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McKay's Bees
Moving from Massachusetts to Kansas in 1855 with his new wife and a group of German carpenters, Gordon McKay is dead set on making his fortune raising bees—undaunted by Missouri border ruffians, newly-minted Darwinism, or the unsettled politics of a country on the brink of civil war.
288 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1979
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
December 15, 2018
Gordon McKay leaves the East Coast just a few years before the American Civil War and takes up beekeeping in the West, based on the principles of bees. Yes, bees. Here, we can think of Shakespeare's For so work the honeybees/Creatures that by a rule in nature teach/The act of order to a peopled kingdom.
This is a wild ride. Have you ever seen a cat run full speed down a hallway and then do a backflip, nonchalantly, against a wall? It's something like that. Very enjoyable with characters who are characters. Oh, and alligators, too. Gotta have alligators.
Wealth! Its attainment is such a paradox! The bees were after it, and came to McKay's garden expecting it. But none of them ever became rich, because a fortuitous accident is required for that; hard work is never sufficient. Bees are not eligible for much in the way of wealth, in spite of their integrity.
Book Season = Spring (life swelling)
This is a wild ride. Have you ever seen a cat run full speed down a hallway and then do a backflip, nonchalantly, against a wall? It's something like that. Very enjoyable with characters who are characters. Oh, and alligators, too. Gotta have alligators.
Wealth! Its attainment is such a paradox! The bees were after it, and came to McKay's garden expecting it. But none of them ever became rich, because a fortuitous accident is required for that; hard work is never sufficient. Bees are not eligible for much in the way of wealth, in spite of their integrity.
Book Season = Spring (life swelling)
June 30, 2010
Gordon McKay (based loosely on the actual historical figure) moves his family and craftsmen to Kansas to make his fortune honey. McMahon intersperses history and fiction to capture a moment in America's territorial past. Historical tall tale.
McMahon touches on multiple big topics - slavery, American Indian relations, the American dream, sciencea and biology, evolution, industrialism, expansion of the West, etc. This plays out like a mix of tall tale meets historical novel meets biology textbook to enormous success - it reminds us that life is filled w/ unexplained magic and strength and change. Books that compell the reader to research further based on sheer exhileration are rare.
McMahon touches on multiple big topics - slavery, American Indian relations, the American dream, sciencea and biology, evolution, industrialism, expansion of the West, etc. This plays out like a mix of tall tale meets historical novel meets biology textbook to enormous success - it reminds us that life is filled w/ unexplained magic and strength and change. Books that compell the reader to research further based on sheer exhileration are rare.
June 12, 2011
This is the craziest book I have read in a while, but the writing was so delightful! And of course it is set in a compelling era, the fight over the Kansas Terratory and the Missouri border raids. The characters so unexpected! The bees! The alligators! The beetles and their intrepid collector. Franklin Pierce the Weeper. The German carpenters who never emerge as individuals but simply as the Germans! Werner Herzog should snap this up. Right up his alley. And this author, who died in 1999 also write: Loving Little Egypt and Principles of American Nuclear Chemistry.
August 3, 2010
This novel was all over the place: bees, Kansas, New Orleans, steam boats, abolition, industrialism, Darwinism and probably more but honestly! I lost track. Because it was like a hippy train-wreck, things just scattered about which made it was difficult to follow. It was spead so thin that everything that was happening was just uninteresting. More unfortunate, the writing was pretty flat and the characters were very flat. After reading the author bio: "Professor McMahon, author of Principles of American Nuclear Chemistry: A Novel is a Professor of Applied Mechanics and Biology at Harvard", I'm not surprised.
His style reminded me of The Men in a Boat and Three Men on a Bummell by Jerome K. Jerome--raucous and rolicking, kind of non-sequitor but it lacked the irreverence and it was just too disjointed. I didn't really find his beekeeping and bee knowledge insights very intriguing but I'm chocking that up to it's date of publication which was 1979.
Eh, I gave it a good try but it failed for me. I admit I really wanted to like it, it seemed to come from a good heart.
His style reminded me of The Men in a Boat and Three Men on a Bummell by Jerome K. Jerome--raucous and rolicking, kind of non-sequitor but it lacked the irreverence and it was just too disjointed. I didn't really find his beekeeping and bee knowledge insights very intriguing but I'm chocking that up to it's date of publication which was 1979.
Eh, I gave it a good try but it failed for me. I admit I really wanted to like it, it seemed to come from a good heart.
