The Luminaries

Just remembered I finished this last night in some kind of fugue state just before falling asleep after being awake for like 2 days? I got chills seeing what the last chapter was titled but frustratingly I never really understood what was happening with all the astrology. In fact I have many lingering questions in general. This book is really something tho. It did indeed take me over a month to read

This book could have benefited from being trimmed to a third of its length. I found reading it to the end to be a real chore and struggled to stay engaged with the unfolding mystery. The characters didn’t resonate with me, and the flowery writing style felt off-putting. I also couldn’t discern any significant connections to astrology or other references. Overall, I didn’t understand why it was awarded the Booker Prize.

Overstuffed yet thin, The Luminaries is an ambitious novel that doesn't pack enough of a punch to justify its 834 pages. It's immediately hobbled by a very slow 360-page Part One that establishes twenty(!) main characters before the reader has an adequate sense of their significance. Catton's narrative tendency is to rely much more heavily upon descriptions of past events (from many angles) than upon action in the present, giving the novel a churning feeling without much forward motion. As the characters' stories begin to weave together, their interconnections -- rather than the stories themselves -- prove to be the focus of the narrative. Thus none of the plot lines stand out by being richly developed, and the whole suffers for it.

A meandering tale of intruige and romance during the New Zealand gold rush. It has a Dickension feel to it, and Catton truely accells in putting us inside her characters minds. At times this was a bit trying, as we often take journies back in time to flesh out a character, rather than moving forward with the plot. While I would call the book immersive, it doesn't become a page turner until the last 150 pages or so. And by that end I will say Catton's carefully arranged domino's fall in a spectacular and satisfying manner. The final section of the novel is where she explores the most with style and beautifully as the reader, I found myself captivated as the author/character bridge becomes murky. It was not the beach read I expected it to be and it took me sometime to get into it, but absolutly worth the read.

This book is a Man Booker Prize winner, and with good reason. Eleanor Catton has realistically recreated the frontier world of 1860's New Zealand by dint of her extensive research, and her reading of contemporary documents. Her characters' speech and behavior are consonant with the era, and she creates a believable world in the streets of Hokitika and the nearby gold diggings. Her character development is compelling and clear, except in cases like Anna Wetherell where she purposefully remains obscure, and she builds a mystery that comes rushing to a conclusion in the last 50 pages or so. This was such an entertaining read, as she spun her tale with a few hints here, a few clues there; I was never bored. The love story of the two key characters was painted in such brevity, so late in the book, and with such deft strokes that it left me smiling, thinking of poetry rather than prose. Highly recommended.

I feel slightly churlish giving such an incredibly intricate and well written book so few stars, but unfortunately, I just didn't enjoy it all that much. There were too many characters introduced so slowly and in such detail I had forgotten who many of them were by the time they reappeared, and I spent a lot of time hoping for some kind of recap so I could once again get back on track with what was going on. Having started this while in New Zealand, it was fun trying to imagine the modern town of Hokitika reduced to such squalor and frenetic activity, like the antipodean version of the wild west. Catton certainly has a brilliant command of psychology and behaviour, imbuing all of her characters with unique and complex motivations. But the only one I really cared about was Staines, and the love story with him and Anna is certainly the highlight of the book. There are many good reviews elsewhere on Goodreads which elaborate on all the clever structural and astrological tricks that are employed throughout the novel, but most of them went over my head. It's not a great mystery, it's certainly not a page turner, and it's at least 300 pages too long. But I was still mightily impressed by it, while remaining mostly bored.

100% not what I was expecting, but I did enjoy this. Will probably not reread, but it was entertaining and full of interesting characters.

3.5

This was a book group read, and on discussing it I realised I'd missed part of the intention of the story (no spoilers). I couldn't help thinking this could have been avoided on the author's part. I couldn't really connect with this book, I found it had too many characters (which I've since learned there's a reason for), and none of them really had any real development or depth. The only one I remotely connected with was Anna. It was a good mystery which kept me turning pages, but overall a bit convoluted for my tastes, with no real clarity. It kind of feels like a lot of technicality and some plot dropped in the pages without much development. What I did like was the summarising every now and then which did help! I'm not sure it'll encourage me to pick up any more of her books though.

