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prodilosso 's review for:
Birnam Wood
by Eleanor Catton
A modern eco thriller set in rugged New Zealand. Terrific. The anti-capitalist NZ young people are pitted against an American (of course) billionaire. It reads easily and rushes to a tidy but dramatic ending.
Mira, Shelley, and Tony are the expertly characterized heroes. They are principled and intelligent and have complex motivations and threesome relationships. Myra and Shelley fall under the spell of Lemoin, the evil rich guy who plans to rape the land for profit. Eventually, Myra makes hard and right choices, but Shelley continues to drink the kool-aid of greed. Tony presents like an advanced political philosophy student in his raging tirades and manifesto, which eventually become his undoing. Catton briefly describes Lemoin's childhood story, but his shallow dialogue and lack of inner exploration left me wondering how he transformed into a mass murderer. I guess he did murder his wife.
I was hoping for some more depth around the technology (drone surveillance and hacking) and rare earth elements mining. But these devices were quite plausible. The major exception is that Tony uses a FILM camera. Really? Why did Catton switch gears on such a critical point?
Mira, Shelley, and Tony are the expertly characterized heroes. They are principled and intelligent and have complex motivations and threesome relationships. Myra and Shelley fall under the spell of Lemoin, the evil rich guy who plans to rape the land for profit. Eventually, Myra makes hard and right choices, but Shelley continues to drink the kool-aid of greed. Tony presents like an advanced political philosophy student in his raging tirades and manifesto, which eventually become his undoing. Catton briefly describes Lemoin's childhood story, but his shallow dialogue and lack of inner exploration left me wondering how he transformed into a mass murderer. I guess he did murder his wife.
I was hoping for some more depth around the technology (drone surveillance and hacking) and rare earth elements mining. But these devices were quite plausible. The major exception is that Tony uses a FILM camera. Really? Why did Catton switch gears on such a critical point?