The Secret Life of Bees Review

Historical fiction has been around for centuries and it is no secret that it is not a favorite among modern day society. Many people tend to see historical fiction as a history textbook when that is clearly not the case. Genre is the way an author can give a book meaning and purpose; historical fiction does that in a way that makes its readers relive the past as the underdogs. In books like, The Help and The Secret Life of Bees, the time period is the base of the entire book. Without the fact that this book took place in the 1950s and 1960s, these books would be thrown out in an instant. People want to read about things that matter, and historical fiction makes it that. It is the time period in which the character lives that gives them significance and prominence to what would otherwise lack luster and implication.

In both of these novels, the historical aspect aids the development of the characters and common themes. In The Secret Life of Bees, the women are fighting for their own rights; they are basically trying to show the world that they can be just as hard-working and tenacious as men while still being themselves. They express the power of women and the capability of their sex, “You have to find a mother inside yourself. We all do. Even if we already have a mother, we still have to find this part of ourselves inside,” (Kidd 288). This book goes to the root of women and their indefinite love for each other despite their own differences, despite their skin color, “Mr. Owens, you would be doing Lily and the rest of us a favor by leaving her here. We love Lily, and we’ll take care of her, I promise you that,” (Kidd 298).

The Secret Life of Bees uses this genre of historical fiction to create realistic, dynamic characters that never cease to bring about interesting stories and motivating words of wisdom. Lily, a stubborn, young, white girl, brings a sort of youthfulness to the writing style, being that you are listening to her perspective the entire time. Rosaleen, a large, black woman constantly brings about the nature of carefree living and August is the one brings about a positive energy to the book and makes the reader keep reading to hear just what she has to say about life. When speaking to Lily she reminded her, “And whatever it is that keeps widening you heart, that’s Mary, too, not only the power inside you but the love. And when you get down to it, Lily, that’s the only purpose grand enough for a human life. Not just to love–but to persist in love,” (Kidd 289).

The Help is a stimulating novel full of risk and dependence upon one another, especially when the going gets tough. It leads deep into the controversial issues that moved southern towns and it crossed the invisible line of black and white ladies living together in peace. Although personally, The Help is a more developed plot line than that of The Secret Life of Bees, they both keep up a suspense and desire to finish reading, which is hard to find in a historical fiction novel.

Both The Secret Life of Bees and The Help are contentious novels that keep the audience buzzing to find out which spunky character is going to do something gutsy next, despite the fact that these are “sleepy” historical fiction novels. These books are not the epitome of literary writing nor are they filled with an exhilarating plot but they continually keep readers coming back. But how is this? It is because these books repeatedly tell the story of women and their struggle to get where they are today that women of our generation and generations to come will still find purpose in reading these historical fiction masterpieces.

My Top Five (By Time Period)

A Book is a Memory

A book is a memory. The ability a book has to take you back in time, to rekindle the emotions you once felt, and to remind you of the lessons that you have learned is a pleasure that can only come from the carefully thought-out words that lie on the otherwise blank sheet of paper. The stories portrayed through authors’ writings bring about forgotten feelings that have either slipped away through lack of desire to remember them or the busy lives that people of this age tend to live. Whether it is the sadness of losing a loved one or the joy a newborn baby brings, books can make a person feel these emotions over again through dynamic characters. The characters found in books give readers a way to relate to what they are reading. When reading, it is hard not to remember certain events that have happened throughout your life because the vibrant characters continually portray you and others that have made lasting impressions on you, ergo, a book is a forgotten memory.

Nancy Jo Sales says, “There’s something about the physicality of a book, the way it looks and feels and even smells—the notes written in the margins—that makes it a living, breathing companion (who like yourself, is actually dying).” This says it all about the modern controversy of books versus eBooks, and I completely agree.

In today’s world, people are plugged in almost every way possible through television, computers, phones, iPods, and the list goes on. I have always seen a book as place that I can go to get away from real life. Reading I can do without plugging something in or charging its battery, all I need is a book and a quiet place to sit. Without books we would be lost and according to Tom Piazza, “[We would] get no sense of the scale of things, of the nature of the artist’s ambition.” It is the feel and the smell of a book that gives it meaning in the world.

Why is the living book such a vital instrument to our existence? Because it reminds us of our own livelihood and it gives us hope for the future. It makes us believe in the greater good and that our society is not completely crumbling to the ground from the bad influences and extreme technology that keeps finding its way into our future generations hands.

The Shack Experience (Book One Project)

Those who have read The Shack by William Young know that this so-called “shack” is a place filled with regret and sorrow as well as revival through the Lord. Mackenzie, a guilt stricken father of what once was five children but is now only four, is lead on a journey that no human could ever begin to imagine, a journey to meet God.

