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The Beekeeper of Aleppo


This moving, intimate, and beautifully written novel puts human faces on the ...
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When setting out to write The Beekeeper of Aleppo, the author sought to answer the question "What does it mean to see?" Having finished the book, how would you answer that question?

Created: 06/17/20

Replies: 4

Posted Jun. 17, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

When setting out to write The Beekeeper of Aleppo, the author sought to answer the question "What does it mean to see?" Having finished the book, how would you answer that question?

When setting out to write The Beekeeper of Aleppo, the author sought to answer the question "What does it mean to see?" Having finished the book, how would you answer that question?


Posted Jun. 26, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
laurap

Join Date: 06/19/12

Posts: 407

RE: When setting out to write The Beekeeper of Aleppo, the author sought to answer the question "What does it mean to see?" Having finished the book, how would you answer that question?

I would say that "seeing" has to do with emotional vision, not just physical sight, and that neither Nuri nore Afra could truly "see" their situation until they came to an understanding of what had happened to them and their personal reactions to those events. Clearly, both of them suffered from PTSD, though they were affected in very different ways. They had to grasp both what had happened to themselves individually and to their partner before they were able to see their situations and move forward.


Posted Jun. 26, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
ScribblingScribe

Join Date: 02/29/16

Posts: 189

RE: When setting out to write The Beekeeper of Aleppo, the author sought to answer the question "What does it mean to see?" Having finished the book, how would you answer that question?

The ability to see goes beyond the physical. It can also mean, as it does in this case, the ability to see the world as it is, to see one's life and losses clearly, and the ability to see and process our own emotions and wounds. I think the author expressed sight in so many ways in this book, from Afra's blindness to Nuri's denial to the deep losses they both endured. Even their ability to imagine a new life raising bees in the UK with Mustafa was a about sight.


Posted Jun. 27, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
renem

Join Date: 12/01/16

Posts: 292

RE: When setting out to write The Beekeeper of Aleppo, the author sought to answer the question "What does it mean to see?" Having finished the book, how would you answer that question?

To see is to understand.


Posted Jul. 12, 2020 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
poniesnpearls

Join Date: 06/28/11

Posts: 78

RE: When setting out to write The Beekeeper of Aleppo, the author sought to answer the question "What does it mean to see?" Having finished the book, how would you answer that question?

I thought a lot about this question because there are so many ways to see! Sight, of course is one way, but even then every person experiences sights in their own ways. Colors vary between people, peripheral vision varies, your brain alters what you see to fit 'normal' patterns. Think about witnesses to an accident or crime and how recall varies so much between people. Reading allows you to see beyond your own world. Listening allows you to see viewpoints beyond your own.


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