A circuitous, yet rigid structure make this book novel, unconventional, and absolutely riveting. It helps that the prose absolutely stunning. In a nested, Russian Doll type structure (because I just finished watching that show), we get the setup for the book in the longest section of it: the beginning. Every chapter in the start is from a different person giving details they know about the murder and circumstances only they are privy to, and believe to be true. Then each part jumps around in time and slowly reveals details, sometimes doubling back to help the reader out. Because it’s so intricate this is really needed too. When the first part summary was given by a character (seamlessly) I was thanking the lord. What I loved about this is the adherence to the structure, which must have been very difficult to write. In addition to the word/page count restrictions, every character is mapped out astrologically from birth chart and then the astrology pertinent to the location, time, and year are factored into the character design and plot. Which means they trade characteristics as they “bump” into one another; influence each other in ways they’re often unaware of. And it means, if you pay attention and know astrology, you’re clued in on a meta level what will happen, as every chapter has a brief summary and the relevant astrological information, and the reference for each character is in the preface glossary for their own information. Genius in of itself to be transparent with regards to astrology to the plotting of a book and the creation of characters. Readers usually want to not see the seams or the buttressing and the fiction, or the lies, to be as believable or “realistic” as possible. Yet this eschews that completely. We know the writing of this is structured and designed and practiced. Some reviewers, and people in general I know, don’t like the idea of “fate” because it means there is no free will. But that is simplistic and wrong, because fate IS a man made construction, should it exist. The predestination occurs because we make those decisions. It doesn’t mean we don’t have a choice, it follows our act and the larger pattern emerges. This actually shows, if anything, that within the fiction characters can _break_ their fate. The exchange of qualities and attributes charts a new path. The importance is in people finding one another and breaking all manner of chains; seen or unseen, forged by man or otherwise. Needless to say, conventional readers will hate this with a passion, I think. It is not particularly concerned with conveying an empirical truth to the reader regarding what happens. You can get the truth of some events, from a certain point of view. Others you have to infer. Still others, you must take on blind faith. Or, at least, take the blind faith of a character as true, because it is why they do The Thing that they do. Intrinsic to their own motivations and actions is the same faith the readers put in a construction like this novel. Like always, when form meets function I glow with joy for the thing, as I do this. And unconventional too. So much to admire about this. For those that say it’s not concerned with character, I laugh! The only thing that matters in this entire book is the characters. They do exchange qualities and, in the end, it is only about souls that come together.

Dickensian in scope and quality of writing. A Man Booker Prize winner and I can see why. HOWEVER, my enjoyment was affected by the ending which I felt was rushed and not worthy of the rest of the book.

It's really a 3,5. The plot is not bad. Setting is interesting enough. Characters are okay. Right from the start I felt that it was written in a way that was simply trying too hard. Several times I had to reread entire paragraphs due to the absurd style of writing, it was simply not written to be understood. Naturally, I was not overly excited to sit down and dive into the story further so it took me quite some time to make progress. Around 500 pages in it got really good! However, that's not really acceptable, is it? It left me confused and with a feeling of missing out. I am sure it would benefit from a reread at some point. Would I recommend it? Yeah, but don't expect it to blow your mind.