His life began crashing down around him when he left with his three youngest children for a week of camping fun, but little did he know this fun would quickly turn into a real-life nightmare. As Mackenzie tries to give breath to his unconscious son after a nasty canoeing accident, his beloved Missy is snatched from their camping site where she is then brought to an old shack a few miles away and brutally murdered. Mackenzie is filled with deep guilt and anguish so he begins to blame God. He can’t determine why God would have something this traumatic happen to him, to his family. He had always been nothing but an avid follower of the Lord so how could he take something so precious and genuine away from him?

A few years, later after Mackenzie has lost touch with his once blooming relationship with God, he returns to that horrid shack, not by his own choice but because he felt obligated. He received a letter that said, “Mackenzie, It’s been a while. I’ve missed you. I’ll be at the shack next weekend if you want to get together. –Papa” (Young 16). Mackenzie believed that this letter could only have two possible authors, the murderer of his daughter or God. So naturally, Mackenzie leaves for a weekend trip to “the shack” where he is looking to avenge his daughter’s death.

After a long struggle to force himself into the place that is the kindle of his Great Sadness, he finds that no one is there awaiting his arrival. At this point, Mackenzie is filled with so many emotions that he can’t control himself. He screams at God asking him how he could let his baby be killed. He throws and breaks chairs and tables that cluster the room. He cries, “I hate you!” (Young 78). After much screaming at God, he begins to apologize to his daughter. He tells her, “Missy, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you. I’m sorry I couldn’t find you,” (Young 78). It is then that the shack begins to transform right in front of his eyes to become an exquisite log cabin. The land surrounding the cabin that not long ago was an icy, snowy mess melts and becomes the epitome of springtime; flowers thriving, sun shining, and grass getting greener by the second. It is here that Mackenzie meets God and begins to learn of why these disturbing events happened to him.

For readers, this book opens up a barrel of new possibilities. They are enlightened by what they have experienced through the character Mackenzie and begin to have hope for their future and their relationship with God. It is from these experiences that create “The Shack”, an actual building, for lost children of God to find themselves and the being greater than themselves. “The Shack” will serve two purposes: a place for men and women to confront their greatest sadness and a place for them to be educated with the role that God plays is this sadness and in their life as a whole. “The Shack” will function as a retreat center for these troubled souls and will guide them on their lifetime journey with God.

Now, The Shack already has a large fan base, therefore, many people will be throwing themselves at this retreat center to receive similar experiences as that of Mackenzie in the novel. There must be a limit as to who can participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity. In order to be accepted into the retreat center, friends and/or family members must write a letter to the heads of “The Shack”. This letter must state why this certain person desperately needs the experience of “The Shack” and the guidance of the leaders there. The center heads will then decide which applicants need “The Shack Experience” the most. These select few will receive a letter in the mail similar to that of which Mackenzie received from God saying, “(Whomever), It’s been a while. I’ve missed you. I’ll be at the shack next weekend if you want to get together. –Papa” (Young 16). The family member or friend who wrote to the shack will be mailed the information as to when and where their loved ones experience will take place, serving as a mentor for the applicant.

Upon arriving at “The Shack”, their mentor will leave them in the capable hands of the staff present. The applicant will be introduced to the actual shack where they will spend time talking and confronting their sadness with the counselor present or on their own if they so choose. This is the point where they can lay it all out and get what is on their chest off of it just like Mackenzie did when shouting, “Why? Why did you let this happen? Of all the places to meet you—why here? Wasn’t it enough to kill my baby? Do you have to toy with me too?...Well, I’m here, God. And you? You’re nowhere to be found!”

After they are done admitting to their hurt and suffering, they will then be taken to the revival portion of the experience, the almighty “Log God Cabin”. In the book, the once old, beat-up shack turns into a beautiful log cabin, the home of God, “The dilapidated shack had been replaced by a sturdy and beautiful constructed log cabin…It was built out of hand-peeled full-length logs, every one scribed for a perfect fit,” (Young 81). This cabin will be the place where they can feel God’s love and learn of his ways. They will gain understanding of why God chooses to have certain things happen to certain people which will then help their feelings towards and their relationship with God. This is the point where they can get into deep thought over scripture and what it means, just like Mackenzie did.

There will only be two applicants at the retreat center at a time, on in the shack and one in the cabin. This assures that they will feel more comfortable and open about their feelings while still giving “The Shack Experience” to as many people as possible throughout the year. After this person has finished amending their relationship with The Father, they will be sent home with their mentor who will be instructed to pick them up. Once home, it is harder to maintain the relationship developed so it is the responsibility of them and their mentor to keep them on track with the goals that they sent while they were at “The Shack”.

