| Welcome to My Book Buddies. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
| Little Bee by Chris Cleave; April BOTM | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 30 2010, 02:05 PM (993 Views) | |
| burgandykat | Apr 28 2010, 11:54 AM Post #16 |
|
The Golden Chaise
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
hmmm. I'm a little over halfway through. Not sure this was a good book for me to read at the moment. I don't much like any of the characters. |
![]() |
|
| Deb64 | Apr 29 2010, 06:02 AM Post #17 |
|
Deb
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Finished the book over the weekend. I liked Little Bee, Sarah was o.k. - as far as the cheating, she was human and made a bad mistake, but overall I think she redeemed herself somewhat by all she did by trying to help Little Bee. I don't think she should have married Andrew in the first place. Didn't like Lawrence -- thought he was a selfish pig. Hated the ending -- but it was realistic. I think the name Little Bee may sybolize something or someone who is trying to seem small and invisible, someone who wants to hide? I liked her character. She did seem mature for her age; but with her life experience, maybe that's to be expected. Good pick!
|
![]() |
|
| Vikks14 | Apr 29 2010, 09:35 AM Post #18 |
Comfy chair
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Hey Luckie, I do agree that Sarah redeemed herself with all she did for Little Bee, but I guess it was just not enough in my eyes. Sarah has many good qualities, but other things she did just makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with her. For instance, I am glad she made it on that plane with Little Bee to help/save her, and I am glad she picked up where Andrew left off with the book research. BUT she brought her 4-year-old son to Nigeria, knowing full well the dangers of the task she had assigned to herself? OK, fine, even if she could forget the atrocities that happened the last time she was in Nigeria, as a journalist who knows that free speech is not the norm for most countries, she should have known better. I know both a mother and a sister was mentioned in the book, she should have left him with them. She nearly got him killed and who is to say he still won't be because of her? I do like, however, that Sarah — like all the characters in this book — is complex and "real." There are no heros/heroines vs. evil villains, per se (beach notwithstanding). There are just moments. Fairly normal people are placed in extreme scenarios to which they have mere seconds or minutes to react, and then years to face the repercussions. Back to Sarah. I cannot just love her or hate her. Even though I disliked her for the cheating, at the same time I did admire her courage under fire and her determination to help Little Bee no matter who stood in her way. And I did begin to like her a little better as she realized, albeit too late, that she had let down her husband in substantial ways and maybe even could have helped save him from his depression and/or suicide. When she found out he had been doing all that research about Nigeria, refugees, etc. and realized the level at which his moment of cowardice tore at him, and that he was using his personal strengths to help save lives in ways that he could not on the beach — which basically made her realize that she had loved him after all, silly woman — all I could think was 'you would have KNOWN this all along if you weren't too busy emotionally distancing yourself from him and shagging somebody else!' Plus, why did they think that by IGNORING what happened on the beach, the past would just fade away? The emotional scars would just disappear? And why was that pissant Lawrence also so adamant about her forgetting about that day? Both Sarah and Andrew needed counseling to get over that! Edited by Vikks14, Apr 29 2010, 12:06 PM.
|
![]() |
|
| burgandykat | May 6 2010, 11:11 AM Post #19 |
|
The Golden Chaise
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Finished. I wanted to really like the book, but in the end it was just ok. Didn't much like any of the characters and thought the author at times was too cutesy in comparison to what else was going on in the story. Supposed to be working on a stupid spreadsheet (been staring at it long enough that I'm starting to go cross eyed), so I'll have to take some time later to post more detailed thoughts on the book. |
![]() |
|
| GWTW1939 | May 16 2010, 02:14 PM Post #20 |
|
The Golden Chaise
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Finished Little Bee. This book started out pretty strong for me & I was liking it. But, by the middle, I did not like it anymore & it was failing to hold my interest. I had to chug-a-lug along to finish the dang thing. I did not like the story all that much. I was ambivalent/didn't like any of the characters. Oh well. |
![]() |
|
| mary024 | Jun 14 2010, 10:51 AM Post #21 |
![]()
Head Honcho. Gyeah!
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Finished reading it. It was okay. I think I've read so much emphasis on the beach scene, that it ended up falling flat for me. Andrew, for me, was the most relatable character. After what he experienced, I could only imagine his demons. His reaction felt the most realistic to me. He wanted to forget it, but he couldn't. He wanted to erase it from his mind, but felt guilty for even thinking it. The fact that he spent so much time researching it shows how conflicted he was. But I wasn't all the impressed with his character either, based on his earlier relationship with Sara. Sara - eh, she was just all right for me. I ended the book without getting a real feel for her character. I wasn't all that bothered by her affair. Her marriage to Andrew was as close to a sham as you can get, IMO. I just didn't feel much passion coming from her - towards her marriage, her son, her career or her lover. I felt like she lived her life half-ass. And like she said, she lived her life constantly running away from something. But I do have to give her credit. That scene on the beach did speak towards her character. I think overall she was a 'good' person, but made bad choices. How much could you give for another person's life? She gave up a finger; many wouldn't even go that far. And Lawrence....Ick. Talk about a man of weak character. I couldn't stand him. He could stand there in judgement over a girl with more moral fiber in her thumb, all the while sneaking a weekend away from his wife and kids to run his lover's life. Smooth - only NOT. And I HATED the ending! Edited by mary024, Jun 14 2010, 10:54 AM.
|
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · 2010 · Next Topic » |
- Pages:
- 1
- 2









5:39 PM Jul 10