Middle Chapters: 20 - 30

[MomforrestMO]

I agree with several other readers about getting into the book. I love the descriptions of the places.  Yet it seems slightly difficult to put the mists and the bees, her parents and his parents, Patina and the old woman in the mirror into some kind of sense.  At times I think I get it then next i'm not so sure.  The story has a fairy tale feel to it but the supernatural  is more intense than that.  I trying to finish it yet work seems to interfere with life and the fun of reading. I hope the next couple of chapters start pulling everything together.  I'm sure it will.

[meme1]

How are you thoughts about each of the characters shifting? Pilar, Gabriel, Ravenna, and others?  ~ Pilar was my greatest shift.  My goodness, I saw her as a poor, ostracized female who had no positive relationships.  I thought that Meridia was truly kind and giving to help her with the means to get her sister the medical care she needed.  And then to find out she was Gabriel's mistress!  I didn't see that coming.

 How have Eva's tactics changed so far in the novel? Is there a chance we will see a better side of this woman?  ~  Eva changes her tactics every time she sees her methods don't get the results she wants.  I will find it hard to accept if we were to find that Eva has a better side.  I would think that she has just found a different way to manipulate the people and situations around her.

[pen21]

 I agree that Eva adapts and finds new methods to get her way. I don't think Eva knows that what she is doing is evil. In that head of Eva's she probably thinks she is doing the right thing to get things done. I think it is a very twisted pattern that way her brain works. I agree that I don't think Eva should have a better side.

 pen21

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meme1 wrote:

 How have Eva's tactics changed so far in the novel? Is there a chance we will see a better side of this woman?  ~  Eva changes her tactics every time she sees her methods don't get the results she wants.  I will find it hard to accept if we were to find that Eva has a better side.  I would think that she has just found a different way to manipulate the people and situations around her.

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[PinkPanther]

How would you describe the end of Elias' life? Is this a man who lived a satisfying life at all? What were his biggest flaws and regrets?

How have Eva's tactics changed so far in the novel? Is there a chance we will see a better side of this woman?

The end of Elias' life was a sad one, but peaceful. He had a smirk on his face while saying a ramble of words as he was dying. I believe that he was like this because Permony stood up to Eva, and it made Elias happy to know that with him gone, Permony would still be strong and not give in to her mother. I doubt that Elias had a satisfying life. He just lived for Permony, and he hated Eva's bees. He let her torture him, instead of being a man and putting his foot down and putting his wife in her place. I am not the type to say that a woman dominates the household, but I do think that both the man and woman should have equal roles in the house. Eva was the only rule maker in the house because of her power. She did not have the real power to be a woman on her own like Meridia. Instead she has to hid behind her curtain of bees to do the powers for her. Elias probably regrets not letting Eva know how much he hated her, and showing his love for Permony in the open, instead of hiding it.

Eva just gets worse and worse with her evil doings. She has begun to sneak and snoop to get Meridia and Daniel to separate. She wants to have Daniel on her side because she has no one else because Patina, along with Elias, Permony and Malin is gone. She needs to have someone to do her dirt with her, and that person is Daniel. You could say that Daniel is her mini-Elias. I hope that this woman gets what is coming for her by the end of the book.

[nicole21WA]

As the book comes to a close, I've decided that I'm going to have to re-read it.  I still have so many unanswered questions.  I think (hope!) I might be able to gain some new insights if I read everything again with the knowledge of how things end.  For example, in my first reading I figured that Gabriel knew something about Daniel or his family that caused him to say Meridia couldn't marry him.  Now I know Gabriel was having an affair with the sister of Daniel's adoptive grandmother.   I think I'll also interpret some of Malin's actions differently as well now that I've seen her as an adult.

[PiperMurphy]

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nicole21WA wrote:
As the book comes to a close, I've decided that I'm going to have to re-read it.  I still have so many unanswered questions.  I think (hope!) I might be able to gain some new insights if I read everything again with the knowledge of how things end.  For example, in my first reading I figured that Gabriel knew something about Daniel or his family that caused him to say Meridia couldn't marry him.  Now I know Gabriel was having an affair with the sister of Daniel's adoptive grandmother.   I think I'll also interpret some of Malin's actions differently as well now that I've seen her as an adult.

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I'm also planning to re-read the book. As much as I've enjoyed sticking to the schedule because it made the discussion more fun, I wish I could have read straight through. I think this will be one of those books where we can discover new things with each reading.