May 27, 2019
It’s quite difficult to determine exactly why this book doesn’t appeal. Partly it’s the way characters are depicted: strange traits are presented, rather than revealed, toyed with and then abandoned without resolution, nor even leaving them unresolved, just no longer there.
It posits an odd thesis about the effect of keeping bees, although one good point is how McMahon demonstrates bees’ wildness: they are never tamed, only exploited. Even in context (19th century), the language used to describe African-Americans jars. The book was first published in 1979 and it is dated to the attitudes then prevailing.
The cover illustration suggests something surreal, but the book does not deliver on that promise. I wouldn’t be drawn to read anything else McMahon has written.
It posits an odd thesis about the effect of keeping bees, although one good point is how McMahon demonstrates bees’ wildness: they are never tamed, only exploited. Even in context (19th century), the language used to describe African-Americans jars. The book was first published in 1979 and it is dated to the attitudes then prevailing.
The cover illustration suggests something surreal, but the book does not deliver on that promise. I wouldn’t be drawn to read anything else McMahon has written.
January 17, 2014
It was kind of weird. Not sure what the exact point was or which character(s) you were supposed to be connecting with.
April 1, 2019
I got this as a free e-book from the University of Chicago Press - thank you! This is a weird, wacky book; historical fiction—with an emphasis on fiction— where true-to-life luminaries touch the peripheries of the lives of our main characters. As far as I can tell, there is only a tiny bit of truth regarding Gordon McKay here, and it comes only at the end of the story in a wrap-up. But honestly, who cares? This is a tale of westward migration with Geraldine Brooks' attention to detail and eye for quirky facts, along with the unnerving sexuality of an old VC Andrews story (If I say that a Sister and Brother - twins - figure into the plot, you'll know which one I mean.) I learned about bee-keeping, kiln making, and a bunch of other things I never would have googled until now; McMahon packed a lot into this slim volume, which is totally worth the time if you are up for an adventure.
June 10, 2017
This book was bizarre and peculiar. It is hard to recommend because I cannot decide if I liked it. There are scenes that filled me with wonder, such as a short touching, but disturbing portrait of Lincoln. And then the plot would border on insanity. Just when you want to give up McKay's Bees will draw you in and charm or intrigue you again.
I was driven to read it because of a friend's recommendation. I do not regret the time, but I do regret that this is one of those books that makes me wish I was smarter. I will be doing some extra reading to answer my questions and that is never a bad thing.
I was driven to read it because of a friend's recommendation. I do not regret the time, but I do regret that this is one of those books that makes me wish I was smarter. I will be doing some extra reading to answer my questions and that is never a bad thing.
October 14, 2022
A scattered and disjointed piece of writing that I pushed through reading until the end, when I finally sensed relief having finished it. But oh, that glaring typo on page 55 - "They *road* on together for miles..." ?
January 27, 2011
A funny, weird portrait of life in Kansas and the East Coast the 1850's. Abolition, Evolution, Bee-keeping, Sex and Racism are some of the motifs explored in this great novel.
April 28, 2020
I have no idea what I just read, but I know I enjoyed the tale. This book is completely crazy and I’m still not sure of it’s purpose. And it left me wonder several times if it is well researched or totally fantasy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 26, 2019
Great writing!
February 17, 2021
I read this in one sitting when I had insomnia, and it fit my frame of mind quite well. The characters are all well developed, but there's not much in the way of story.
November 7, 2013
This is an odd book, and I'm still trying to decide if I liked it and why.
It follows an eclectic group of people in the years leading up to the Civil War as they move from Boston to Kansas to raise bees. There are so many threads woven throughout the story, and I'm not sure whether they are all tied up satisfactorily. Either the book needed fewer threads or it needed to be longer. Which I wouldn't recommend.
One chapter we're learning about the biology and behavior of bees, the next we're reviewing the history of the Kansas/Missouri slavery clashes of 1855 or the early arguments over Darwinism, and the next we're trying to guess whether or not the twins are going to have sex. That is, until the male twins falls for a woman who is wheelchair bound and drags herself around on her belly. See what I mean? Strange book.
Some of the characters are developed quite fully and some - like "the Germans" - are dealt with in a clump with no differentiation at all. It's short, so worth a read, but I wouldn't go out of my way to find it.
It follows an eclectic group of people in the years leading up to the Civil War as they move from Boston to Kansas to raise bees. There are so many threads woven throughout the story, and I'm not sure whether they are all tied up satisfactorily. Either the book needed fewer threads or it needed to be longer. Which I wouldn't recommend.