This idea will broaden the followers of The Shack because the mentors who have heard of the “The Shack Experience” have most likely read the book, they will then spread this book and its ideas to their loved ones who go on the journey and those who they tell about the journey that their loved one has been on. More people will want and end up reading The Shack to fully understand and develop the ideas that are found in this inspirational novel. This idea will not only encourage new readers and followers but it will also encourage old readers to spread the word of The Shack and “The Shack Experience”.

Truth in a Memoir

Children are taught to be honest from minute they begin to speak. They are told to do what is right and to always tell the truth no matter how much it might hurt the person that they are telling. So why is it that everyone stills lies despite the fact that no one wants to be lied to?

Honestly, I think it is because people are too hyped up on pretending that their lives can be perfect. People mess up, it is human nature, and there should be no shame to this. Yet, people feel pressured into lying so that they seem like a better human being to others, seeming like someone who will never make a single mistake. However, under the circumstances of writing a non-fiction novel they must set aside these insecurities of seeming dull or like an awful person to write what the audience is expecting; and what they are expecting is the blunt, straight up truth. One-hundred percent honesty is what makes a story non-fiction, and even if it is 99.9% honest, there is no rounding. Non-fiction is exactly what its name is implying, to not be fiction, or in other words, to be an accurate story. If it is not truthful, it is not non-fiction, and it is as simple as that.

Now, don’t get me wrong, books like A Million Little Pieces, are still quite inspiring and seemingly authentic but not non-fiction. Books like this still instigate drive and punch to overcome the toughest of battles but how can you lie to your readers about a story that is so precious? People read books like this expecting to be enlightened, expecting that what they are reading is not impossible but conceivable. There is something about reading a non-fiction piece that provides hope for the reader and lets them completely know that something so great can actually happen, that these things are not just dreamt of as a fairytale ending.

I believe that it is okay to stretch the truth, sometimes it is needed to make an otherwise boring story audacious and spunky, and truthfully that is what people want from a book. They want to be on the edge of their seats, practically ripping the pages out of their bind to get to the next one. Therefore, I don’t think it is wrong that people like Frey and Mortenson changed their stories to expand their reader base, however, it was wrong to falsify the readers emotions into believing that these remarkable things were a true event.

I think that labels on books, as in genres, help to let the reader know what they are going to be reading. If not for these labels, I could pick up a horror book that frightens the daylights out of me, something I could not enjoy. These labels are important in establishing a base of what the reader can expect from that novel and for me, knowing what I can expect and knowing whether it’s true or false determines how I interpret the text. However, I can totally see the argument of genres classifying books that don’t need to be classified, after all, shouldn’t readers decide if they want to believe it or not?

Readicide - What Should Schools Do?

What should schools do to get their students to enjoy reading? I think that the answer is pretty clear; genre fiction is what we like so it is what we should get. Now I know that this sounds bias coming from a student, a hater of Shakespeare, a Spark-Noter, but as a student I believe that it should be our say anyways.

Gallagher’s argument of Readicide is completely accurate. Schools should stop teaching so much literary fiction; I mean a little goes a very long way. For example, a new Shakespeare play every year of high school is kind of ridiculous, and I have yet to be in a class where more than one person enjoys reading the works of Shakespeare and interpreting his everlasting Old English language. Genre fiction is what kids in this century will appreciate and be able to relate to.

Most literary works we read in school are old, and students’ automatically associate old things with boring things, so, before the teacher is even done announcing the title to the class, we are already completely against the idea. These literary novels have nothing to do with this day and age and don’t prepare our generation for what we are going to encounter when we get older. Seriously, killing the king of Scotland to become king yourself…why must we know about this? Genre fiction seems to better apply to our future and get us ready for what is to come while also presenting problems that we might encounter during this time period.

Now, I am not saying that all literary works need to be removed from the curriculum; however, not every book we read in school needs to be a literary one. Schools should keep the literary books that are tolerable for students, like The Color of Water and In Cold Blood and remove from the list the ones that send students to the computer screen rather than the book itself. Because, even though literary novels tend to be boring, they are also excellent sources of respectable writing that is a necessity when a student will need to write for themselves in the future.

A 21^st century reading list should look a lot like the ones that we receive in this Best Sellers class. Students are given the option to read whatever they choose, be it literary or genre fiction. In this class we still dig deep into topics but the topics are more modern and are easily discussed, whereas the topics we discuss in a regular English class seem dull, pointless and not nearly as profound.

Genre fiction enlightens, entertains, and gets students wanting to do their homework as well as read. And after all, isn’t that the point of assigning books to read in school in the first place?

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