[lmpmn]

Reading the part of your post where you mention it has a fairy tale feel to it (and I know that's been said many times elsewhere on the board), but this time it made me think of the movie with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, The Brothers Grimm.  The world they lived in was full of magic and fairy tales.  I can kind of see that in this book.

 

 

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MomforrestMO wrote:
I agree with several other readers about getting into the book. I love the descriptions of the places.  Yet it seems slightly difficult to put the mists and the bees, her parents and his parents, Patina and the old woman in the mirror into some kind of sense.  At times I think I get it then next i'm not so sure.  The story has a fairy tale feel to it but the supernatural  is more intense than that.  I trying to finish it yet work seems to interfere with life and the fun of reading. I hope the next couple of chapters start pulling everything together.  I'm sure it will.

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[DSaff]

I am also going to re-read the book. This book seems made for continuous reading, so since I read with the schedule, I want to see if it feels different reading it without week-long breaks. The story is one that also deserves to be re-read.

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nicole21WA wrote:
As the book comes to a close, I've decided that I'm going to have to re-read it.  I still have so many unanswered questions.  I think (hope!) I might be able to gain some new insights if I read everything again with the knowledge of how things end.  For example, in my first reading I figured that Gabriel knew something about Daniel or his family that caused him to say Meridia couldn't marry him.  Now I know Gabriel was having an affair with the sister of Daniel's adoptive grandmother.   I think I'll also interpret some of Malin's actions differently as well now that I've seen her as an adult.

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[Carmenere_lady]

As I am a slow reader, I did read it of bees and mist straight thru without breaks and was basically able to stay on schedule, just by coincidence.  I do like Erick's style of writing and many of his lines are lyrical and memorable, however, one of my favorite authors is Gabriel Garcia Marquez who specializes in mystical realism and bees just isn't quite there yet.  The novel Like Water for Chocolate, another story I really enjoyed in the lines of mystical realism, is different in some way from bees that I just can't put my finger on yet.  Maybe in both circumstances the author's provided more answers and less ambiguity than Erick.  But as this is his first novel I expect to see great things from him in the future.

Good luck to all of the re-readers but I don't think I would benefit much from a re-read at this point.  Perhaps after a short break from it I will page thru it again.

[Adeline79]

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MomforrestMO wrote:
I agree with several other readers about getting into the book. I love the descriptions of the places.  Yet it seems slightly difficult to put the mists and the bees, her parents and his parents, Patina and the old woman in the mirror into some kind of sense.  At times I think I get it then next i'm not so sure.  The story has a fairy tale feel to it but the supernatural  is more intense than that.  I trying to finish it yet work seems to interfere with life and the fun of reading. I hope the next couple of chapters start pulling everything together.  I'm sure it will.

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It was difficult to sort everything out in a way. It was like a mystery, fairy tale, fantasy cross. I loved the 'difficulty' though because it made me thinkdifferently somehow. In stead of just wondering how it would end, I still had questions from what I had already read. It seemed like the various elements were there for us to put together and interpret.

[Adeline79]

I agree with the others who are planning a second reading. There is so much in there that I know I missed. I don't re-read very often and so this will be different for me. I think that I will enjoy the language and discriptions more the second time because I won't be as plot focussed.

[Readingrat]

This book is truly heavy on symbolism and I know I'm probably missing even more meaning and connections than those that I'm finding.  I'm still really enjoying the way the author portrays feelings as material objects.  It brings a strong "folk-lore" feeling to the story.

[mamawli]

While I would have never chosen this type of book to read, I really enjoyed doing so.  The author kept me involved with the characters throughout the story.  I even had to continue reading to the end because I could not stop at chapter 30.

This is a wonderfully different type of story for me to read and I am so happy to have had the privilege to do so.

[jabrkeKB]

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JaneM wrote:

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eadieburke wrote:

I don't know why but everytime I wonder about Hannah, my thoughts keep going to the fact that she appeared just after Meridia's nurse disappeared. Now that you have mentioned the fact of the other disapperances, it has jarred my brain again about maybe the nurse has returned as Hannah. Just a thought!

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bookloverjb85 wrote:

I wanted to mention that I now have a theory about Hannah.  Pilar and Patina have "disappeared" and Meridia seems to be the only one who has noticed this.  The two have become like ghosts and are transparent, but Meridia seems to be able to see them.  I wonder if Hannah is the same way.  Is she someone in Meridia's life who has been "pushed aside" and is now transparent too?  I'm not sure who she would be, maybe a sister Meridia doesn't know about...  I would like to hear anyone else's thoughts on this.

