the house.

The mists are interesting, as I see them as representative of the moods and problems of the family. They have different colors and different feelings. Kind of the - many colors of emotions, we all have, manifested in real visible ways. I love Meridia's curiosity in them instead of real fear. But then she needs to know why her momma and papa treat her as they do, or feel about her the way they do and aren't these tied to that?

Hannah, I had hopes she would be a real person for Meridia. I don't think she is so much a ghost, (but she could be if this turns out to be a real ghost story) as she is an imaginary friend or maybe even a side to Meridia herself who, at this age needs her to get her out and exploring and finding life! Meridia knew she would leave in time, saying Hannah and her father travel so much, but isn't that true of children's imaginary friends anyway. Children have them until they don't need them anymore and then the imaginary friend goes away, tho most people who have them, still think of them from time to time with fondness.

It is not my normal genre of book to read, but it interests me and I am enjoying it and wanting to know how these all play into the culture, or visa versa. After all, even if they are real "ghosts", aren't the ghosts we are familiar with born out of the culture we are, and represent things in our culture that may not be the same in others? Heck, lots of cultures have Santa Claus, but they very often look different and have different histories and do different things!

[LISA-BRYAN]

1) Is Bees and Mist what you expected? What novels have you read (if any) that you might compare to it?

Of Bees and Mist is not the type of books I normally read.  However, I was quite intrigued as I did read it . .  I am almost finished with the book so hopefully I will be done later today.  The characters and how they connect and reconnect has been very surprising.

2) What do you make of Meridia's nurse in the first chapters? Is she a protective force for Meridia? What was she going to tell Meridia before she vanished?

Meridia's nurse is a protector and comforter for a young lonely child.  Not having any children of her own - the nurse looks at Meridia as her own daughter.  The nurse was going to tell Meridia about the night when her parents fought and how her mother injured her father with the garden spade.

3) Why does Meridia disappear in her own house?

She was lonely and wanted to be alone.

4) The story of the fight between the mist and the ghost becomes a kind of fable or magical tale depicting the troubles in a marriage. How well does this fantastical fight demonstrate their unhappiness? What happens to Meridia while she watches this?

The fight is well demonstrated in that Meridia does become scared and begins to question things that occur and things that may have occurred - namely the nightmare she continues to have.

5) What are the mists? How does Meridia manage to use them to help her with her project?

The mists represent the thick air of disappointments, lies, adultery, etc in the marriage.

6) Who is Hannah? Why doesn't she show up in the hair dresser's mirror?

Hannah is an imaginary friend who visits Meridia when she needs help.  Once over a period of time when she is a child and later when she is a young married lady.  Hannah helps Meridia with building up her confidence.

[kiakar]

I love your thoughts, Vivian!

I also didn't know what to expect  from this book. Even though Paul hinted of its magical qualities, it gave me a small glint of a novel that was quite similiar to the last new look " The Physick book of Deliverance Dane. Even though they were mysical and magical, neither were similiar in actuality but both authors were brilliant in word and phrase formations making their books so irresistible to not read. 

The title sounds like quite the mystery. My imagination takes me to think a unpleasant mist that prohibits a clear view or drowns out reality. A twirling of mist that disturbs normal thinking and brings on depressed thoughts of a situation.  I think also of the mist as being a metaphor  of something blocking something from happening as in a marriage. A pair that fails to see what is to blame and to stubborn and determined to find the reasons for the fued and how to fix it. 

I have to say I am still puzzled by Hannah. Was she imaginary or was she maybe a ghost of the housekeeper knowing that Mereida desparately needed a close friend. The Housekeeper in my opinion had motherly instincts for Mereida . That is to say if the housekeepr had died of course. We might later on be able to figure this little mystery out. 

And I do believe that Mereida didn't feel she really existed and found herself getting absolved by the house on Marach Street. 

[maude40]

On page 5 the sentence, "Failing to stop the chill where his shadow had touched her, she wondered if all fathers were curel and all mothers forgetful." This sent chills through me when I read it. What a terrible thing for a child to feel about their parents. Yvonne

[maude40]

There are two quotes in chapter one that I love. On the bottom of page 5 and the top of 6, "Ravenna moved in a stiff and sudden manner, as though the aim of her action was decided at the tail of a moment."

