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    The Luminaries
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    The Luminaries
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    The Luminaries
    Ebook1,033 pages25 hours

    The Luminaries

    By Eleanor Catton

    4/5

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVictoria University Press
    Release dateMay 1, 2014
    ISBN9780864739469
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    The Luminaries

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    Reviews for The Luminaries

    4/5

    1,035 ratings131 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Very interesting way to telling a story. Not sure about the ending, and it seems at the end, the chapters get shorter and shorter signing that the author was tire of the story as well? There are some flaw at the plot that I am not conveniced (Stain's disapperance and reappearance), but the twist and turn is well layed out and kept my attention.
    • 5/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      This is an amazing book. I was a bit daunted by the size of the paperback. Over 800 pages! And immediately I am faced with a list of characters that only just fits onto one page. The wonder of this book is that Eleanor Catton manages to keep the story flowing and gradually unfolding to the very past page, by which time, I had followed every loose thread and red herring and, enabled by Catton's superb design, tied them all together.Interesting to read this so soon after "The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka". Unlike that tome this is a work of fiction but everything about the story and its settings rings true. Evidence of thorough research and an amazing knowledge for an author only in her early twenties when she wrote this.Precocious and talented. I look forward to reading her more.
    • 4/5
      Set in a New Zealand goldrush town in the 1860s, this historical novel is full of intrigue. It starts with a clandestine meeting of men from various walks of life discussing recent events. There is a disappearance, a possible suicide, missing shipments, gold sewn into dresses, fake identities, opium smoking and prostitution. It is a thick book so you need to commit to it, but the story is fairly compelling. I am not sure how the zodiac diagrams relate but they aren't essential to the story. In revealing the story the author used flashbacks at the end of the book which were great but somewhat confusing. Overall, I found it to be a great read.
    • 5/5
      wonderfully written, but got long and some what tedious midway through. Hard to follow in the beginning, had to keep notes.Mystery set in gold rush in New Zealand
    • 5/5
      This was an engrossing book. The author is a great storyteller, and knows how to draw in the reader to what is a very involved story. The end is a bit unconventional, and I didn't really understand its significance until I woke up in the middle of the night and it all made sense. This is not a book for someone looking for some light reading, but the investment of time is worth it -- the language is beautiful, the plot (or plots) engrossing, and the character development superb.
    • 5/5
      Originally composed 10/13/13 on goodreads.comThe Luminaries is, I think, a historic literary achievement. If it doesn't win this year's Man Booker Prize, you'll be able to knock me over with a feather. Yeah, that's the most polite way to put it. I cannot wait to read this novel again. It's a pleasure to read, and it bears substantial scholarly scrutiny as a work of literary art.I've commended novelists for their ambition in some of my previous reviews. Eleanor Catton's ambition is revealed first by the somewhat abstract astrological structure she sets up for her work -- it's the kind of move a book meant merely to entertain does not dare. It reminds me somewhat of James Joyce's modeling his masterwork about June 16th in the life of Dedalus and Bloom, Ulysses, after Homer's Odyssey. While Catton's pretense does not match that of Joyce, her execution of her work places it squarely within the same tradition of masterful examples of the novel.Also, as a sidenote, I found that some of Catton's prose reminded me of Joyce's in the penultimate catechism-type episode in Ulysses. I did not do a close side-by-side comparison, but that was the impression that jumped to the front of my mind as I read. In its scope and achievement, this work also calls to mind George Eliot's Middlemarch.To speak more of The Luminaries on its own terms, as really I ought:--There's poetry in this prose; it's everywhere evocative.--The narrative voice is free and easy; Catton doesn't give the sense that she's trying too hard. To write such a complex and masterful work so confidently blows my mind. If I were to characterize her narrative style altogether in a few words I would choose: playful, with an affectionate disposition to reader and the narrative itself.--Like other great novels I've mentioned in this review, it unites macroscopic and microscopic views of its subject matter and does so in a circumscribed setting in terms of time and place. This focuses the range of detail and ultimately epic effect of the work.The Luminaries is resplendent; you won't want to miss it, dear readers. All you English majors, dust off your rigorous analytical skills, and all you lovers of literature, dust off that part of your heart that feels great books. Some classic literature is happenin' here!I hope this helps; thanks for reading my ideas. Please be advised I read an electronic galley by generous permission of the publisher Little, Brown and Company.
    • 4/5
      The Big Sleep is a great crime novel even though its author forgot to solve one of the murders. By contrast, this instant classic is intricately plotted - so many characters with so many secrets, each piecing together the jigsaw from different corners. It can seem impossible to keep track of who knows what about whom, but that's part of the fun in this expertly-written doorstopper - and that's just taking it as a basic Victorian pastiche. The astrology was mostly over my head (get it?), but I enjoyed the structural gymnastics of chapters waning like the moon. A superb shaggy dog story.
    • 1/5
      I tried. I really did. I made it halfway thru the book & decided I couldn't dedicate any more hours of my life to a story that I am so disinterested in reading.
    • 5/5
      Had I read The Luminaries with no prior knowledge of its author or date of publication, I would have believed it to be a work of 19th century British literature. Yet extraordinarily gifted writer Eleanor Catton is a New Zealander in her mid-twenties. How astonishing!