On the surface, it's a very hectic Victorian sensation novel, which is great, because when your book is long enough to serve as a doorstopper, you kind of need it to be a page-turner too. I liked the plot well enough, and the structure of the book is very clever (dead giveaway as to the educational pedigree of the author) - the rapidly diminishing chapters, especially after the 'crux' (again, clever, since the book is set in the southern hemisphere, where the word 'crux' has a special astrological significance) of the novel, (view spoiler)[where we return to 1865, (hide spoiler)] adds to the sense of urgency (and dissatisfaction) as we uncover the final details. The astrological setup of the novel was initially compelling to me, as I have a keen interest in astrology, but it soon veered off into irrelevancy. I do like the designation of star signs to characters, and the interaction of the planetaries with the houses and the signs was apt at first...until we got about halfway through, when it became apparent to me that the astrology thing was kind of gimicky because after that point any real reliance on the position of the planets in the signs would have drastically skewed the plot. The gimmick also disguises the laziness in character design, which conjured the same old stock characters one might find in any sensation novel. A "wretched" Victorian-era sex worker to represent the moon? Groundbreaking. The strictness of the 'waning' structure (where each part is half the length of the last, much like the waning of the moon) is at the cost of readability; I felt like I was reading only to resolve the mystery, but a summary of the facts is all that you really get out of chapters that follow the trial. The initial attention to the attributes of the signs and the planets is soon lost, and the characters that had been so carefully assembled in the beginning become flimsy or altogether irrelevant. This is a pity, because the ensemble cast is used so transparently and instrumentally to carry forth the plot, which in turn is just about the only thing that carries the novel. Meanwhile, each part of the book continues to open with a chart of the sky - I kept track of these as I read on, and this was rewarding in the beginning, where 'Mercury and Mars in Capricorn' resulted in interactions between Moody and Carver with Gascoigne, but the shift back in time made it too apparently that these charts were meaningless in the latter half of the book. Further, Jupiter in Sagittarius, or Saturn in Virgo occurred in almost every chart - which is a given, since the outer planets move so slowly - but this was not reflected in the story itself. The associated houses of each sign also proved to be much less relevant than the chart at the beginning of the book suggests; for example, the man representing Scorpio, the eighth house, the house of death and reincarnation, is associated with the Opium Den - but this is wholly insignificant in the novel; in fact, Pritchard is the druggist, and is only tangentially associated with that place through being its supplier! Felt a bit forced, and too convenient. Although I recognise the efforts to incorporate different cultures of signification and augury, references to the Chinese cosmology of the Five Elements/Planets, and the symbolism of various metals such as silver (associated with the moon/Anna), copper (with Venus/Lydia), tin (Jupiter/Lauderbacker), etc., were not done justice because of the waning structure of the novel. For this reason, I feel like the book held together remarkably well only in the first half. As someone who really was interested in the astrology underpinning the book, I found myself disappointed by the shallowness of the entire thing. By the very end, it seemed more like Catton was just picking and choosing various phrases and words associated with astrology that had even a vague relationship with the particular chapter she was writing. All in all, it ultimately felt more like a gimmick and less like a profound organising principle. I suppose if you chose to read it that way, the move away from following the sky charts could be a comment on the nature of fate and determination, but there's little to encourage a prioritisation of that reading. You can tell this book was written by a Creative Writing major. I'm an English major, so perhaps that's why I do appreciate the novel to some extent. Despite its shortcomings, I did enjoy the book and found it hard to put down - I noted every single aspect and detail that I could possibly find from the book, and made many connections and speculations of my own based on those astrological details and my own knowledge of astrology. It was just an unfortunate symptom of the structure of the book that my attentiveness (and pages of notes) was not ultimately rewarded. I probably wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't enjoy astrological detective work; it's certainly very clever, but its cleverness is to its own detriment. The things that I enjoyed about the first half of the book were soon forsaken for an adherence to structure. It is surely a well-researched book, and the plot is sensational enough to be diverting. As a sensation novel alone, I would definitely not have touched this book, and I don't feel like the astrological aspect is really enough to satisfy either. It's nice window dressing, but I wouldn't call it deep.

Great god almighty! I love a good five star book! New Zealand gold mining! Opium addicts! Seances! And clever intersecting tales involving whores, Chinamen, plenty of bad guys, and at least one level headed misplaced attorney. Now I have to read that first book Ms. Catton wrote. She makes words pretty.

I'd been both recommended to read this book very strongly (a favourite of some of my Goodreads friends) and to steer clear of this book (from a friend who studied this time period and a coworker with a background in English Literature). I decided that since I have not studied the history of mid-nineteenth century New Zealand, and even though I studied English Lit, I would be safe to enjoy it as a work of fiction since others praised it so highly. The murder mystery part was slightly intriguing, and Catton is a good writer but I think she got way too caught up in explaining little details that weren't really necessary and I got bored of the main plot about half-way through. My main complaint was everything to do with the astrology which is why this book gets 1 star. The astrology aspect is supposed to be the unique symbolism of every character and the events of the novel. Interesting idea, but I just wasn't buying it. I could see what she was trying to do - drawing on the stereotypes for character traits and motivations, having the cycle of the moon be related to the chapter's main focus based on the character with their corresponding astrological sign, as well as the themes for certain chapters being related to astrological personality traits. But it was just so "in your face" that everything seemed forced to me and I just didn't believe in the veracity of the background anymore. I heard it was supposed to be something subtle that you really have to work at to understand, and maybe I'm misunderstanding something here, but everything about the astrology just didn't work for me.

This book seems to have some mixed reviews on this here website... But I quite enjoyed it! I very much enjoyed the slow unfurling of the many threads that pertain to the central mysteries. Sort of fern-like, wouldn't you say? I don't think it is simply the best thing I've ever read. I felt very much as if I was reading a 'story' and not very much of it resonated with me in a way I'd expect a book with a Booker award attached to it to do. But it was very enjoyable. So many mysteries that revealed more complications when unpacked even a little bit!

