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The Luminaries A Novel Man Booker Prize Eleanor Catton 9780316074315 Books

Download As PDF : The Luminaries A Novel Man Booker Prize Eleanor Catton 9780316074315 Books

The Luminaries A Novel Man Booker Prize Eleanor Catton 9780316074315 Books

I’ve never read a book quite like “The Luminaries,” an 840-page tale of skullduggery and betrayal in a gold rush town in New Zealand in the 1860s. it’s too long but when the last page is turned, you hunger for more. The story of fortunes made and fortunes lost is told backwards and forwards, circling around Eleanor Catton’s central insight that the pursuit of riches is a neverending story, revolving everywhere around us like the astral array. As she writes about her story: “…his narrative had been further convoluted by countless interruptions, clarifications, and echoes—all chasing one another, as endless circles, going round. What a convoluted picture it was—and how difficult to see—in its entirety!”

The characters who scrabble for gold in the Antipodean mud—and those who prey on them—are often venal, sometimes self-sacrificing, or both. There’s a whore with a heart of dross, a naïve greenhorn willing to do anything for a handful of pure, a local Mr. Big with many small schemes, a name-changing bounder, an identity thief, some claim-jumpers, a shipping clerk, a couple of Chinese, a Frenchman and a Maori. There’s a trunk full of gowns full of gold. There’s a shipwreck, a shiptheft, opium here and opium there, a dramatic séance, and a trial of the century…and it’s all governed by astrological predetermination—which is upside-down because everything happens in the Southern Hemisphere.

“The Luminaries” won Britain’s premier literary prize for its prodigiously talented 28-year-old author. If you have a spare week, read it.


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The Luminaries A Novel Man Booker Prize Eleanor Catton 9780316074315 Books Reviews

Gushing reviews are easy to write, (so are pans), but what to say when you know that a book is well written, innovatively and creatively structured, and is destined to be loved by many, but it just didn't appeal to you? "The Luminaries" by Eleanor Catton, is such a book. Short-listed for the Booker Prize, this novel, that weighs in at over 800 pages, takes a bit of a commitment to get into and, once invested, it must "grab" you to continue. I got half-way through and then had to have a "talk with myself" about continuing. It just isn't my kind of novel and continuing was going to take too much of my precious reading time. Yet, I was far enough in to see that its innovative style of folding back in on itself will appeal to many readers. It's like a complicated pastry; the plot is kneaded and folded to produce the confection intended. This is not a novel for readers who like their plots to be linear.

Catton's writing style is beautifully lush and vividly descriptive. Her descriptions of the myriad characters are wonderfully rendered both in the descriptions of their physical selves and of their inner selves. Catton also creates a unique and interesting setting of a New Zealand gold mining town in the mid-nineteenth century.

I'm posting this candidly honest review to help other readers ascertain if they are the type of reader who will enjoy this unique novel, or not.
This book immediately caught my eye based on its unique setting and structure and fun plot, and the fact that it won the Man Booker Prize. I decided to get this book (got the kindle version) despite reading some reviews that the book was "too long" or that characters "weren't developed" and I am SO GLAD that I did! I loved it! thrilling and engaging, with many interesting and diverse characters. The astrological structure superimposed over the plot added a larger meaning/purpose to the book that took it beyond a classic (albeit engaging) murder/blackmail mystery. I also had a very basic understanding of astrology but didn't feel that hampered my understand or enjoyment of the book. I enjoyed reading every second of it, and it was a very quick read despite its length due to the fact that most of it is engaging dialogue between characters. You might not get a super fairy-tale-ending resolution to all the character's storylines, but Catton's writing is truly brilliant. A perk of reading this on a kindle, is that you can click on the many character's names and be given a background on who they are and what astrological sign/planet they are associated with, and also be able to translate/define vocabulary words that are specific to New Zealand. I wish there was a translator for Maori though! I had to type the passages into google translate on my phone, not sure why the language wouldn't be included in the translator. Overall Very glad I read this book!! It is so complex, I could easily see myself reading it again and still getting new things out of it.
I’ve never read a book quite like “The Luminaries,” an 840-page tale of skullduggery and betrayal in a gold rush town in New Zealand in the 1860s. it’s too long but when the last page is turned, you hunger for more. The story of fortunes made and fortunes lost is told backwards and forwards, circling around Eleanor Catton’s central insight that the pursuit of riches is a neverending story, revolving everywhere around us like the astral array. As she writes about her story “…his narrative had been further convoluted by countless interruptions, clarifications, and echoes—all chasing one another, as endless circles, going round. What a convoluted picture it was—and how difficult to see—in its entirety!”

The characters who scrabble for gold in the Antipodean mud—and those who prey on them—are often venal, sometimes self-sacrificing, or both. There’s a whore with a heart of dross, a naïve greenhorn willing to do anything for a handful of pure, a local Mr. Big with many small schemes, a name-changing bounder, an identity thief, some claim-jumpers, a shipping clerk, a couple of Chinese, a Frenchman and a Maori. There’s a trunk full of gowns full of gold. There’s a shipwreck, a shiptheft, opium here and opium there, a dramatic séance, and a trial of the century…and it’s all governed by astrological predetermination—which is upside-down because everything happens in the Southern Hemisphere.

“The Luminaries” won Britain’s premier literary prize for its prodigiously talented 28-year-old author. If you have a spare week, read it.