One chapter we're learning about the biology and behavior of bees, the next we're reviewing the history of the Kansas/Missouri slavery clashes of 1855 or the early arguments over Darwinism, and the next we're trying to guess whether or not the twins are going to have sex. That is, until the male twins falls for a woman who is wheelchair bound and drags herself around on her belly. See what I mean? Strange book.
Some of the characters are developed quite fully and some - like "the Germans" - are dealt with in a clump with no differentiation at all. It's short, so worth a read, but I wouldn't go out of my way to find it.
March 20, 2015
(4.0) Loved his narrative style
I was really impressed by the creative writing of an engineer. :) I noticed that this was lighter on dialogue than most literature I read, but the narrative was really well-written. I'm not sure how much of this is creative history (did McKay head West before making his shoe-making machine fortune?), but I enjoyed it more when I didn't concern myself with it.
I was surprised by the novel's prurient elements. There is frequent seemingly unnecessary mention of genitalia. Just seemed out of place at times, not offensive.
Also felt a bit like the novel wasn't finished. The adventure surely could've continued in Kansas, or as the Germans and Sewall returned to Boston? We kind of rush to the end and have a nice epilogue to hear how McKay does back in Boston.
Full disclosure: Tom was my academic/thesis advisor in college. He was a great guy.
I was really impressed by the creative writing of an engineer. :) I noticed that this was lighter on dialogue than most literature I read, but the narrative was really well-written. I'm not sure how much of this is creative history (did McKay head West before making his shoe-making machine fortune?), but I enjoyed it more when I didn't concern myself with it.
I was surprised by the novel's prurient elements. There is frequent seemingly unnecessary mention of genitalia. Just seemed out of place at times, not offensive.
Also felt a bit like the novel wasn't finished. The adventure surely could've continued in Kansas, or as the Germans and Sewall returned to Boston? We kind of rush to the end and have a nice epilogue to hear how McKay does back in Boston.
Full disclosure: Tom was my academic/thesis advisor in college. He was a great guy.
August 13, 2016
Without a linear story and with just flashes of deep insight into characters who are otherwise left complete strangers, the book nonetheless captivates with the sense of discovery, initiative, and imagination in a world where Darwin is just emerging, evolution is an epiphany in a plethora of beetle species, a stair-lift is a thing of love and beauty and brilliant engineering, and massive hand-sewn silk hot-air balloons are in the conceptual stage. At the same time, the book grounds these human flights in their natural counterweight: reactionaries. Some violently oppose freedom for slaves; others seek more sedate solace in creationism.
April 26, 2013
A historical novel from a cherished and now departed colleague...a brilliant mind, incisive mathematician, and creative thinker, I always marveled at his eagerness to write fiction in the dark of morning and then do science, teach Applied Mechanics at Harvard and train graduate students in the light of day. I loved working with him...we were a curious pair, he of the minimalist but brilliant models, me of the rambling brain storms...We did patents, wrote papers, performed experiments...and it was hardly about where we were trying to go...so much more about being where we were...I miss him. RIP, Tom.
January 20, 2011
I liked this book, but I read it as I used the elliptical machine at the gym. I think it would have been more engaging had I heed more focused. It is, in any case, not a formula/predictable/ordinary boobk!
April 23, 2012
well worth the purchase of the second copy!
August 15, 2010
Undeveloped characters! Disappointed, this could have been a good book.
Want to read
July 16, 2010glowing NPR review
Want to read
July 29, 2010As heard on the NPR Books podcast.
August 11, 2010
An NPR reco John wanted. He's so used to reading blood, guts, gore, crime, espionage, mystery that he couldn't get past the first 13 pages. I think he's used to skimming a little too much ;-)
September 6, 2010
Engaging, informative, a brooding tone. David's birthday gift because I love bees. (and honey)
pretty-good
September 15, 2010An NPR "must-read", that was good, but not great.
September 19, 2010
This book must have been intended for someone much smarter than me.
October 8, 2010
Not at all what I expected but I really liked it. There is a dark side to this book tho. Be aware.
January 3, 2011
Unique, random, and oddly entertaining. I'm not quite sure what the point of the story is, but for some reason, that doesn't really bother me.
December 28, 2010
I definitely recommend this if you like historical fiction (1850ish) and/or if you like the idea of beekeeping. The characters are peculiar, but likable.
September 23, 2011
Wow, am I the first person to read this book on Goodreads? A rather tame effort at combining history, biology and fiction.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews