Call number
FIC CAT
Collection
Genres
Publication
Little, Brown and Company (2013), Edition: First Edition, 848 pages
Description
It is 1866, and Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the West Coast goldfields. On the night of his arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of twelve local men, who have met in secret to discuss a series of unsolved crimes. A wealthy man has vanished, a whore has tried to end her life, and an enormous sum of money has been discovered in the home of a luckless drunk. Moody is soon drawn into the mystery: a network of fates and fortunes that is as complex and exquisitely patterned as the night sky.
Media reviews
It is complex in its design, yet accessible in its narrative and prose. Its plot is engrossing in own right, but an awareness of the structure working behind it deepens one’s pleasure and absorption. As a satisfying murder mystery, it wears its colours proudly, yet it is not afraid to subvert and
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critique the traditions and conventions of its genre. Best of all, while maintaining a wry self-awareness about its borrowings and constructions, it is never a cynical novel. At times, it can be unapologetically romantic, in both its narrative content and its attitude towards the literary tradition it emulates. It is a novel that can be appreciated on many different levels, but which builds into a consistent and harmonious whole. Show Less
Is Ms. Catton’s immense period piece, set in New Zealand, for readers who want to think about what they should be thinking? The book’s astrology-based structure does not exactly clarify anything. Its Piscean quality, she writes in an opening note, “affirms our faith in the vast and knowing
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influence of the infinite sky.” Show Less
It’s easy to toss around words like “potential” and “promising” when a young author forges the kind of impression made by Eleanor Catton with her 2009 debut, The Rehearsal, a formally tricky but assured novel that hinged on teacher-student sexual relations. It won the Amazon.ca First
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Novel Award and the Betty Trask Award, and was a finalist for a handful of other plaudits, including the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize for the best work by a writer under the age of 30. Making good on those expectations is another matter. With her ambitious second novel, Catton has accomplished that – and a great deal more.
[...]
The Luminaries is a novel that can be enjoyed for its engrossing entirety, as well as for the literary gems bestowed on virtually every page. Show Less
The Luminaries has been perfectly constructed as the consummate literary page-turner.
But it is also a massive shaggy dog story; a great empty bag; an enormous, wicked, gleeful cheat. For nothing in this enormous book, with its exotic and varied cast of characters whose lives all affect each other
But it is also a massive shaggy dog story; a great empty bag; an enormous, wicked, gleeful cheat. For nothing in this enormous book, with its exotic and varied cast of characters whose lives all affect each other
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and whose fates are intricately entwined, amounts to anything like the moral and emotional weight one would expect of it. That's the point, in the end, I think, of The Luminaries. It's not about story at all. It's about what happens to us when we read novels – what we think we want from them – and from novels of this size, in particular. Is it worthwhile to spend so much time with a story that in the end isn't invested in its characters? Or is thinking about why we should care about them in the first place the really interesting thing? Making us consider so carefully whether we want a story with emotion and heart or an intellectual idea about the novel in the disguise of historical fiction … There lies the real triumph of Catton's remarkable book. Show Less
The narrative structure intrigues, moving Rashomon-like between viewpoints and the bounds of each character’s separate sphere of knowledge, without ever losing the reader, various characters playing detective then stepping aside. The novel has many attributes – excellent dialogue, humour, great
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observation, as when two acquaintances at a party share the same expression:......Catton matches her telling to her 19th-century setting, indulging us with straightforward character appraisals, moral estimations of each character along with old-fashioned rundowns of their physical attributes, a gripping plot that is cleverly unravelled to its satisfying conclusion, a narrative that from the first page asserts that it is firmly in control of where it is taking us. Like the 19th-century novels it emulates, The Luminaries plays on Fortune’s double meaning – men chasing riches, and the grand intertwining of destinies. Show Less
Every now and then you get to read a novel that elevates you far beyond the bric-a-brac of everyday routine, takes you apart, reassembles you, and leaves you feeling as though you have been on holiday with a genius.Eleanor Catton's astonishing new novel, The Luminaries, does just that....I don't
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want to spoil the effect of the unfolding narrative's twists and turns by exposing them, but when I reached the end I felt extremely satisfied. Catton is a remarkable writer and this is a remarkable book that has earned its place in essential New Zealand reading. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member kidzdoc
'There's no charity in a gold town. If it looks like charity, look again.'
This astonishing historical novel opens in Hokitika, New Zealand in 1866, a gold mining town along the West Coast of the South Island. Founded two years previously, Hokitika is in the midst of a population boom, as
The story is centered around several mysterious and apparently interconnected occurrences that took place two weeks previously on a single night, including the death of a hermit in a shack overlooking town, the disappearance of a young man who has struck it rich in a gold mine, and the apparent near suicide of the town's most alluring prostitute. Every man in the room claims to be innocent of any direct involvement, yet they all appear to share some responsibility in the events that led up to these crimes, and each one fears that he may be accused and held accountable.
The reader learns more about these 12 men, Moody, and several other key players, as the story takes on a more defined shape. However, just as it seems to become more clear new twists arise and relationships emerge between previously unconnected characters, which made the tale more compelling and delightfully puzzling. I exclaimed out loud numerous times at various points ("Wait, what?" "Whoa!", etc.), and except for one relatively dead spot near the novel's midway point I was captivated from the first page to the last.
No review could adequately convey the intricacy and complexity of this novel, along with its numerous subplots and themes, and Catton's ability to maintain its momentum through 832 pages was akin to a performer riding a fast moving rollercoaster while juggling various objects of different sizes for hours on end. My biggest critique is its ending, which felt rushed and overly tidy, and despite its length I would have preferred for it to have been extended by another 50-100 pages.
The Luminaries is a masterful literary symphony, and a work of historical fiction that compares favorably with similarly superb novels such as The Children's Book, The Stranger's Child and The Glass Room. There are few books of this size that I would love to start reading again immediately after finishing it, but this is one of them, and young Ms Catton is to commended for a brilliant novel that should be a strong contender for this year's Booker Prize.
