Customer Reviews

The Luminaries (Unabridged)

The Luminaries is a tale of lies and deceit, fraud and vengeance, set amongst the goldfields of Western New Zealand in the 1860s. It was a time when men had dreams of getting rich very quickly based as much on luck as on hard work. But just as some are content to rely on the odds, others are willing to change the odds in their favour by nefarious means.

So when Walter Moody, a recent Scottish émigré, accidentally gatecrashes a clandestine meeting of twelve local businessmen, he is drawn into their various shady dealings. There is gold lost and found; a missing man; a dead drunk; a suicidal prostitute and a very sinister, scar-faced sea captain. There are tensions between the white settlers and the Chinese camp. Oh, and there is a token Maori. The writing, for the most part, is really good. The setting is conveyed well and the reader feels fully transported through space and time into a complex and authentic world.

But, and it's a big But, the involvement of so many players makes the novel far too complicated and grinds the pace down to a glacial speed. Every player has to have a relationship with each of the other players, resulting in many events being played out multiple times from multiple perspectives. Moreover, the use of reportage to create a non-linear time structure heightens the feeling of repetition. When it seems that the novel has finally moved on, it gets brought back again and again and again. The twelve main characters are supposed to represent different signs of the zodiac and perhaps those who like astrology would recognise their traits and interactions. But for the lay reader, the characters seem rather indistinguishable and, frankly, not much more than a personification of their job. The novel may be long (830ish pages) but is so full of plotting that there is little real space for characterisation. This can result in people forming alliances or breaking pacts for no obvious reason. We find out what people do, but have little insight into why they do them. OK, some of the main players (apparently the planetary and terra firma characters) have some slight backstory, but the others (the stellar ones) simply are as they are.

The pace does pick up eventually - after about two thirds of the novel - but what is not apparent from the page count is that this is actually the denouement. The many subsequent sections seem to be some kind of zodiacal obligation telling the reader nothing new and presenting historical events that had already been inferred. Moreover, as the sections wend their way to an end, the brief introductions to the chapters (as one finds in Victorian novels) grow longer and start to carry information in their own right, leaving the body of the section to carry only snippets of mercurial dialogue. This was necessary because each section had to be exactly half the length of the previous one (count the words if you don't believe me). This really is not a satisfactory way to end a plot-driven novel of this length.

I am sure there is a good story buried somewhere in The Luminaries. But just like the thin person struggling to emerge from every fat person, sometimes dieting in not enough and bariatric surgery is needed.

My dominant feeling on finishing this book was one of self-congratulation in actually having made it to the end. I have joined the elite band of readers who have done so, but I have not made it to the super-elite group who not only finished it, but understood it (but then I wonder if there are many at all in this category).
Normally, I would give Booker-prizewinners a wide berth, fearing over-intellectualism and incomprehensible story lines, but here was one with a crime/mystery theme, and by a New Zealand author, and I'm a NZer myself so, here we go...
For the first 150 pages, I thought my Booker prejudices were validated: hard going, put-downable, especially when I considered the hundreds of pages still to come. But I stuck with it and, very gradually, I found myself getting drawn in, with a mounting curiosity as to where it was going (as one might hope with a mystery). Things were looking up! (aided, I should say, means of one of the characters providing a 2-3 page summary of the story so far at the end of Part I, some 350 pages in - very helpful, this, you can look forward to it). And so on to the full 827 pages, but, after all that, to a damp-squibbish ending. Was that it? - after all that?
Notwithstanding the critics' accolades, I dare to say I can't understand how this story can be highly rated. The book is far, far, too long, moving at a glacial pace; the story is stupifyingly complex, propped up with far too many coincidental events and long-shot chance happenings; then there's the sleight-of-hand techniques such as two characters having the same name (or was it one character having two names? - can't remember, it's gone); and don't get me started on the resolution of the "missing bullet" saga - I'll keep this from you. Is this really award-winning stuff?
For me, the star of the book is the town of Hokitika and, in this aspect, I am fulsome in my praise for Catton's description of the era of the 19th-century gold rush in NZ's South Island, particularly on the West Coast; it's highly informative and enjoyable in that respect. It's a pity it's taken such a cumbersome vehicle to convey this.

