Esther
2024년 12월 8일
"one family's incredible love and resilience, even as their world crumbles around them"
언뜻 보기에 Jonathan Franzen의 <The Corrections>를 연상시키는,
전형적으로 디스펑셔널한 가족 드라마인 듯 하지만
그 구성원인 Dickie, Imelda, Cass, PJ의 긴 내적독백들이 다양한 주제를 얘기하며
점점 얽히고 설켜 장장 643페이지에 이르러
마침내 단 한 문장으로 합창하게 될 때 느끼게 되는 카타르시스는
흡입력 있는 캐릭터들과 독창적인 서술 구조가 아니면 불가능한 그것이다.
믿을 만한 정보원의 좋은 리뷰에 집어든 책이지만
모멘텀을 따라 속도감을 즐기며 읽기에는 좀 바쁜 지난 한 달이었던 것이 아쉽다.
내려놓을 수 없는 부분에서 여러번 내려놓아야 했기에,
인물들이 느끼는 두려움과 상실, 그밖의 처절한 감정의 강도가 옅어지고
상황의 스릴과 긴박감이 끊기니, 마지막의 감흥이 좀 무뎌졌던 것.
문제의 그 마지막을 어떻게 해석할 것인지는 어쨌든 의견이 분분한 듯 하나.
2010년경 아일랜드라는 특정 시공간의 배경이라도
한치 앞을 알 수 없는 내일과 오늘도 급변하는 세상,
너무도 달라보이는 개개인의 욕구와 동기,
관계의 충돌과 갈등이 빚어내는 불편함과 자책감
과 같은 유니버설함을 통해
좋은 사람이 되는 것, 책임있는 인간으로 한 가족의 온전한 구성원이 되는 것이 얼마나 쉽지 않은 것인지를 여실히 보여주는 것.
또 사랑이라는 이름으로 우리가 저지르는 모든 것들을 다시 보게 한다는 점에서
지난 한 달간 잠들기 전 몇 분 씩 충분히 가치 있는 동행을 해 준 책이다.
The Bee Sting is a book in which a series of bad things happen to a group of people with whom the reader sympathises, and becomes fond of, even though the choices they make are often poor. Yet despite the bleakness of the story, it is a hugely enjoyable novel, described by the Guardian as ‘pure pleasure’. How do you think the author achieves the feat of taking potentially depressing subject matter and producing such a rollicking and entertaining read?
The novel begins with long sections describing events from the point of view of each of the four main characters. But in the final third, the chapters get shorter and shorter as the story moves towards its devastating conclusion. What do you think the author was trying to convey by giving each family member ever-shorter passages as the novel goes on, and does it affect both your reading of the book and the pace at which the story unfolds?
In the book’s final third, as the tension builds, the narrative switches to a second-person view. Why do you think the author does this, and how does it affect your reading of the story or your relationship with the characters?
The sections of the book presented from Imelda’s point of view have no punctuation. Do you think the author wrote her chapters in this way to reflect her manic state of mind, her lack of formal education, or for some other reason? And why is Imelda the only character written in this way?
Both the past and the future terrorise several characters in the book – they are either haunted by experiences earlier in their lives or terrified by what might happen in the months ahead, whether that be a beating from a bully, terrible exam results, financial ruin, a secret being revealed or the end of the world. Discuss how the author traps the Barnes family in a panicked present as the past and future bear down on them.
The shadow of climate change hangs over the novel, beginning with Cass learning that her father’s car business is responsible for a shocking amount of carbon emissions and leading to Dickie’s increasingly desperate plans to survive a climate apocalypse. To what extent do you think the book could be characterised as a novel about climate anxiety?
-selectively cited from thebookerprizes.com