This astonishing historical novel opens in Hokitika, New Zealand in 1866, a gold mining town along the West Coast of the South Island. Founded two years previously, Hokitika is in the midst of a population boom, as
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prospectors, hoteliers and other businessmen have flocked there after news of its vast riches and promise of easy wealth has reached people living within and outside of New Zealand. One of those men is Walter Moody, a young Englishman who is trained in law but seeks gold to provide him with material comfort and the start of a new life. He arrives in town after a harrowing and emotionally distressing voyage at sea, and after he checks in at a local hotel he proceeds to its smoking room, where he hopes to unwind with a pipe and a stiff drink. Upon his arrival he notices that 12 men are already there, who appear to be from different backgrounds but also seem to have gathered in secret for a particular reason. The atmosphere in the room is tense and troubled upon his entry, but in his agitated state Moody doesn't sense that he has disturbed them. He is approached by one of the men, while the others appear to direct their attention toward their conversation, and after slowly gaining their confidence the men begin to share their intertwined stories with Moody, and the reason for their confidential meeting. The story is centered around several mysterious and apparently interconnected occurrences that took place two weeks previously on a single night, including the death of a hermit in a shack overlooking town, the disappearance of a young man who has struck it rich in a gold mine, and the apparent near suicide of the town's most alluring prostitute. Every man in the room claims to be innocent of any direct involvement, yet they all appear to share some responsibility in the events that led up to these crimes, and each one fears that he may be accused and held accountable.
The reader learns more about these 12 men, Moody, and several other key players, as the story takes on a more defined shape. However, just as it seems to become more clear new twists arise and relationships emerge between previously unconnected characters, which made the tale more compelling and delightfully puzzling. I exclaimed out loud numerous times at various points ("Wait, what?" "Whoa!", etc.), and except for one relatively dead spot near the novel's midway point I was captivated from the first page to the last.
No review could adequately convey the intricacy and complexity of this novel, along with its numerous subplots and themes, and Catton's ability to maintain its momentum through 832 pages was akin to a performer riding a fast moving rollercoaster while juggling various objects of different sizes for hours on end. My biggest critique is its ending, which felt rushed and overly tidy, and despite its length I would have preferred for it to have been extended by another 50-100 pages.
The Luminaries is a masterful literary symphony, and a work of historical fiction that compares favorably with similarly superb novels such as The Children's Book, The Stranger's Child and The Glass Room. There are few books of this size that I would love to start reading again immediately after finishing it, but this is one of them, and young Ms Catton is to commended for a brilliant novel that should be a strong contender for this year's Booker Prize.
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LibraryThing member lauralkeet
Ahhhh. Now that was a good read. A ripping yarn, as they say; I hardly noticed it was more than 800 pages long. The Luminaries is set in New Zealand in 1865-66, when a gold rush brought prospectors to Hokitika in the country's West Coast region. Shops, churches, bars, hotels, newspapers, a jail,
Into this environment comes Walter Moody, arrived in Hokitika via the ship Godspeed. He unwittingly walks into a secret conference of twelve men in the Crown Hotel, and becomes privy to a narrative of recent events involving Frank Carver, captain of the Godspeed; Crosbie Wells, a hermit; Alastair Louderback, a local politician; Lydia Greenway, a madame; the prostitute Anna Wetherell; Emery Staines, a young man who has gone missing; and, of course, a fortune in pure gold. In Part I, which represents nearly half the novel, Eleanor Catton spins the tale through the eyes of these twelve men. None of them know the full story, but each has a perspective based on their interactions with the principals.
Catton then proceeds to flesh out the story, always from an angle slightly askew from that in Part I. The reader picks up details here and there, like filling in a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle after someone else has completed the edge. The principal characters take on greater depth as their back stories unfold. I found myself hissing at the bad guys and cheering for the good guys, and then looking quizzically a the page when a good guy suddenly showed signs of being a bad guy, or vice versa. The plot is complex and circular, but really the conflict resolution hardly matters. This is a fun book to read for its characters, and the intricacies and pace. I'm usually happy when I finish a book this long, but this time I'm actually tempted to re-read it straight away.
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and "houses of ill repute" rose up to satisfy the many requirements of a booming economy. And everyone, prospector and merchant alike, was out for themselves.Into this environment comes Walter Moody, arrived in Hokitika via the ship Godspeed. He unwittingly walks into a secret conference of twelve men in the Crown Hotel, and becomes privy to a narrative of recent events involving Frank Carver, captain of the Godspeed; Crosbie Wells, a hermit; Alastair Louderback, a local politician; Lydia Greenway, a madame; the prostitute Anna Wetherell; Emery Staines, a young man who has gone missing; and, of course, a fortune in pure gold. In Part I, which represents nearly half the novel, Eleanor Catton spins the tale through the eyes of these twelve men. None of them know the full story, but each has a perspective based on their interactions with the principals.
Catton then proceeds to flesh out the story, always from an angle slightly askew from that in Part I. The reader picks up details here and there, like filling in a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle after someone else has completed the edge. The principal characters take on greater depth as their back stories unfold. I found myself hissing at the bad guys and cheering for the good guys, and then looking quizzically a the page when a good guy suddenly showed signs of being a bad guy, or vice versa. The plot is complex and circular, but really the conflict resolution hardly matters. This is a fun book to read for its characters, and the intricacies and pace. I'm usually happy when I finish a book this long, but this time I'm actually tempted to re-read it straight away.
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LibraryThing member brenzi
What you have here is a writer’s magnum opus after they’ve written ten or twelve previous novels, after they have mellowed and grown as a writer, after they have gotten all the kinks out of their writing style and developed their work to a smooth and masterful presentation. But how do you
In 1866, Walter Moody arrives in Hokitika, New Zealand to try his luck in the gold fields. He wanders into the hotel’s smoking room and finds himself in the midst of a tense group of men who are discussing some disturbing events, that each of the men seem to have some part in: the unexpected death of a drunken hermit and the discovery of an enormous fortune in his cottage, the apparent suicide attempt of a popular town prostitute, and the apparent disappearance of the town’s wealthiest man.
And then we’re off to the races, as Catton leads us through the 360 page first book, setting up one of the most unique and complicated mysteries ever written. As Moody listens, he ponders the information and its consequences:
No one man could really be called “guilty,” just as no man could really be called “innocent.” They were ---associated? Involved? Entangled? Moody frowned. He felt that he did not possess the right word to describe their interrelation. Pritchard had used the word “conspiracy”…but the term was hardly applicable, when each man’s involvement was so incidental, and each man’s relation to the events in question so palpably different. No: the real agents, and the real conspirators, were surely those men and women who were not present---who each had a secret that he or she was trying to hide!” (Page 350)
Filled with rich characters, the author transports us to the middle of the gold fields and into the town that holds everyone’s dreams in the palm of its hand. Her ability to bring to life this time period is only surpassed by her intricate plotting. Very highly recommended.
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explain a book like this from a twenty-eight year old woman who has only previously written a slight, debut novel? It’s rather mind-boggling. But then so is the construction of this novel. At 832 pages, the novel is divided into twelve books – each part half the length of that which came before. Throw in that each character is identified with astrological signs: a dead man is identified with terra firma (earth) and revolving around him are twelve stellar planets representing astrological signs. Fortunately, you can ignore all that and do what I did---sit back and enjoy an excellent historical novel about a time and place that I knew very little about.In 1866, Walter Moody arrives in Hokitika, New Zealand to try his luck in the gold fields. He wanders into the hotel’s smoking room and finds himself in the midst of a tense group of men who are discussing some disturbing events, that each of the men seem to have some part in: the unexpected death of a drunken hermit and the discovery of an enormous fortune in his cottage, the apparent suicide attempt of a popular town prostitute, and the apparent disappearance of the town’s wealthiest man.
And then we’re off to the races, as Catton leads us through the 360 page first book, setting up one of the most unique and complicated mysteries ever written. As Moody listens, he ponders the information and its consequences:
No one man could really be called “guilty,” just as no man could really be called “innocent.” They were ---associated? Involved? Entangled? Moody frowned. He felt that he did not possess the right word to describe their interrelation. Pritchard had used the word “conspiracy”…but the term was hardly applicable, when each man’s involvement was so incidental, and each man’s relation to the events in question so palpably different. No: the real agents, and the real conspirators, were surely those men and women who were not present---who each had a secret that he or she was trying to hide!” (Page 350)
Filled with rich characters, the author transports us to the middle of the gold fields and into the town that holds everyone’s dreams in the palm of its hand. Her ability to bring to life this time period is only surpassed by her intricate plotting. Very highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member cushlareads
I have a bad track record at reading New Zealand fiction. I’ve checked my LT catalogue for books tagged “New Zealand” and it is pathetic how little turns up. I liked Lloyd Jones’ The Book of Fame, about the 1905 All Blacks’ team, and I liked As the Earth Turns Silver, about a Chinese
The book is 815 pages long and has an interesting structure. There are 12 parts, each linked to a zodiac sign. The most obvious thing about the structure is that each chapter is twice as long as the next. That makes Part 1 360 pages long. It’s clever, but it’s not just a trick – it somehow fits the pace of the book. And it’s not like Part 1 dragged. The Zodiac stuff passed me by totally but I might go back and try to figure out some of the diagrams now that I know whodunnit.
Overall though it is a really good story that vividly evokes goldfield life on the West Coast. At the start of the book, Walter Moody has just arrived in Hokitika. He’s had a scary boat ride from Port Chalmers in Dunedin (where I grew up). He settles himself into the Crown hotel and goes down to the bar for a quiet meal, and 360 pages later we get to Part 2 of the book. This is a book with loads of characters: everyone who made a goldrush town tick. Very few of them actually dig for gold. There’s a newspaper owner, bank manager, commission agent, court clerk, opium dealer, chemist, prostitute, pimp, hotel owner, chaplain, gaoler, politician, ship captain, local guide, and lots more. Every one of them is important to the plot, and you have to concentrate at times to follow the mystery, but I didn’t find it hard to keep up.
It took me a few weeks to read this but I got through the last half in 2 or 3 days. Don’t draw it out too long or you might forget who does what to whom...
Highly recommended if you like historical fiction, mysteries, good writing, or all 3. Not recommended if you don't like complicated plots.
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immigrant to Wellington last century and his relationship with a Pakeha woman. I thought Michael King’s History of New Zealand was terrific. Patricia Grace’s Waiariki and John Mulgan’s Man Alone both got 4 ½ stars. But that’s it – 5 books in the 7 years I’ve been on here. So it was with mixed feelings that I decided to have a good go at The Luminaries. But it didn’t take long for me to feel like I was back in Hokitika in the days of the West Coast goldrush, and Catton’s writing reminded me a lot of Hilary Mantel’s in Wolf Hall. This is the best book I've read so far this year.The book is 815 pages long and has an interesting structure. There are 12 parts, each linked to a zodiac sign. The most obvious thing about the structure is that each chapter is twice as long as the next. That makes Part 1 360 pages long. It’s clever, but it’s not just a trick – it somehow fits the pace of the book. And it’s not like Part 1 dragged. The Zodiac stuff passed me by totally but I might go back and try to figure out some of the diagrams now that I know whodunnit.
Overall though it is a really good story that vividly evokes goldfield life on the West Coast. At the start of the book, Walter Moody has just arrived in Hokitika. He’s had a scary boat ride from Port Chalmers in Dunedin (where I grew up). He settles himself into the Crown hotel and goes down to the bar for a quiet meal, and 360 pages later we get to Part 2 of the book. This is a book with loads of characters: everyone who made a goldrush town tick. Very few of them actually dig for gold. There’s a newspaper owner, bank manager, commission agent, court clerk, opium dealer, chemist, prostitute, pimp, hotel owner, chaplain, gaoler, politician, ship captain, local guide, and lots more. Every one of them is important to the plot, and you have to concentrate at times to follow the mystery, but I didn’t find it hard to keep up.
It took me a few weeks to read this but I got through the last half in 2 or 3 days. Don’t draw it out too long or you might forget who does what to whom...
Highly recommended if you like historical fiction, mysteries, good writing, or all 3. Not recommended if you don't like complicated plots.
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LibraryThing member lkernagh
What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said by others here on LT? I can say that, for me, this was the right book, at the right time and I was in the right frame of mind to read it and enjoy it for the wonderful story it is. I loved Catton's debut novel The Rehearsal and I am
To love this story, you have to: 1) enjoy historical fiction; 2) have a love for stories that have a slow, rolling gait to them - think sagas like Lonesome Dove; and 3) take pleasure in observing a mystery unfold in a slow, meditative manner as pieces to the well crafted puzzle click into place, one, by one, by one....click, click, click.... with the unhurried pace of a watchmaker at work on an intricate piece of machinery - gear A cannot turn until gear B has been triggered by gear C which relies on switch D, etc, etc. Slow, steady, intricate and interconnected are the words to describe this gem of a book. Yes, Catton lost me with the astrological references for all of the chapter headings but that stuff usually goes over my head and I tend to not pay much attention to that fine a detail when I am reading a book for pleasure and escapism.
Overall, a gem of a story that brought sanity to my crazy RL over the past two weeks and, as with most big books, I was saddened to see it come to an end. Catton's characters make an interesting group of individuals. Having read a number of books about the gold rushes of California and the Klondike regions of North America, it was refreshing and at the same time comfortingly familiar to read Catton's story set during New Zealand's gold rush times.
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willing to admit that Catton's writing style isn't for all readers. For such a young author, she presents her stories in a smart, complex and intricately woven manner that can make seasoned authors appear as amateurs in the art of story-telling.... and she makes it seem so.... easy. She effortlessly moves from narrator to narrator without losing the flow or rhythm of her pace and, as she has proven with this well orchestrated cast of some 20 characters, has no problem cycling a story backwards and forwards, to sharpen the detail or refocus the lens of the reader in an unexpected way. Okay, the fact that I had no idea this gold-mining frontier town story was also a mystery when I started reading it was a bonus for me, and another reason I found this story so easy to sink into. Give me a long-winded mystery to unravel and I will very happily slowly chew my way through to its conclusion! ;-)To love this story, you have to: 1) enjoy historical fiction; 2) have a love for stories that have a slow, rolling gait to them - think sagas like Lonesome Dove; and 3) take pleasure in observing a mystery unfold in a slow, meditative manner as pieces to the well crafted puzzle click into place, one, by one, by one....click, click, click.... with the unhurried pace of a watchmaker at work on an intricate piece of machinery - gear A cannot turn until gear B has been triggered by gear C which relies on switch D, etc, etc. Slow, steady, intricate and interconnected are the words to describe this gem of a book. Yes, Catton lost me with the astrological references for all of the chapter headings but that stuff usually goes over my head and I tend to not pay much attention to that fine a detail when I am reading a book for pleasure and escapism.
Overall, a gem of a story that brought sanity to my crazy RL over the past two weeks and, as with most big books, I was saddened to see it come to an end. Catton's characters make an interesting group of individuals. Having read a number of books about the gold rushes of California and the Klondike regions of North America, it was refreshing and at the same time comfortingly familiar to read Catton's story set during New Zealand's gold rush times.
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LibraryThing member AnneWK
I feel like a Philistine saying I did not like this book. But I prefer to figure out characters for myself -- Catton leaves nothing to the imagination, instead giving us more than enough of each character's (and there are a lot of important characters) physical description and psychological
Over and over the author sets the scene, explains the people and their backgrounds only to return to that place or time and do it all over again. We even have characters reminding us of action, recapping what went before, as if we're just tuning into a weekly TV serial.
I really wanted to like some of these men, care about what happens to them, but for all Catton's depth of description, I couldn't get involved. And who are the women in this novel? A couple of prostitutes -- and the only characters not fully realized. Sure, some of the plot has to do with them, but the women themselves are mostly in the wings.
The zodiac allusions seemed to me to be extraneous devices imposed upon the plot.
After about 400 pages, the action begins. And I am not exaggerating.
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profile. Over and over the author sets the scene, explains the people and their backgrounds only to return to that place or time and do it all over again. We even have characters reminding us of action, recapping what went before, as if we're just tuning into a weekly TV serial.
I really wanted to like some of these men, care about what happens to them, but for all Catton's depth of description, I couldn't get involved. And who are the women in this novel? A couple of prostitutes -- and the only characters not fully realized. Sure, some of the plot has to do with them, but the women themselves are mostly in the wings.
The zodiac allusions seemed to me to be extraneous devices imposed upon the plot.
After about 400 pages, the action begins. And I am not exaggerating.
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LibraryThing member fiverivers
I've often said art is subjective. The Luminaries, by Eleanor Catton, is certainly a prime example of that adage. Winner of the Booker Prize for 2013, lauded, praised, esteemed by critics and readers alike, I was prepared for this literary whodunnit to amaze and delight. Unfortunately, for me, I
So, then, what was it that failed to impress? Certainly the concept of carrying the plot through multiple characters with an unreliable narrator's voice is a known, respected and often brilliant literary device. Sequencing back and forth through time periods is also a respected and often brilliant literary device. Using astrological charts to preface every section of the novel was a touch of ingenuity, albeit one lost on a reader unfamiliar with the nuances and language of astrology. Including phrases of Cantonese and Maori is also laudable, were it not for the fact there was no contextual reference to give weight and meaning to the phrases so that they became nothing more than white noise.
The execution of many of these devices was, in my opinion, clumsily handled. The leaping around through time sequences often left me confused, in that there was rarely any linear progression to these sequences, so that one was unsure if we were in 1864, or 1857, or whenever.
The constant recapping of events ended up reading very much like a modern reality TV show, wherein we are told over and over again after each commercial break of disaster past or pending. For the first half of the novel we are endlessly regaled with this person's experience of a particular event and relationship to a particular background character, only to be followed by another chapter from a different person's perspective, and so on, and so forth for about twelve chapters. After about the third viewpoint I'm afraid I started to go a bit tharn, much like one of Richard Adam's unwitting bunnies.
Character development ended up feeling somewhat flat because of the cool distance of the voice of the unreliable narrator, and sometimes I had to wonder if Catton was in fact attempting to write farce instead of an historical mystery.
Catton chooses to open each chapter with a 19th century literary device by way of a synopsis of what is about to unfold, which is fine, up to a point, which I will reference later.
The denouement, which occurs somewhere around the two thirds mark, ended without resolution because although court sentence is passed upon villainous and guilty parties, we never really are given a complete resolution of the mystery, or what is to happen as a result, and instead the latter third of the novel again transports the reader to various, disparate points in the past.
And here we return again to the synopsis which prefaces each chapter, in that in those last chapter the synopses, which employ run-on sentences and breathless writing, end up becoming the narrative or story, with the actual events of the chapter little more than a few paragraphs of some almost irrelevant vignette. And these chapters hurtle on in a race, almost as if Catton wished done with the novel, to the point of being little more than drafts.
The last chapter is astonishing, with its verbose synopsis and sudden end of the novel through a declaration of one lover to another that she can hear the rain, something apparently extraordinary in New Zealand which has been portrayed as very wet, with near constant rain. One might better declare she can see the sun, that she is transported by the light, because certainly the novel failed any kind of transport of the imagination, and, instead, very much called to mind one reviewer's comment that The Luminaries was a big box full of nothing.
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felt like the child in the Emperor's New Clothes fable, pointing at Catton's naked majesty while others apparently better informed praised their mighty leader for the beauty of her raiment.So, then, what was it that failed to impress? Certainly the concept of carrying the plot through multiple characters with an unreliable narrator's voice is a known, respected and often brilliant literary device. Sequencing back and forth through time periods is also a respected and often brilliant literary device. Using astrological charts to preface every section of the novel was a touch of ingenuity, albeit one lost on a reader unfamiliar with the nuances and language of astrology. Including phrases of Cantonese and Maori is also laudable, were it not for the fact there was no contextual reference to give weight and meaning to the phrases so that they became nothing more than white noise.
The execution of many of these devices was, in my opinion, clumsily handled. The leaping around through time sequences often left me confused, in that there was rarely any linear progression to these sequences, so that one was unsure if we were in 1864, or 1857, or whenever.
The constant recapping of events ended up reading very much like a modern reality TV show, wherein we are told over and over again after each commercial break of disaster past or pending. For the first half of the novel we are endlessly regaled with this person's experience of a particular event and relationship to a particular background character, only to be followed by another chapter from a different person's perspective, and so on, and so forth for about twelve chapters. After about the third viewpoint I'm afraid I started to go a bit tharn, much like one of Richard Adam's unwitting bunnies.
Character development ended up feeling somewhat flat because of the cool distance of the voice of the unreliable narrator, and sometimes I had to wonder if Catton was in fact attempting to write farce instead of an historical mystery.
Catton chooses to open each chapter with a 19th century literary device by way of a synopsis of what is about to unfold, which is fine, up to a point, which I will reference later.
The denouement, which occurs somewhere around the two thirds mark, ended without resolution because although court sentence is passed upon villainous and guilty parties, we never really are given a complete resolution of the mystery, or what is to happen as a result, and instead the latter third of the novel again transports the reader to various, disparate points in the past.
And here we return again to the synopsis which prefaces each chapter, in that in those last chapter the synopses, which employ run-on sentences and breathless writing, end up becoming the narrative or story, with the actual events of the chapter little more than a few paragraphs of some almost irrelevant vignette. And these chapters hurtle on in a race, almost as if Catton wished done with the novel, to the point of being little more than drafts.
The last chapter is astonishing, with its verbose synopsis and sudden end of the novel through a declaration of one lover to another that she can hear the rain, something apparently extraordinary in New Zealand which has been portrayed as very wet, with near constant rain. One might better declare she can see the sun, that she is transported by the light, because certainly the novel failed any kind of transport of the imagination, and, instead, very much called to mind one reviewer's comment that The Luminaries was a big box full of nothing.
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LibraryThing member Schmerguls
This won this years' Booker prize, so of course I read it. It is the 34th Booker winner I've read. The author lives in New Zealand and the book deals with gold seekers in New Zealand in 1865 and 1866. It has lotsof references to the zodiac, a subject which has never interested me, and I figured I
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would not have to pay any attention to the astrological blatherings and the novel would still be discernible. The book also jumps around from the present to the past--it starts firmly in 1866 and ends up in 1865. That is also a device I hate and find annoying, usually, and I certainly did in this book. So while the story had some interest for long stretches it was ultimately a failure for me since it did not make sense to me. Some of the interesting things are not explained to a casual reader like me and I am not willing to spend more time trying to deduce what the author is trying to say. A more zealous reader may be intrigued. I was not. Show Less
LibraryThing member mausergem
I do not want to write a review of this book as it has been a real disappointment. It is too long with too many characters. It starts with a mystery but the final revealation is disappointing. The only good thing is the atmosphere which is created. It hardly deserves a Booker. The worst Booker
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winner amongst the ones I've read. Show Less
LibraryThing member lit_chick
“I contend that there are no whole truths, there are only pertinent truths – and pertinence, you must agree, is always a matter of perspective.” (Pt 1)
In January 1866, young Walter Moody lands in a New Zealand gold mine town where he intends to stake his claim and make his fortune. As the
What I Liked/Didn’t: I love a good adventure story, and The Luminaries is well-written (if too long-winded) and embodies many such elements: shipwrecks, blackmail, opium, séances, gold. The muck and squalor of the frontier appeals, too – a gold town being about as seedy as it gets. The novel has a lengthy and imaginative cast of characters, but I did not find them terribly well-developed. While the physical detail is meticulous, I struggled to separate one from the other for at least half the novel – outside of bad-guy Francis Carver, which I thought overdone. The astrological structure of the novel, while impressive, was lost on me; the last several Parts were so brief they were choppy. And I found overall the novel was too tightly controlled: I wanted to live with the characters in the squalor of a 19th century gold town. Like in deWitt’s The Sisters Brothers: “It’s a good place to kill someone, I have heard. When they are not busily burning the entire town down, they are distracted by its endless rebuilding.” (Ch 2)
Recommended: to those who enjoy a 19th century frontier setting, a well-written, long, tangled, adventure yarn; and to those who follow the Booker Prize.
“There’s no charity in a gold town. If it looks like charity, look again.” (Pt 4)
In January 1866, young Walter Moody lands in a New Zealand gold mine town where he intends to stake his claim and make his fortune. As the
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novel opens, he has retired to the smoking room of his lodgings to unwind after an arduous journey. But Moody has obviously intruded on a private meeting between twelve local men who are discussing a tangle of events which have recently occurred and are thought to be linked: the attempted suicide of prostitute, Anna Wetherell; the death of alcoholic recluse, Crosbie Wells; and the disappearance of the town’s wealthy gold-digger, Emery Staines. What I Liked/Didn’t: I love a good adventure story, and The Luminaries is well-written (if too long-winded) and embodies many such elements: shipwrecks, blackmail, opium, séances, gold. The muck and squalor of the frontier appeals, too – a gold town being about as seedy as it gets. The novel has a lengthy and imaginative cast of characters, but I did not find them terribly well-developed. While the physical detail is meticulous, I struggled to separate one from the other for at least half the novel – outside of bad-guy Francis Carver, which I thought overdone. The astrological structure of the novel, while impressive, was lost on me; the last several Parts were so brief they were choppy. And I found overall the novel was too tightly controlled: I wanted to live with the characters in the squalor of a 19th century gold town. Like in deWitt’s The Sisters Brothers: “It’s a good place to kill someone, I have heard. When they are not busily burning the entire town down, they are distracted by its endless rebuilding.” (Ch 2)
Recommended: to those who enjoy a 19th century frontier setting, a well-written, long, tangled, adventure yarn; and to those who follow the Booker Prize.
