Weblog of Quotes and Rants

I'm not sure entirely how I feel about The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton.  I would put it under the "do read" category, but  I think I missed out on some of the nuances having listened to the story rather than read the book.  Apparently the book has some astrogolgical charts and graphs.  Pretty much all of the astrological references went right past me. The narrator (Mark Meadows) did a fantastic job with his accents and distinguishing the different characters.   

Get the book: The Luminaries  

Get the audio book: The Luminaries (Audible)

The structure was semi apparent, given that each section is half as long as the previous.  The unique structure was most obvious at the end, where part 12 just flew by, matter of factly, making me think maybe something was wrong with the audio book :)

After finishing the book, I decided to read some Audible reviews, to see what other people thought of it.  There was a very mixed selection of "loved it!!!11!!!" and "meh" and "boooring".  I understand how some people could find such a lengthy and repetative book to be boring, but this book made me excited for my daily subway commutes.  So I guess I didn't find it boring.  I found the cast of characters intriguing and the details of the overarching mystery to be compelling.   

 “Love cannot be reduced to a catalogue of reasons why, and a catalogue of reasons cannot be put together into love.” 
― Eleanor Catton The Luminaries

 “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.” 

― Eleanor Catton The Luminaries