Monday, 15 June 2020

June book: The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

The Beekeeper of Aleppo

 by Christy Lefteri

 Discussion led by JM





Some background links to get you started: 
What we discussed about the book:
  • why did we think the author chose to tell the story from the point of view of a male character?
  • how this story takes a 'mass' issue and personalises it, creating greater empathy
  • what is this book about? (refugees, human spirit, hope, resilience)
  • when did we realise the truth about Mohammad? 
  • What was the true nature of Afra's blindness?
  • Who was the stronger character - Nuri or Afra? How did they differ? 
  • the 'key symbolism' - what did keys represent?
  • the use of the bee symbolism (particularly in relation to media language such as 'swarms')
  • what did the wingless bee represent?
  • what was the role of Mustafa?
  • the linking words between sections which acted as a device to time-shift. How was this done in the audio book? 
  • was there significance in the words themselves? (bronze Aleppo night Istanbul thw sea fire the waves sunrise the song morning hope a key away)
  • the importance of tea as a ritual, and the role of rituals as anchors in turbulent lives
  • what did we think about Nuri's role in the Nadim incident?
  • what did the above tell us about 'the line' that individuals will or will not cross? 
  • how old did Nuri's voice sound? 
And then we were sidetracked onto:
  • the value of bees to the environment (e.g. 1/3 of the world's pollination is done by bees) 
  • the value of literature and story telling in understanding big issues
  • discussing statistics - 'statistics are humans with the tears dried out'
  • child-trafficking in times of crisis
  • was there a queen bee in a box? 
  • who read, who listened? Is it the same thing? (i.e. did we experience the 'same' book? what are the differences?
  • the global refugee issue - what are the solutions? whose responsibility is it? what can individuals do? 
In other news:
  • while social distancing in JM's living room, we caught up on lots of stories from our isolation
  • whose hands are suffering from overuse of hand sanitiser?
  • we admired JM's outdoor firepit, as she set the scene for refugees sitting around a fire in a camp
  • JM outdid herself with a themed array of refreshments
  • we discussed the Jeffrey Epstein mini-series on Netflix

Ratings:
Range -  7 to 9.5
Average - 8.1

Next book: 
The Wife and the Widow by Christian White
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