j_m_alexander 's review for:

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

3.75

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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 A book of crime, greed, drugs, love and vengeance during the New Zealand goldrush of the late 19th century told in the style of that time, really it's parodying that style to often delightful ends, and it's that style, along with beautifully writing and a strong sense of place that makes this book something special. Oh, and if you really know your astrology, wow is this the book for you!

“For although a man is judged by his actions, by what he has said and done, a man judges himself by what he is willing to do, by what he might have said, or might have done—a judgment that is necessarily hampered, not only by the scope and limits of his imagination, but by the ever-changing measure of his doubt and self-esteem.”

It is quotes like the above that elevates what otherwise is a western style soap opera (though uniquely New Zealand in ways). The digressions and thoughtful character details lend an undercurrent of something deeper, something more modern. While the surface-level plot weaves webs so twisted it is no wonder that it entraps so many characters. The pages actually fly by for such a large tome and the structure of the book does something really interesting, it is a heavily designed piece of literature that slowly builds and by degrees picks up speed by making the chapters/sections get progressively shorter. I greatly appreciate the intelligent design at work here - on that level it is exceedingly interesting.

“His manner showed a curious mixture of longing and enthusiasm, which is to say that his enthusiasms were always of a wistful sort, and his longings, always enthusiastic. He was delighted by things of an improbable or impractical nature, which he sought out with the open-hearted gladness of a child at play. When he spoke, he did so originally, and with an idealistic agony that was enough to make all but the most rigid of his critics smile; when he was silent, one had the sense, watching him, that his imagination was nevertheless usefully occupied, for he often sighed, or nodded, as though in agreement with an interlocutor whom no one else could see.”

What I didn't love - by design it leans heavily on tropes of the 19th century novel in ways that for me, while entertaining much of the time, grew a little tiresome. The reliance on so much coincidence was essential to the plot and on the parody she was working on, but it still took me out of the story at times. I guess in the end this is one of those tricky books to rate and review, because it such an admirable work and I really did enjoy the complexities of it, along with the richness of the writing itself but I don't think I fully gave myself over to LOVING the reading experience. It's a great work of fiction that I am glad to of read, but I am sure that I missed or underappreciated some of the brilliance of the matryoshka doll-esque structure, at least in part because I just don't care about astrology, and because of my disinterest I didn't give that element a whole lot of thought, but it's clearly very much part of the design, sooo... yeah, parts of this absolutely went over my head. What is nice though, is that it's many layers allows different readers to be able to read it at different levels, it's good enough to stand as just a good bit of historical mystery plotting even if you aren't going to commit to a close reading, but I imagine those who really take their time with this will get infinitely more out of it.

With that - may you always find your reading self in the rising good fortune of the fifth house, and/or in the aspect of the trine, or ... something - I really don't know... astrological good fortune to you and all that.