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verosnotebook 's review for:
The Luminaries
by Eleanor Catton
...an age of mirrors, tenacity, instinct, township, and hidden things.
I wasn’t too sure what to expect when I finally picked up this weighty tome. It had resided on my shelf for nearly four years, waiting patiently, and I for one am very pleased that I have finally given it my full attention.
You’ve probably heard of the ornate structure Catton crafted for her tale, juggling with astrology, dividing the book into twelve parts, each half of the previous one in length and made of decreasing number of chapters, from 12 to 1, to mirror the waning of the Moon, as well as the Golden Ratio (the Greek letter φ phi is used as a paragraph break throughout the novel). Each section is fronted by a star chart, tracing how the astral bodies converged in the skies over New Zealand, and used to stage the action over one year, the author anthropomorphising these Zodiac signs and planets into the main cast. You don’t need to be proficient in this topic to enjoy the book (I didn’t know a thing), far from it, but if you do, you’ll get another layer of understanding out of it and indeed hints on what is happening. Ultimately, does this convoluted structure work? Totally, but that is not the only reason. Had there been no substance, then the book wouldn’t have ‘worked’!
Putting the construction to the side, what remains? A hell of a story! Catton has penned one brilliant mystery that keeps shifting, juggling with our perceptions, turning everything upside down. Yes, you do have to pay attention, especially during the huge first part where characters and events are thrown at us from every side, but if you like to put all the pieces of a puzzle slowly together, keeping tabs of what is said and seen, then you’ll love this!
It is also more than just a conundrum to solve: you get a historical tale of the New Zealand of the middle 19th century with its many injustices. This is reflected in Catton’s writing style, recalling Dickens and Collins, with a rich language. Again, this may displease some readers, but once you become used to it, this is actually really easy to read and very compelling.
I must admit I loved all aspects of this book, both in its content and presentation, especially its predilection for circularity, and I don’t just mean the charts and turn of the planet Earth over one year. No, Catton has used this aspect everywhere (the more you look for it, the more you’ll find it), i.e. True feeling is always circular - either circular, or paradoxical - simply because its cause and its expression are two halves of the very same thing!, and all revelations are offered through circles and arcs, never straight lines!
I wasn’t too sure what to expect when I finally picked up this weighty tome. It had resided on my shelf for nearly four years, waiting patiently, and I for one am very pleased that I have finally given it my full attention.
You’ve probably heard of the ornate structure Catton crafted for her tale, juggling with astrology, dividing the book into twelve parts, each half of the previous one in length and made of decreasing number of chapters, from 12 to 1, to mirror the waning of the Moon, as well as the Golden Ratio (the Greek letter φ phi is used as a paragraph break throughout the novel). Each section is fronted by a star chart, tracing how the astral bodies converged in the skies over New Zealand, and used to stage the action over one year, the author anthropomorphising these Zodiac signs and planets into the main cast. You don’t need to be proficient in this topic to enjoy the book (I didn’t know a thing), far from it, but if you do, you’ll get another layer of understanding out of it and indeed hints on what is happening. Ultimately, does this convoluted structure work? Totally, but that is not the only reason. Had there been no substance, then the book wouldn’t have ‘worked’!
Putting the construction to the side, what remains? A hell of a story! Catton has penned one brilliant mystery that keeps shifting, juggling with our perceptions, turning everything upside down. Yes, you do have to pay attention, especially during the huge first part where characters and events are thrown at us from every side, but if you like to put all the pieces of a puzzle slowly together, keeping tabs of what is said and seen, then you’ll love this!
It is also more than just a conundrum to solve: you get a historical tale of the New Zealand of the middle 19th century with its many injustices. This is reflected in Catton’s writing style, recalling Dickens and Collins, with a rich language. Again, this may displease some readers, but once you become used to it, this is actually really easy to read and very compelling.
I must admit I loved all aspects of this book, both in its content and presentation, especially its predilection for circularity, and I don’t just mean the charts and turn of the planet Earth over one year. No, Catton has used this aspect everywhere (the more you look for it, the more you’ll find it), i.e. True feeling is always circular - either circular, or paradoxical - simply because its cause and its expression are two halves of the very same thing!, and all revelations are offered through circles and arcs, never straight lines!