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I don't think that Hannah is a younger version of the nurse as their personalities are totally different.  The nurse was very overprotective and keeping Meridia away from the world, while Hannah was leading Meridia into the world and exposing her to its beauty and joys.

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If Hannah and the Nurse are the same person then I think it is possible that their personalities would be different. The "physical" Nurse was doing her job protecting Meridia, while she apparently has knowledge of something she feels Meridia should know about. She probably was afraid of Ravenna and any revenge she would exact on her. The "ghostly" Hannah is free from Ravenna and she can lead and help Meridia without fear of revenge.

[Carmenere_lady]

I've really given up on the status of Hannah. However for awhile I thought that perhaps Hannah was Meridia's twin that died in childbirth.  Sort of like how Elvis always used to refer to his deceased twin and talked to him.

[vivico1]

Now that would be interesting, wouldn't it!

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Carmenere_lady wrote:
I've really given up on the status of Hannah. However for awhile I thought that perhaps Hannah was Meridia's twin that died in childbirth. Sort of like how Elvis always used to refer to his deceased twin and talked to him.

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[LISA-BRYAN]

In my opinion - Leah and Rebecca seeing Ravenna in 2 different forms reminded me of the ying and yang symbol ... and considering the author's parents being chinese -- the connection was reinforced.

[LISA-BRYAN]

Daniel's role as a father and husband is quite strong when Eva is not in the picture; however, Daniel continues to be weak and influenced by his mother.

Meridia has grown into a very strong woman.  She is a good mother and wife --- even though her marriage is crumbling before her eyes due to Eva.  Meridia becomes closer to Malin and Permony.  She also begins to stand up more for her mother --- especially when the truth comes out about her father.

The Pilar connection to Meridia's father as his mistress came as quite a shock!  After Ravenna's image of Gabriel's mistress - Pilar was the last person I expected to be the mistress.

The injury Noah received at the hands of his grandfather Elias' -- I suspect was the result of Eva's bees.  Just a thought.

Elias died a miserable death -- which was similar to his horrible life with Eva.

[Carmenere_lady]

Interesting thought Lisa.

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LISA-BRYAN wrote:

In my opinion - Leah and Rebecca seeing Ravenna in 2 different forms reminded me of the ying and yang symbol ... and considering the author's parents being chinese -- the connection was reinforced.

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[ladybug74]

I apologize for running a bit behind with this book. I usually have the opposite problem and tend to read ahead of schedule. I am taking my last 2 classes in graduate school and doing my final internship also. I have hardly had time this summer to read, but it will all be over after next month.

I am still enjoying this book. I try not to read too much into things and to just enjoy what I'm reading, which is working better for me. I actually love to read books containing the paranormal and mysterious elements that I have to figure out as I read, but I still can't make sense of the mists and some of the other elements in this book. By just reading without trying to make too much of these things, I am enjoying it much more. I wish I had time to relax and finish this book up today, but unfortunately I have to finish writing a paper for school that is due in the morning.

I don't see Daniel as being a different character in each of his roles. He simply allows his mother to run over him more than anybody else. I am personally more relaxed at home with my husband and daugther, so I can understand how someone might react differently to different people, depending on their role in the person's life. Daniel may feel like he has to take more from his mother because she is his mother, who raised him and who he is supposed to respect.

I do not see Meridia as being different characters, either. If anything, Meridia is much more consistent in her different roles than Daniel. I noticed that she expects her son to respect all of his elders, including her sometimes cruel father and Elias, who injured Noah. I do not think she expects him to respect Eva in the same way, but that's understandable considering everything that Eva has put her through.

When I read that Meridia reminded Gabriel of his love for her mother, my feelings for him changed a bit. I really disliked him before, but when he said this it showed that he did not hate Meridia, as it seemed that he did at times. My feelings for the other characters have basically remained the same, except for Pilar. When it was revealed that she was Gabriel's lover and knew who Meridia was the whole time, I lost all respect for her character.

It was revealed that Gabriel continued to have a great love for Ravenna. I still have hard feelings against him for taking a lover, though. If he loved Ravenna so much, he would not have done this no matter what.

Elias' biggest flaw, in my opinion, is that he allowed his wife to run over him and their children. He should have stood up for his children, if not for himself. I do think he made amends in the end and died a peaceful death. I wondered what significance his cricket sounds had to Eva's bees.

I don't personally think we will see a better side of Eva. I can picture her dying as an evil and unhappy woman. Time will tell if this is true, but I just do not care for Eva one bit after the things that she has done. I wondered if she actually bewitched Noah's bird to try to kill Meridia. There is no limit to what she will do to get her way and to "get even" with Meridia.