At the bottom of page 7, "A tattooed man swallowed whole radishes and spat them out chopped, seasoned, and pickled." I love these two images. Yvonne 

[mamawli]

I can't compare this story with any recent novels that I have read.  It is definitely gripping and mysterious.  I see a lot of symbolism within the story.  Personally the mist and cold represents an unhappy and dysfunctional family life.  While I always enjoy a good mystery, I usually try to figure out the ending.  In the case of Bees and Mist, I shall wait until later on to speculate.  Although, I am wondering about the parallels between the families of Daniel and Meridia.

[Sunltcloud]

I am comparing the vine on the cover to the umbilical cord; the life of Meridia from beginning to end - baby (life) attached on one end, shovel on the other  (death) and some important moments like wedding (ring) in between. The eyes? Mother and Father? Not sure about the fawn; unless it means a baby born to Meridia (we only see foreshadowing of its death so far through the scene with the casket at the beach.)

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PaulH wrote:

Huh?!? I actually didn't see anything but the eyes. Yikes, maybe my "eyes" need some work, although I swear I didn't look that closely... 

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Linda10 wrote:

Hello, everyone!  Well, the day is finally here!  There are already a number of things I would like to post just based on the five posts I've read so far.

But -- I am going to start at the very beginning (and I do mean beginning) with the cover of the book.  Did any of you find the hidden pictures?  Did you find the two sets of eyes?  How about the baby?  Or the diamond ring?  Or the spade or shovel?  Or what appears to be perhaps the fawn that we read about in chapter six?

This may sound silly; but as soon as I saw this, I thought, "We are in for a nice surprise if someone put this much into just the cover!"

I will post more later as I read other posts.  But for right now, as far as Hannah not appearing in the hair dresser's mirror, isn't that the case with vampires too?  I don't believe that Hannah is a vampire; but she could be otherworldly so therefore doesn't really exist in the "real" world.  It could also explain why she never stays in one place for very long.

Well, more later.  But I will say that I am enjoying this book so far because it is so different.  It makes it fun!

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[nfam]

I find the presentation in this novel very interesting. Obviously we're hearing the tale of a dysfunctional family. While there is a substantial overlay of myth and magic, it's hard to tell whether this overlay isn't what Meridia uses to put her problems in a context that is far from her personal -- real -- experience. What I mean by this it that children often create fantasy worlds when they live under extremely difficult circumstances. One way to read the opening chapters is to view them as Meridia's world view.

[Cyndell]

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PaulH wrote:

Huh?!? I actually didn't see anything but the eyes. Yikes, maybe my "eyes" need some work, although I swear I didn't look that closely... 

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Linda10 wrote:

Hello, everyone!  Well, the day is finally here!  There are already a number of things I would like to post just based on the five posts I've read so far.

But -- I am going to start at the very beginning (and I do mean beginning) with the cover of the book.  Did any of you find the hidden pictures?  Did you find the two sets of eyes?  How about the baby?  Or the diamond ring?  Or the spade or shovel?  Or what appears to be perhaps the fawn that we read about in chapter six?

This may sound silly; but as soon as I saw this, I thought, "We are in for a nice surprise if someone put this much into just the cover!"

I will post more later as I read other posts.  But for right now, as far as Hannah not appearing in the hair dresser's mirror, isn't that the case with vampires too?  I don't believe that Hannah is a vampire; but she could be otherworldly so therefore doesn't really exist in the "real" world.  It could also explain why she never stays in one place for very long.

Well, more later.  But I will say that I am enjoying this book so far because it is so different.  It makes it fun!

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I hadn't looked that closely at the cover. How cool, I found them all.

[Sunltcloud]

I like your use of the words "smoke screen."

