The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton

Published by Victoria University Press: Wellington NZ, 2013. 

After my previous encounters with 'Booker books' I was really hoping for something good with The Luminaries.

It did not disappoint.

The story in itself, set in Hokitika, New Zealand during the gold rush of the 19th century, is enough to draw the reader in, with its central mysteries unfolding gradually but with just enough pace to keep the reader engaged. But the way it is structured adds so much to the reading experience!

As with Life and Times of Michael K, a little extra knowledge on a certain subject (in this case, astrology) would probably help understand the themes of the book better, but unlike the former book this one presents the reader with enough information about what is going on to highlight the theme. Therefore, even if (like myself) a reader comes to The Luminaries with very little understanding of the planetary movements in relation to the various constellations, the book in itself provides enough information to help them gather the idea of how those elements affect the plot, and the structure.

But more importantly, even without this knowledge, the story works on its own. I can understand that Emery Staines is represented by the moon, and that its position within a particular constellation highlights the influence a particular character will have over him at that point, but I don’t need to know that in order to enjoy the story. On the other hand, Life and Times was less enjoyable for me as a story once the parallels to The Trial were removed.

The way that The Luminaries is structured also helps the plot to stick with the reader more. There are layers and patterns to the story in the order that it is told. The miniseries based on this novel told the story in a far more chronological order and somehow lost some of that spark while retaining the bleakness.

Perhaps the scale I have to judge this book on (being a 'Booker book') has meant that I am overly positive about this book, but it is definitely my favourite Bookerworm read yet.

Completed 20 July 2017.

Previous Book ~ Next Book


(Bookerworm)

Previous Book ~ Next Book

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Various Picture Books

Image
As I said in my review of Peter Rabbit's Storytime Collection , I am wanting to find a way to acknowledge the books I read to Ezekiel without adding individual picture books to my reading list - I feel that would dilute it a bit much. So in this post, I've decided to look at a group of picture books all together. I've picked five picture books that I like (with a notable and noteworthy exception), and also asked Elise for five picture books she is  enjoying reading to Ezekiel. It's interesting (and helpful for this list) that our lists haven't overlapped at all this time around. So, here are ten picture books (plus one bonus 'book') that Ezekiel has been exposed to in the first 7ish months of his life: Karl's List Bunnies on the Bus - Philip Ardagh and (illustrator) Ben Mantle. Published by Walker Books Ltd: London, 2020 (2019). This is one of my favourites among our current picture books. A group of bunnies hijack a bus and hurtle through the town on th
Read more

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Image
Published by Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, NSW, Australia, 2008. Book snobs, block your ears. *whispers* I think the movie was better. Okay, book snobs, you can unblock your ears now. *waves to get the attention of book snobs* To be honest, a huge reason why I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at this moment in time was that I thought it would be funny to have two books with ridiculously long titles appear back-to-back in my list. For anyone who thought that there were super-deep reasons why I picked the books that I did, I hope this helps you see the error of your ways. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (which I am refusing to shorten for the rest of this review) still tells the same story as that in the movie adaptation (also called  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ), but does so in a less gripping (though still interesting) manner. This is for a few reasons: firstly,  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book is e
Read more

Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson

Image
Published by Tom Doherty Associates Books/TOR Fantasy: New York, 2014. Book 2 in 'The Stormlight Archives' series. Preceded by ' The Way of Kings .' Followed by (spin-off) ' Edgedancer ' and (main series) ' Oathbringer. ' Well, I finally read the second Stormlight book, this one even longer than the last  at a whopping 1080 pages, and once again found myself enjoying Sanderson's world immensely. The plot does take longer than strictly necessary in places - particularly in the storyline following Shallan Davar as she journeys towards the Shattered Plains - but overall is still a page-turner. By the middle of Words of Radiance our three main characters (Kaladin, Shallan and Adolin) are finally in the same location, something that was never achieved in the first book. In keeping them apart for so long, Sanderson is able to give his readers a real understanding of what makes each character tick, and this becomes quite interesting as when these character
Read more