“There’s no charity in a gold town. If it looks like charity, look again.” (Pt 4)
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LibraryThing member lisapeet
This was fun. Is that enough, after 800+ pages—that it was fun? I'm inclined to think so. I liked Catton's writing, and the slightly discursive storytelling, and the vague aura of mystery—not sure that I could rightly call it a thriller, but there are questions posed and most of them are
I don't know enough astrology to pick up on that aspect of the book, and I've heard that knowledge does enhance it. What I got was basically a good shaggy dog tale with a neat setting, lots of quasi-Dickensian characters, and some very elegant writing. It was a bit of a reading time sink, but I'm not a number-of-books-read freak anyway, and in these doldrummy winter days it was really just the ticket.
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answered, albeit some of them with more questions. Which I liked as well. I don't know enough astrology to pick up on that aspect of the book, and I've heard that knowledge does enhance it. What I got was basically a good shaggy dog tale with a neat setting, lots of quasi-Dickensian characters, and some very elegant writing. It was a bit of a reading time sink, but I'm not a number-of-books-read freak anyway, and in these doldrummy winter days it was really just the ticket.
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LibraryThing member PaulaCheg
Very long, but interesting. 12 characters. Some elements - like that each chapter was half as long as the previous chapter I didnt get, nor did I get the relationship between each of the characters and the astrology chart.
An enjoyable read though
Based in NZ gold fields
An enjoyable read though
Based in NZ gold fields
LibraryThing member LovingLit
When this book arrived in the post, I was so impressed by its presence. It is big, solid and beautiful to look at and hold. I was so excited to get started on it. Every time I was to pick it up to read after that first time, I was excited to get back to it.
In my experience, it isn't often that a
In my experience, it isn't often that a
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long book can hold my attention throughout. But this one did. I think one of the main ways it did, was by having the many characters repeat their experience of events that other characters had already been through. This way we not only get a more thorough grasp of events, but we get each persons side of the story and therefore to know each character well by the end. All good stuff. And then there is the story itself. It unfolds so intricately! Details emerge here and there, and our picture is formed slowly but assuredly of what has transpired. We are tantalised by facts and clues, but not taunted by what they allude to. I have heard descriptions of Catton's writing being remarkably restrained, I think so too. It is a collection of words beautifully put together. Show Less
LibraryThing member ScribbleKey
Disclaimer: I received this book as part of the Goodreads "First Reads" program.
A short word before I get into my review. I understand that this book just isn't for me. It's longlisted for the Booker, Goodreads reviewers generally love it, the author is a real up-and-comer... but it just didn't do
I think it may have been unfortunate that I read this book so quickly after reading another that really blew me away (Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates), so I kept comparing them (even if I didn't want to or mean to) as I read this one. As a quick glance into my mindset, I'll post a comparison here and maybe you can understand why I just couldn't get into the book.
Both books included parts where people were looking into mirrors, as a way for the author to describe what drives these superficial, yet self-conscious, people.
One of my favorite passages from Revolutionary Road describes *so much* about the character in a single line: "He looked at himself in the mirror, tightening his jaw and turning his head a little to one side to give it a leaner, more commanding look, the face he had given himself in mirrors since boyhood and which no photograph had ever quite achieved..." Amazing. One glance in a mirror and we see how superficial and vulnerable this person is.
In The Luminaries, Catton describes a man looking into a mirror in this way. I find it to be terribly long-winded and boring:
"Moody was not unaware of the advantage his inscrutable grace afforded him. Like most excessively beautiful persons, he had studied his own reflection minutely and, in a way, knew himself from the outside best; he was always in some chamber of his mind perceiving himself from the exterior. He had passed a great many hours in the alcove of his private dressing room, where the mirror tripled his image into profile, half-profile and square: Van Dyck's Charles, though a good deal more striking. It was a private practice, and one he likely would have denied - for how roundly self-examination is condemned, by the moral prophets of our age! As if the self had no relation to the self, and one only looked in mirrors to have one's arrogance confirmed; as if the act of self-regarding was not as subtle, fraught and ever-changing as any bond between twin souls. In his fascination Moody sought less to praise his own beauty than to master it. Certainly whenever he caught his own reflection, in a window box, or in a pane of glass after nightfall, he felt a thrill of satisfaction - but as an engineer might feel, chancing upon a mechanism of his own devising and finding it splendid, flashing, properly oiled and performing exactly as he had predicted it should."
Wow. That's a mouthful that does two things: 1. describes how vulnerable he is via his superficial nature, just like the single line used by Yates, and 2. puts me to sleep. I like the bit about the engineer, it's a great line. That plus one other sentence would have been sufficient. But this book is filled with paragraphs upon paragraphs, pages upon pages, which could be cut out completely or at least shortened considerably. It's over 800 pages that could literally be used to fend off a home intruder. I worry that some young authors feel that they have to write a two-inch-thick saga in order to be taken seriously. I really struggled to read it and found that time was grinding to a halt. I read so I can relax and enjoy being swept away into another world. If this other world is so boring and tortuous that it makes me want to stop reading, it's just not worth it.
I obviously don't "get" the book. It's nothing against the author, who will have a long and fruitful career even though I didn't like what she wrote. I feel bad giving it one star, but given that this book made me dread the act of reading - something that I normally *love* - I really couldn't see any other alternative.
A short word before I get into my review. I understand that this book just isn't for me. It's longlisted for the Booker, Goodreads reviewers generally love it, the author is a real up-and-comer... but it just didn't do
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it for me.I think it may have been unfortunate that I read this book so quickly after reading another that really blew me away (Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates), so I kept comparing them (even if I didn't want to or mean to) as I read this one. As a quick glance into my mindset, I'll post a comparison here and maybe you can understand why I just couldn't get into the book.