      Ms. Catton has crafted 830 pages of intrigue with a large cast of richly-drawn characters that will no doubt, when its announced television miniseries is produced, represent an employment opportunity for British actors not witnessed since the Harry Potter series concluded.

      I was loathe to leave her world of the 1860s New Zealand gold rush, and even when I reluctantly set the story aside to attend to such mundane tasks as eating, I imagined the streets of my town had transformed to those of Hokitika, and I considered which dining establishment might receive my custom for the evening.

      Ms. Catton takes care to introduce each character with a comprehensive description of appearance, personality, and motivations. Some are endearing, some are villainous. Some meet with the fates they deserve, some do not. Most early mysteries are explained, but there are a few blanks the reader will need to fill in with her own imagination.

      I have only two quibbles with this hefty novel. First, the astrological structure was beyond my comprehension so I don't know if I missed some important meaning. Second, the dust jacket (of the American version) referred to it as a "ghost story", so I spent the entire novel wondering when the ghost would appear. I believe I know the "apparition" that elicited this description, but having finished the story, I wouldn't qualify it as a ghost, unless it is part of the meaning I fear I have lost by not being a student of astrology.
    • 4/5
      A book worth reading just because it is so original.
    • 4/5
      Almost too complicated, but still a great read. Set in New Zealand in the 1800's, the story unfolds bit by bit and not in any particular order. Twelve men gather in a hotel and tell of a mysterious story: a prospector dead in his cabin, a mysterious amount of gold found, a prostitute almost dead of overdose of opium, a man who goes by two names and on and on. The characters could be straight out of Dickens: a shipping agent, scheming lady fortune teller, a Frenchman, a Jewish newspaper man, a deacon, a chemist, a goldfields magnate, a Chinese goldsmith, a naive banker, a opium den operator, and a hotelier. Each with distinct characteristics and personalities, each with his or her own motives either good or bad. The book is a mystery, a historical novel, and an oftentimes funny parody of a nineteenth century novel. Way too complicated to explain. Great writing with characters easy to imagine.
    • 3/5
      I found Catton's book fascinating at first. For the first time ever, I had to stop reading (at around 120 pages) to grab a paper and pencil and map out each character, their relationships with each other, and what they knew or had done. After I got that all straightened out, I read on, delighted with the beautiful writing, the complexity of the multilayered plot and interesting characters. After a while though, my fascination began to dwindle. I became bored at times with the intimate details and resentful because I knew if I started scanning I would miss an important clue! I think the novel was just too long to really hold it all together. That being said, I have immense respect for Cannon as a writer and marvel at her ability to hold such a complex novel together. Would I recommend this book? Only to people who I know could appreciate the complexity of the plot, beauty of the writing, and don't mind carving through an intregal denseness.
    • 3/5
      This book is about sex, drugs and crime in 19th century New Zealand with an added measure of ghost story. It does a lot to capture the atmosphere and introduces a large number of characters. It is cleverly constructed so that characters correspond to the alleged traits of astrological signs. In part it's a whodunit, but not all questions will be answered.I'm not the first to say that people either seem to love this book or hate it. What it did to me was that I became really annoyed. Certainly, Eleanor Catton did a great feat in constructing the book so that chapters are getting shorter emulating the phases of the moon or whatever. But the side effect is that what started as a really gripping and highly interesting story becomes a rather tedious technical exercise. Had I stopped reading on page 700, I guess I still would have liked it. Without giving any spoilers I can only tell you that there is nothing new, nothing you would not have already guessed after page 700, and the more interesting riddles still remain unsolved.There's another thing I found annoying. Many of the characters are really interesting, but the book focuses instead on the two (at least, in my view) most boring ones (again, not my own words: the whore/angel theme isn't the most exciting one).
    • 4/5
      Holy plotting, Batman!

      This book is complex. The first third I basically spent trying to keep the characters and who knew what and how they were interrelated straight in my head.

      I initially picked this up because I have a strong interest in astrology, I loved seeing how she had characterised the planets, signs and houses and especially how she had the plot points aligning with where these planets were in signs/houses (e.g. When Te Rau kills Carver, Te Rau - Aries, was in Mars - Carver). I loved the parts each half the length of the previous, waning like the moon. The twinship themes/outer and inner spheres. Seriously, the conceptual plotting here is insane. The fact she could get a story in around it is almost secondary!

      I can see the arguments that this book was "about nothing" because it really was a slice of life/interesting sequence of events that was unravelled beautifully. It was a weaving of a tale, literally, she links and threads the individual character tales in with one another beautifully. I think it's missing the point of the book to whinge that it all ties up in the end and seems pointless. The fact that she ties it all up beautifully is to me a triumph. There's nothing left over after the last page.

      I didn't really like her character presentation, I liked the breadth of insights she provided about them - about their psychological perspectives, how they presented themsleves to the world and how they thought - but I didn't like how they were presented. For some reason it felt odd being told for paragraphs how a man is under certain circumstances, or what he thinks of himself. It worked with the style of the piece, which Catton presented impeccably, but I don't know whether I was a fan.

      I can see why this won the Booker. It's absolutely my example piece for how to do intricate, high-concept plotting. I don't know if I could ever do it, but I'm awed by it. Someone asked me if I'd read it again and I said "no", because this book was an experience, and it was tough at times. It's long, it's historical and it's complex. For me it was heavy literary reading and I wanted something pulpy immediately afterwards. But I'm glad I read it, I enjoyed it for what it was and was thoroughly impressed by it's technical skill. Catton understands her artform cold.

      There's work here, and it's a beautiful piece of work.
    • 5/5
      Another one that (just about) managed to live up to the hype, which is saying something. I didn't even attempt to understand the astrological structure, but even without that it was an ambitious and mostly convincing period yarn. The first 300 pages or so are dense and intricate and require some concentration, but I was really drawn in after that - so probably a good book to take on holiday.
    • 4/5
      Set in the 1800s during the gold rush in New Zealand, Walter Moody discards his legal background in England to suffer through a harrowing sea journey to try his luck at panning gold. Upon his arrival, he steps into a bar and walks into what a secret meeting between 12 men. When they find out that he's just traveled on a particular ship and what he considered a horrific event on the ship, he gains their full attention. Before long, they are regaling him with individual narratives where it slowly becomes clear that through the death of one individual, the sale of his cottage, the discovery of blocks of gold, an ex-prostitute and a previously unknown wife, they are all connected. The individual stories, the unraveling of the mystery and the connectivity between the men were so captivating that I found it really hard to put the book down when I had to address the more important obligations in my life. The book is a commitment because it's about 800 pages long, but it's a worth the time I invested in it.
    • 3/5
      I found this book quite confusing! It does seem very well written, but the constantly jumping backwards and forwards in each persons story I found a bit annoying. It is as others comment on, very mathematical in the way it is set up with the signs of the zodiac etc (I am not sure if I missed something there!) And I was very disappointed with the ending, you felt you were sort of hurtling towards something and then all of a sudden, whoops you had got there and nothing was really happening! As I have said I didn't really get it, and I am not sure was it me? or the way the book was written? Pity as it was such a long and complicated read.
    • 5/5
      In the beginning of Eleanor Catton's book, I was finding the writing style confusing and a little ponderous. Who are these people? Why are they here together? How do they relate to eachother? Do they all play a part in the same story? Still, the book won the Man Booker Prize of 2013 - there has to be a reason! So, I kept going.I am so happy I did. This story, set in the New Zealand Gold Rush of the 1860's introduces us to a cast of characters who are not always what they seem. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? The author tells her story from the viewpoint of many of the characters, each in turn. Each of them has experienced the same events. Each of them has a different way of looking at it. A young, wealthy, missing man; an opium addicted young prostitute almost dead of an apparent suicide attempt; a fortune in missing gold; a dead hermit in a cabin; a fortune telling con artist and her cruel seafaring husband; a Chinese opium dealer with revenge on his mind; a naive banker... so many more and Catton has woven and interwoven them into a wonderfully rich and seamless story. Catton's chapters start out lengthy and shorten as you go along so that at the end you feel as though you are hurtling to a conclusion with barely time to catch your breath!I found out on the dust jacket that The Luminaries is Catton's second book - I am resolved to read the first one!
    • 4/5
      This was a long book, and after hearing it reviewed I was not sure that I would like it but I did and the characters have stayed with me. I could not relate to any of the astrological devices but I found that it did not matter to me. It was an engrossing mystery and being a kiwi and knowing the area where the story took place was a bonus.The only issue I had was that I could not always remember who knew what in the large list of characters and had to retrace my steps. But I would recomment this book and thought it deserved to win the Man Booker prize.
    • 4/5
      Reading this epic tale of hope, betrayal, loyalty, and above all destiny, was something of a roller coaster ride. At times the mystery of death and disappearance was completely engrossing, at times it was a little tedious. The creative structural theme of astrology was at once a fascinating nuance and at times s bit of a nuisance. I have a vision of this author with a computer spreadsheet in front of her to keep the facts and fictions within the story from confusing her. I could have used one at times. The consistently marvelous part of this book was the character development. The planetary versus stellar characters, and their intertwined relationships were elegantly constructed. The fact of the matter is that this novel will stay with me for a long time, yet I do not see it as a classic over time due to the confusing complexity of the plot.
    • 1/5
      Picked it up because it looked fascinating, but I absolutely could not get into it! I abandoned it after 10-20 pp. I do NOT see how it won all those awards! Absolutely dense and turgid style. Astrology would have been a point in its favor; I'm interested in astrology insomuch as its effect on personality traits.
    • 4/5
      I talked about this book a lot. I read it quickly. I was invested in the main story. Or, what I thought was the main story. The sketches of the main actors in the conspiracy are an absolute joy to read - fantastic writing. But the resolution is not on the level of the beginning, which is rather jarring, and unsatisfying. It feels incomplete, even though what turns out to be the actual main story is well resolved (well, mostly), and there probably is no need for more to be written about the beginning. The supernatural elements pissed me off, but I won't say any more about that right now.So, I'm torn. If the last 100 pages had been like the rest, I'd give it 4.5 with little hesitation. As things stand now, it's much more like a 3.8. Maybe after some reflection I'll improve my rating.4 stars oc, mostly on the strength of the writing and the energy of her imagination.
    • 4/5
      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 very well.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      A story about crimes, where criminals are sometimes less criminal than normal people and sometimes are worse. You have to read to the end to know what has happened and even then you still have the feeling that all those innocent people did not tell the truth. The book is well written, I enjoyed reading it. The story climbes to a climax somewhere in the middle. And then, when you wonder how the writer will keep this tension, the story relaxes a bit so that the reader can recover. Because he has to climb more mountains before the story is over. The last part is down hill, it confirms what you think and relaxes the reader. The end is a natual stop.
    • 3/5
      A great big book with a surprisingly small mystery at its heart. I desperately wanted to like this sprawling historical novel, and there are some interesting plot devices and structural elements, but overall, it just didn't do much for me at all. I wanted more character development, less bloat, and, well, something a little more exciting to happen. That said, I'll certainly want to read more from Catton, though: when she's at her best, her writing is a delight.
    • 5/5
      If I could find a stead stream of books of this quality, I would be one happy boy. It seems that sometimes I spend as much time searching for a good read as I do reading a book. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read that seemed to go by fast, even at 800 pages. I did not have to make myself continue on, as often happens. I was drawn back daily to dig in and emerse myself in the story.
      There are times when I like to think that with the right idea and time, place, etc. that I could somehow write a story that is interesting enough to read, but then there are other times, as when I read a book on the caliber of Ms. Catton novel, that I am amazed at the mind and talent that is in a truly good novel. This book made me stop several times and reread a paragraph or 2 just for the simple joy of experiencing a well expressed thought. Ms. Cattons story writing is a thing of beauty, not overshadowed by the finest poet, but the complexity of her characters, their interraction with each other,their motives, weaknesses, and hidden agendas were woven together like a fine tapestry. The structure of the book was also complex, moving from place to place, time to time and back again, but never losing the reader in the process.
      Its now time to begin the search again, but now the search becomes even more difficult, as I have once again spent time in a story that we all hope to find. This book should remain relevant and enjoyable for a long time to come.
    • 5/5
      I rate this highly just for the skills that Eleanor Catton has to have to be able to produce this 830 page novel. It is incredibly detailed and a work of a great talent. The story that has the 1860's New Zealand gold rush as the background is very complex. Basically it involves many characters and involves greed, murder, theft, love etc. It is told in a style of the great 19th century novelists. It is not easy to follow the plot and you can probably find some inconsistencies but if you like a great story and an author with a wild imagination and skills to match then consider this novel. I did read her first novel " The Rehearsal" which is totally different and I liked that very much. It should be noted that she is only 28 and is the youngest winner of the Man Booker Prize. I recently read " The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt which is also very long and ended up winning the Pulitzer Prize and was not, in my opinion, nearly as good as this book. I find awards help the reader distinguish choice among the multitude of books that come out every year, but they sometimes tend to be somewhat arbitrary and probably very political However, they are a good starting point if you are looking for a book to read.
    • 3/5
      I finally finished this book and the only reason I did was because I bought it instead of borrowing it. No more buying the Booker or Giller prize winners.This story is too long by half and the plots are so convoluted that it was impossible to figure out who did what to whom. I still can't figure out the ending!!! The book is very well written and the characters are well developed. This is about 12 different folks involved int the gold rush in New Zealand in 1865 nd 1866. It involves murder, thefts, misrepresentations, cons and false identities. If it had been half the length, it might have been endurable. There are too many characters and the story lines are very muddled. I don't recommend this unless you are extremely patient