3.5/5 A clandestine meeting of twelve men spins the wheel of fortune. To eliminate the difficulties of remembering the vast amount of characters, start reading when you have plenty of initial uninterrupted time, in order to be swept along on a tide of characterisation and tantalising plot developments that click into place like an intricate Victorian clock. The effect is invigorating. Written as an ode to Victorian literature, to me, having read Bleak House immediately before this, I think Catton hasn't quite captured the spirit of its antecedents. The language I felt, left something to be desired which I found majorly problematic. Man Bookers are normally hit and miss for me. This was neither. It was good, yes, but it could've been great. More of a page turner than a beautifully written literary tome, which is why, I preferred both A Tale for the Time Being and The Testament of Mary. Nethertheless, I can understand why some people love it as it is highly addictive and with this being a debut novel, I look forward to reading what Catton publishes next. A game of Cluedo.

This beautiful novel combines all my favorite genres (literary and historical fiction, mystery, love story, fantasy/magical realism) into an intricate puzzle. The prose is elegant, mimics 19th century novelistic style perfectly, and sweeps in and out of character perspectives or omniscient narrator with playful exuberance. The character descriptions and the novel's analysis of their psyche, mannerisms, and how they are perceived by others in very different ways are simply breathtaking - the novel has a LOT of main characters and yet I feel as if I know each of them well. There are star charts at the beginning of each little section, which are also the seed out of which the story and its characters have emerged: the author started this by calculating the star charts for this small period of time in 19th century New Zealand, and then interpreted each constellation, planet and house into the people and locations of this novel, which culminates (non-chronologically) with the meeting of the sun and moon, personified as two characters. What happens in this small town is mirrored in the movement of constellations and planets above and vice versa. But you can enjoy the novel without paying much attention to this aspect. While written in a gripping style similar to a thriller, it's not about finding out exactly how someone died, it's more about how we circle each other, touch each other's lives in ways that have a myriad cascading consequences, how we see ourselves and how others see us, if it's possible to know each other, the value of honesty, and so much more. I never felt the novel's length (over 800 pages) - in fact, I kept dreading its end, wanting it to be longer just so that I could keep reading. Regarding the audio book narration: I read some parts and listened to others and enjoyed the narration overall. Some aspects of it are just brilliant, e.g. his English, Irish, Scottish, Chinese and Maori accents all sounded great to me (but as a foreigner I'm not the best judge of accents). My one point of criticism is how the narrator chose to portray Lydia Wells: as an over-the-top, villainous caricature who would never convince, seduce or manipulate anyone with that obvious villain voice. Moreover, it cheapens and reduces the subtle, ambiguous characterization of the novel to something lesser. Why lay it on so thick in the audiobook narration? There was no need. Overall, if you enjoy historical novels of great complexity, subtlety, adventure, philosophy and literary merit (this has won the Man Booker prize), then I highly recommend picking it up. I've seen a few reviews claim that it has plot holes, but I haven't found any: if you pay close attention, keep in mind that people lie or conceal details, and realize that the explanation for some of the occurrences is a supernatural one, it all fits together like clockwork in the end. And if that sounds very dry and mathematical: not at all, the book is actually very moving in so many scenes. But if you're just looking for a simple whodunnit and dislike complicated plots, then you won't like it: the mysteries are like a magician's clever, dazzling distraction while Catton is actually doing something deeper. I really loved this novel and was wowed by its brilliance and masterful execution. It's my new favorite!

Absolutamente genial! Um livro com mais de 800 páginas, mas que foi uma delícia de ler do início ao fim. O poder narrativo de Catton é absurdo. The Luminaries é um quebra-cabeça infinito; a cada página são reveladas novas peças, só para descobrirmos logo em seguida que essas elas não se encaixam, são absolutamente falsas ou, então, pertencem a um outro quebra-cabeça absolutamente distinto. Mesmo assim, cada revelação me deixou completamente animada, revoltada e, sobretudo, investida nessa trama brilhante proposta por Carver. Amei estar inserida nesse universo da corrida do oura na Nova Zelândia no século XIX com todas as suas intrigas e personagens inesquecíveis. Não posso deixar de dizer que estou devastada por ter terminado de ler essa história. Assim que li a última página fiquei com uma vontade imensa de que o livro tivesse mais 800 páginas. Agora, só me resta procurar desesperadamente algum livro que se compare com essa obra prima. Perfeito demais.

Mesterlig gjennomført!