Both books included parts where people were looking into mirrors, as a way for the author to describe what drives these superficial, yet self-conscious, people.
One of my favorite passages from Revolutionary Road describes *so much* about the character in a single line: "He looked at himself in the mirror, tightening his jaw and turning his head a little to one side to give it a leaner, more commanding look, the face he had given himself in mirrors since boyhood and which no photograph had ever quite achieved..." Amazing. One glance in a mirror and we see how superficial and vulnerable this person is.
In The Luminaries, Catton describes a man looking into a mirror in this way. I find it to be terribly long-winded and boring:
"Moody was not unaware of the advantage his inscrutable grace afforded him. Like most excessively beautiful persons, he had studied his own reflection minutely and, in a way, knew himself from the outside best; he was always in some chamber of his mind perceiving himself from the exterior. He had passed a great many hours in the alcove of his private dressing room, where the mirror tripled his image into profile, half-profile and square: Van Dyck's Charles, though a good deal more striking. It was a private practice, and one he likely would have denied - for how roundly self-examination is condemned, by the moral prophets of our age! As if the self had no relation to the self, and one only looked in mirrors to have one's arrogance confirmed; as if the act of self-regarding was not as subtle, fraught and ever-changing as any bond between twin souls. In his fascination Moody sought less to praise his own beauty than to master it. Certainly whenever he caught his own reflection, in a window box, or in a pane of glass after nightfall, he felt a thrill of satisfaction - but as an engineer might feel, chancing upon a mechanism of his own devising and finding it splendid, flashing, properly oiled and performing exactly as he had predicted it should."
Wow. That's a mouthful that does two things: 1. describes how vulnerable he is via his superficial nature, just like the single line used by Yates, and 2. puts me to sleep. I like the bit about the engineer, it's a great line. That plus one other sentence would have been sufficient. But this book is filled with paragraphs upon paragraphs, pages upon pages, which could be cut out completely or at least shortened considerably. It's over 800 pages that could literally be used to fend off a home intruder. I worry that some young authors feel that they have to write a two-inch-thick saga in order to be taken seriously. I really struggled to read it and found that time was grinding to a halt. I read so I can relax and enjoy being swept away into another world. If this other world is so boring and tortuous that it makes me want to stop reading, it's just not worth it.
I obviously don't "get" the book. It's nothing against the author, who will have a long and fruitful career even though I didn't like what she wrote. I feel bad giving it one star, but given that this book made me dread the act of reading - something that I normally *love* - I really couldn't see any other alternative.
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LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
I may find myself in a fairly small minority here but I found this novel rather a disappointment after all the hype it received after it was awarded this year's Booker Prize. Yes, it is an intriguing mystery but I felt that far too much effort went into complying with the self-imposed formatting
To be fair, the plot is intriguing, and I was initially sucked in to the story, which unfolds by stages, with a different character taking the lead in narrating each chapter. Boiled down to its essential ingredients Walter Moody, newly arrived in a small New Zealand town at the centre of that country's gold rush. Walking into the lounge of the hotel where he has put up he encounters twelve leading figures of the town who had gathered in private to discuss a complex series of crimes that have occurred in and around the town. Moody's arrival in the bar is initially unwelcome but the locals unbend and start narrating, in turn, the series of events that have so unnerved them.
I don't mind long books, or complex books, nor even long AND complex books, but I resent feeling that I am simply being asked along to pay homage to the writer's cleverness,however indisputable that cleverness might be!
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devices, and style was allowed to win out over substance.. The characterisations are regulated by astrological charts, and the word count in each of the sections is exactly half of that in the preceding section. All very clever, maybe, but I prefer to feel that a book's vocabulary has been selected to meet the exigencies of plot, style and character rather to satisfy numerological quirk, although if we are looking from a quantitative rather than qualitative perspective I think that it might have benefited from being perhaps 400 pages shorter!To be fair, the plot is intriguing, and I was initially sucked in to the story, which unfolds by stages, with a different character taking the lead in narrating each chapter. Boiled down to its essential ingredients Walter Moody, newly arrived in a small New Zealand town at the centre of that country's gold rush. Walking into the lounge of the hotel where he has put up he encounters twelve leading figures of the town who had gathered in private to discuss a complex series of crimes that have occurred in and around the town. Moody's arrival in the bar is initially unwelcome but the locals unbend and start narrating, in turn, the series of events that have so unnerved them.
I don't mind long books, or complex books, nor even long AND complex books, but I resent feeling that I am simply being asked along to pay homage to the writer's cleverness,however indisputable that cleverness might be!
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LibraryThing member mojomomma
I am reminded annually that I dislike any title that wins the Booker Prize. This is an 800+ page behemoth. I should have just read the chapter intros rather than the book itself. I invested 3 weeks of my life in this book. Not worth it.
LibraryThing member cabegley
This book, set in New Zealand during the gold rush, was fascinating, not the least for its structure. If I understand the parameters Catton set for herself (and I'm not certain I do), each of twelve characters represented a different astrological sign, and each of seven additional characters
To me, the impressive feat is that the reader can disregard the existence of each of these rules and simply enjoy an absorbing, engaging yarn, full of mystery, murder, gold, love, lust, revenge, betrayal . . . I don't want to give anything away, but suffice it to say that I could not put the book down. I'm not sure if the progressive compression was a factor in hurtling me forward? But I found myself staying up well past my bedtime on multiple nights, just to read a bit further.
As much as I enjoyed the story itself, it's the structure that keeps me thinking about the book.
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represented the seven heavenly bodies known at the time (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, sun and moon), with an additional (deceased) character identified as "terra firma." The interactions among these characters (here's where I start speculating) were dictated by the movements of the stars and planets at the time the actions of the book were set. Also, each section is exactly half the length of the section before it.To me, the impressive feat is that the reader can disregard the existence of each of these rules and simply enjoy an absorbing, engaging yarn, full of mystery, murder, gold, love, lust, revenge, betrayal . . . I don't want to give anything away, but suffice it to say that I could not put the book down. I'm not sure if the progressive compression was a factor in hurtling me forward? But I found myself staying up well past my bedtime on multiple nights, just to read a bit further.
As much as I enjoyed the story itself, it's the structure that keeps me thinking about the book.