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booksJT wrote in part:

The ivory mist guarded the front door of the house. When Gabriel would return home the next morning there was a blue mist that would surround him.  When Gabriel left the house there would be a yellow mist surrounding the house. The mist could be  the smoke screens her father uses to enter and leave the house without any one following him.

Meridia persisted in asking the mists questions about the story about her parents. Eventually they  all surrendered to her questions accept the yellow mist which was not as accommodating.

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[mgorbatjuk]

I'm glad someone commented on the cover of the book. I didn't even take time to look at it. I'll have to go home and look closely at it. I too can't figure out who Hannah is. I was leaning towards imanginary until the letters were sent. I think I like this book so much because there's so many twists and turns just when you feel settled something else happens to make you think twice about your first thought.

[Sunltcloud]

I, too, like the lack of time stamp. And your mentioning of past, present, future, and parallel makes me think that all of life is sewn together, like a quilt, from the experiences we collect - inherited, imagined, lived, and projected experiences; the moods of our parents, brief encounters with friends, the love in our lives, archetypes, universal  concepts, local flavor, symbolism, imaginary encounters, creativity. What we add to our lives are the questions and how we deal with them. And how we deal with the answers, if and when we encounter them.

It took me five chapters to allow the flow of the story to take over, then it became a movie with mythic structure. I read "The Writer's Journey" by Christopher Vogler years ago and look at this novel as a journey in which all experiences have been intertwined and gradually become untangled. Whether Meridia faces battles with her parents or with her own mind, she inhabits the "landscape" of her emotions.

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PaulH wrote:

I loved that there is no time stamp or definitive locale in the book. It makes it timeless and simply let's you be immersed in the tale itself.

It's past, present, future, and parallel all at once!

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[CathyB]

Hi everyone! Didn't get a chance to log on until a few minutes ago - recovering from minor surgery (then again, no surgery is minor) and am still a little groggy. Point being, I expected MUCH more activity from this bunch of people and am pleasantly surprised that I will not have too many posts to go through.

I am going to start with Rachel's question - may not add anymore than just answering them at this point.

Of Bees and Mist is not what I was expecting. I guess if I had to chategorize it, I would place it in the fantasy genre. Books that I have read and would also put in this category are any of the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice (although they are more horror-like and much darker), The Mists of Avalon (which I enjoyed thoroughly - eventhough it took a LONG time to read (car book that was only read at doctor appointments and waiting for kids) and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I certainly would not compare this to the Anne Rice novels. Not really sure about the other two - as they blatantly came out and said it was the practice oor magiic that was going on. At least at this point in the book, I do not know if anyone is causing the events or if they are they are happening because of the interaction with the town''s strong emotion and nature itself. -- Remember, I am still a little groggy --.

I think that Meridia's nurse was afraid. She obviously knew what had transpired shortly after Meridia's birth. I say that she was afraid because if she was not, then she would have told Meridia what happened. But, what was she afreaid of? Ravena? Some other force? Or was she afraid of what it would do to Meridia''s emotional state? Certainly not Gabriel.She was protective of Meridia - overly in some instances - once again, I have to ask if it was a sense of duty, affection or fear that drove to this?

I think Meridia disappearsin her own house simply because Ravena and Gabriel are so wrapped up in their own torment that they can't acknowledge her existence most of the time. And, I do mean can't. I think it is conciously done on their part. The maids are too terrified of everything to take notice either.

I think that Hannah is a figment of Meridia's imagination; hence, notreally there -cannot show up in mirror.

Yes, I believe that the fight between the ghost and the mistaccurately demonstrates the unhappiness between Gabriel and Ravena. As Mridia watches, she feels for her mother but, ultimately feels defeated that she cannot stop waht is happening.

Not sure what the mists are at this point. She used the mists to 'hide' her and lt her observe all that was going on.

CathyB

Message Edited by CathyB on 06-01-2009 03:45 PM

[DSaff]

I don't know if anyone else is trying to figure out if the color of the mist has any significance, but I have been. Here is some of what I found and two sites with information. I would love to hear your thoughts.