Summary description: One of the best books I've read this year, albeit long but a hugely entertaining and mystified story that unravels itself in a peculiar yet outstanding way. Think How to Get Away With Murder mixed with True Grit. Score: 5/5 Originally disheartened by the bulk of the book and the reviews, I've set it aside but now I wished I hadn't! This book is an outstanding piece of literature, personally it was like watching a full season of some mystery crime tv show rather than a solitary book/story. So many characters and so many strings, as you venture on the plot thickens like sweet honey and the TEA is major. Warm enough to keep you sipping without boring you or throwing you off. The story follows Walter Moody, a young man set to make his fortunes in the gold business in Hokititka, New Zealand. A few days after his arrival on January 14th 1886, while he's lounging at his hotel's lobby/social space he is approached by a man named Thomas Balfour. Thomas is joined by other 12 men all in the same space, and all intertwined together by the mystery and death recently occurred in town. Thomas thinks now that Moody may be the perfect P.O.V that is needed to settle the objective truth, since Moody has no affiliations or connections of any kind. He has recently arrived in town with no prior relationships and on top of that he is an educated scholar and barrister as such his position granted him the ability to look into matters without subjectivity. And thus the story starts here as Moody accepts Thomas's preposition and is told about 3 main occurrences: 1. A old hermit named Crosbie Wells is found dead at his cottage (although ruled as death by alcoholic intoxication there is reason to believe it may be a murder) 2. A wealthy young man named Emery Staines is missing 3. A prostitute named Anna Wetherell has almost overdosed and her sentence was ruled as a suicide (although she claims she never attempted to take her life...) All three are interrelated and all 12 men in that hotel are also involved in at least one if not all 3 of the occurrences. Apart from these men we have other significant power characters that come into play, and either cause a consequence or suffer from it. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, contrary to many I never found it boring and was intrigued by the very beginning. However those who don't have a liking to astrology would not enjoy this book, as the author heavily emphasise that the characters and events in hand are related to the zodiacs, the houses, and the planets. Eleanor Catton began each chapter with a naval chart indicating the rulings and the horoscopes. I loved how I saw aesthetics of the zodiacs in each of the character, so it was fun to see the zodiacs personified (I'm kind of a zodiac fanatic but I don't believe in them). I loved how this book was written, the twists and turns came at you and you went into one part of the book with a judgement only to come out with a totally different one! The whole picture was wrapped up nicely and I got to feel the tingles on my fingertips as I nearly reached the end. I think the writing was really organized and the story really well written. I could totally see why this won The Man Booker Prize. As for characters, though Francis Carver is being told as the main antagonist I can't help but vehemently loathe Lydia, (view spoiler)[ She actively manipulates young women to traffic themselves and sell their bodies by putting them in situations where they are vulnerable, as Crosbie Wells commented " She's raising your value," "the longer they (the men) have to wait, the more you'll fetch, when it comes time to go to market". I know absolutely disgusting. Furthermore, she drugs her male customers and robs them blind all while having this airy cheer of a meek silly girl. Yet she has the audacity to call out Francis about him being "cruel", placing herself as only an "enterprising woman". Woman you are just as evil, vile, and wicked. (hide spoiler)]. Do I recommend? Definitely if you love a slow burn mystery and an affinity for astrology and horoscopes.

i used to see this book so often in different bookshops and always thought the cover art was so beautiful. the lenght of it (707 pages) always made me leave it there tho. but then i found it in our local library not long ago and picked it up. and now after three weeks im finally finished with it so here r my thoughts: -the atmosphere and setting of the book were the main things that made get trough it even in the not so enternaining parts. it’s so gloomy, dark, sometimes even scary, it’s just so mysterious and beautiful. - as i mentioned, some of the parts, especially in the beggining weren’t as entertaining to me. the story seemed super complicated and i had to really focus on it, the names were also a mess and i kept forgetting who is who :d - the parts that got me into the story and really made me fall in love with it and be excited for it were somewhere right after the start. when i started understanding the characters and their individual stories and how the whole mystery unfolds. the pieces fell together, the story-telling never missed anything and there aren’t any holes in the story which i really appreciate, considering how complex it is. - from reviews i saw online, many people didn’t quite appreciate the astrological side of the story - the characters representing signs and planets and the plot being in correlation to astrological movements. i actually thought that it was such a cool concept and idea! it was so original and a beautiful touch to the book. i feel like it’s really interesting, even if astrology isn’t your thing. overall - i loved the atmosphere and the story but i think sum of the parts were too methaphorical and not needed in the story. it is such an autumnal book tho and im very happy i read this unique masterpiece right as the fall begins. :)