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LibraryThing member AnneMarieMagnolia
This is my 1st book review. I was on a very long waiting list for this book at my local library, and when it was finally my turn there were over 70 people behind me in line. I had just started a book which had grabbed my interest, so when I held the 800+ pages of 'The Luminaries' I shuddered and
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vowed to give up reading it at the slightest provocation. But I finished it, the intertwining story lines of all the different characters was intriguing, and even though I knew some descriptions were overly wordy, the story held my interest and I was surprised by the twists and enjoyed how clever the introduction of the pieces of the puzzle blended together at the end. Show Less
LibraryThing member chive
I really wanted to like this book but I found the pacing was all wrong. The first third was endless and slow and horribly dull, the second was about right and the third far too quick. Frustrating.
LibraryThing member SashaM
Read this book if you like over-blown, wordy and occasionaly confusing historical mystery novels. Or if you want to learn about 1860's New Zealand goldrush towns. From a historical perspective it was fascinating and gave an excellent sense of place and time.
The size of this book is off-putting, the
I did like the way the mystery unfolded and each time you found the answer to one question another question (or two) would crop up - and to be perfectly honest it was the need to know how certain things happened that kept me going.
A few things were left unexplained - what Moody saw in the hold of the boat??? what was that all about?
How did (illiterate) Anna manage to read a document that she had never seen? And then perfectly forge Staine's signature when she had barely even met the man let alone seen his signature? Or was that supposed to prove they where somehow linked / astrologically the same person / as stated by Lydia when she drew up their natal charts??
Did the Astrological stuff mean anything or was it just a tool for the writer to include otherwise imposible connections / conjunctions?
I read this for book club but if it wasn't for bookclub I would not have finished it. It really bogs down in part 2 & 3. The second half of part 3 and part 4 give you answers and pick up the pace but it was around page 650 that I was eager to read and see what happened next.
The size of this book is off-putting, the
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style in which it is written I found to be hard work and the tying up of the loose connections in the last 30 odd pages after the courthouse scene just annoyed me. By that point I had pretty much worked it out for myself and really didn't want to know about the past - what i did want to know at that point is what the characters would do next. How would they move on?I did like the way the mystery unfolded and each time you found the answer to one question another question (or two) would crop up - and to be perfectly honest it was the need to know how certain things happened that kept me going.
A few things were left unexplained - what Moody saw in the hold of the boat??? what was that all about?
How did (illiterate) Anna manage to read a document that she had never seen? And then perfectly forge Staine's signature when she had barely even met the man let alone seen his signature? Or was that supposed to prove they where somehow linked / astrologically the same person / as stated by Lydia when she drew up their natal charts??
Did the Astrological stuff mean anything or was it just a tool for the writer to include otherwise imposible connections / conjunctions?
I read this for book club but if it wasn't for bookclub I would not have finished it. It really bogs down in part 2 & 3. The second half of part 3 and part 4 give you answers and pick up the pace but it was around page 650 that I was eager to read and see what happened next.
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LibraryThing member jerhogan
A worthy Booker winner. It's almost like a whodunnit. It peels back the details on some nefarious goings-on in New Zealand's 19th. century west coast gold fields. Although it's over 800 pages long in the paperback edition, Catton holds the interest throughout and draws the 15 or so main characters
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very well. Show Less
LibraryThing member Iudita
Based on some of the reviews found here, I wonder if this is the kind of book that you either love or hate. I loved it. I thought it was incredibly well constructed. I loved the characters, loved the plot. Loved the way it made me think. For me it was a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience.
LibraryThing member albertgoldfain
A very enjoyable and intricate whodunnit/howdunnit that is mapped on an intricate celestial schema. It reminds me of the Wandering Rocks episode of Ulysses, with the reader often tracking who knows what and when. The novel uses none of its 800 pages to develop a sense of place or setting, but these
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are completely delivered by its style. Finally the linear plot is told in bursts in the back half of the novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member michele.juza
Oh what a tale she weaves! I started this book & then had to put it aside. I read several books before I got back to it. But you can't change your status on Goodreads so it looks like it took me almost 2 months to read. It did not. . Anyway. This book was a slow burn. Took me until about page 200
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before I was sucked in. The writing is beautiful The story is told in such a manner that you're kept guessing. It's not a quick read but so worth the time that you invest in it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Romonko
This book is a tome for sure - 900 odd pages It is 2013's Booker Prize and Governor General's Literary Prize winner. And well-deserved. The book is long, but it kept me going through page after page. Ms. Catton's characters are truly wonderful and she pens a wonderful multi-faceted villain in
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Francis Carver. The story is sent in the mid 19th century and is set in the gold fields of New Zealand. Because the book is long it gives Ms. Catton time to draw and outline some great characters, and we get to know the 12 or 14 key players very well. There is history, mystery and even a spiritual element in this book. I couldn't put the book down and the reading of it went very quickly. I loved the first 850 pages very much. It was the last 50 or so that disappointed me. The ending left things up in the air to my way of thinking. Some of the story threads weren't explained to my satisfaction at the end. That is why I gave the book 4 starts rather than 5. But I loved the book. I loved the setting - a 19 th century gold rush boom town on the west coast of New Zealand. I loved the premise - the search for the particularly odious Captain Carver by all 12 colourful people in that small town. Each has their own reason to find the man, and each isn't that willing to share the real reason why they want to find the captain. The book is a rich tapestry, woven with colourful language, unique people and a tremendously tricky plot. I'm glad I took the time to read it. Show Less
Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 2013)
Women's Prize for Fiction (Longlist — 2014)
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2015)
The Morning News Tournament of Books (Short List — 2014)
Governor General's Literary Award (Finalist — 2013)
The Economist Best Books (2013.44)
British Book Award (Shortlist — 2013)
Maine Readers' Choice Award (Longlist — 2014)
Quill and Quire Book of the Year (Fiction — 2013)
CBC Bookie Awards (Nominee — 2014)
The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction (Shortlist — 2014)
Dylan Thomas Prize (Shortlist — 2014)
Australian Book Industry Awards (Shortlist — 2014)
New Zealand Post Book Award (Fiction and People's Choice — 2014)
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Historical Fiction — 2013)
Christian Science Monitor Best Book (Fiction — 2013)
Globe and Mail Top 100 Book (Fiction — 2013)
The Big Jubilee Read (2013 — 2012-2021)
Pages
848
ISBN
0316074314 / 9780316074315