White - stands for purity, cleanliness, and neutrality

Yellow - two-sided: wisdom, joy, intellectual energy and cowardice, deceit

Blue - youth, spirituality, peace, calming influence but too much can dampen spirits

http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/color/a/symbolism.htm

http://www.crystal-cure.com/color-meanings.html

I may be totally off on this, but here goes. 

The white mist seems so cold and daunting, but also powerful in its control of things. This could represent the coldness of the marriage.

The yellow mist is seems to lean more toward the deceit meaning, and that deceit may simply be that no one knows where he goes. It could also mean that there is an affair.

The blue mist seems to tell me that he is calmer coming home than when he left. Those seeing it may be more depressed, however.

[bookowlie]

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bookowlie wrote:

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MarieBurton wrote:

I am on page 62 and I must say that this is not the book that I expected. I did not understand that there was a lot of mysticism or witchcraft/paranormal things going on, which I must say is just not my thing. So once I've gotten my head around that aspect of it, I am glad that there is something else going on in Meridia's life (meeting Daniel) otherwise I would not have had much more patience for the book. Definitely a slow start here.

As far as 'who is hannah?' I couldn't tell if she was imaginary or not. The whole reality vs. mystic (mists!) is hard to figure out, and I hope I do figure it out.

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I am also glad that there was a little too much mysticism in the beginning of the book.  It's also not my cup of tea.  I was glad when Meridia met Daniel and she had a way of the "darkness" of her family life.

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Oops!  I just re-read my post.  I meant to write - "I agree that there was a little too much mysticism...."

[fordmg]

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ABH47 wrote:

I say this as a preface to my feelings about these first chapters of "Of Bees and Mist". I found the lack of being able to place these characters in any kind of location I could figure out troubling. I understand this is totally a fantasy location, not a real one. But it is difficult to see the characters move around in my mind if there are no clues as to time period,clothing design, societal structure, building descriptions, climate, etc. Is this novel supposed to be in a setting like Eastern far I am finding the book somewhat difficult. As I said, I like to visualize descriptive part of the story. For my purposes alone, therefore, I have decided to put the novel in a setting somewhere in Eastern Europe, a country like Romania, for example, time period, perhaps early 20th century. While I don't like to presume an author's intention, for me it will do for now. It is my visualization, my "movie" so to speak.

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I also had trouble trying to define the location of the story.  I decided it was a pure fantacy setting, but I think of it more as far eastern.   But it was hard for me to get into the story until about chapter 5.   I am only on chapter 7, so I will see how it progresses.  I had trouble with the house, because it was fantacy, but not like a "Alice in Wonderland" fantacy.  I couldn't visualize where the characters were except maybe in a dream.

MG

[vivico1]

OH, one other thing on the first chapters. One thing that has me hooked, is this memory or vision of Meridia that no one will explain fully. That flash of light! Things going wrong from then. She wants to know what happened, what it was, why her parents treat her they way they do, and she has had some explanation of why they do, but not what the flash of light was. They seem to move on about that, or go away, like the nurse. If I missed what the light was, someone tell me, but ONLY if its in the first 9 chapters! lol It has me "Mist"ified!

[fordmg]

Is Bees and Mist what you expected?

No not at all.  I am not sure what I expected, but the first few chapters were a surprise.  It took me a while to get into the story.   I couldn't get a setting of where the story takes place.  Then I thought maybe Erick was trying to make the story timeless, to give an actual place setting, would take some of the imagery away.   But it definately is not American. 

Meridia disappears in her own house, because no one cares about her.   She doesn't really disappear, it is just that no one acknowledges her existance.  

MG

[emmagrace]

This book is more than I could have ever hoped that it would be. I have become engrossed in the story and I am finding it hard to stick to the schedule!

Meridia's nurse seems like a protective force, maybe a little too protective. She is the only person in the house that shows Meridia any positive attention!

The fight between the ghost and the mist do an interesting job showing the troubles that may arise in a marriage. I could clearly understand the struggles that the characters are facing.

I think that Hannah is either an imaginary friend or a gaurdian angel of sorts. Meridia desperately needed someone that she could confide in and love that reciprocated her feelings.