What is the point of writing wonderfully and clever if you don't take your readers with you? The ending is like a pack of cards falling off the table - the characters are left in the reader's head but all the substance has faded away...

As an advocate for complex novels with beautifully written English, I really wanted to recommend this story. Sadly, however, despite struggling to the end, The Luminaries just doesn't work. You simply don't care about the characters or the plot, and there are so many loose ends, I found myself turning the last page sure I had missed something. Not clear why this was a prize winner.

It's a while since I've read such a lengthy book with such a labyrinthine plot. I confess, at times I was confused and gave up trying to hold all the pieces together in my head and just enjoyed the story as it unfolded, which is nevertheless a rich enjoyment, here. Catton does several things incredibly well in this novel: moving her plot along; narrative structure; dialogue; and reader engagement. The plotting is rather obviously the standout achievement (even if at times I let it get away from me), however the intricate way the plot is constructed around the 12 + characters, each of whom has their own part to play and own history to bring, which intermingles with the influence of the characters, is brilliant. I wasn't so sure, though, about the zodiacal conceit. Not really sure what exactly that adds, or whether it was just intended as frill. I must also admit to feeling that it ends rather more with w whimper than a bang, as several events we've already been told about earlier on in the book, are narrated again first-hand, as it were.

However, overall this is a very impressive novel and I would certainly recommend it. It's rare to come across a writer nowadays who attempts something like this, a big doorstop of a book with a Wilkie-Collins-esque maze of a plot.

I hate abandoning a book and am a voracious reader. But after 250 pages I really had enough. If I want to read a Victorian novel I'd read Trollope .

After reading some of the reviews of this book, I thought they either read something else or I was not reading the Luminaries.
My feeling’s on finishing this book was one of self-congratulation in actually having made it to the end. The panel that judged this book as a Booker prizewinner ought to be dismissed. This was one of the worst books I have ever read, the first 200 pages was pure waffle and could have been condensed to 20 pages. It is a book that you could put down and never pick up again.
As I read on, there was some interesting bits and I thought could have been made into a good story if it was better written. The overall storyline was good but very disjointedly put together. Having continued to read the book and become a little interested in the characters the end of the book is a real let down. This book is far too long and could easily have been cut to about 400 pages, which would probably still be too long.
The only redeeming factor was the description of the 19th century gold rush in New Zealand’s South Island’s west coast.

This book is dull. I tried my best to get through it without falling asleep and failed on each occasion. The writing is unnecessarily convoluted in both its plotting and the way in which the plot is expressed. The characters are not engaging on any level. The writing style had me fighting to keep my eyes open within minutes. I am amazed anybody could stick with this to the end. I am sorry to say I gave up and dropped it off at the book depository after 300 pages. This is one of only 3 books I have not finished in my 35 years on this earth! Everybody should avoid like the plague - you are simply wasting your time.

This is one of those rare occasions where Amazon should really allow a seven-star review. Hotels manage that so why not books?

This wonderful book combines great story-telling with beautiful literature to create a rewarding and memorable experience. I won't say anything about the adventures themselves. Best just to let them unfold with no preconceptions.

Yes, you have to pay attention all the way through but with writing of this quality that never becomes a chore and I love the way that the reader is not spoon-fed the conclusion to every strand of the intertwining stories. The answers are all there.

I've read about ten Booker winners over the years, and this is definitely the best.

There's so much to talk about I wish I was in a book club! Will just have to wait until my wife finishes it...

While a good read; it felt rather like an assignment from a creative writing class on how to build characters. How to build a plot will be next weeks assignment.