“The Luminaries” by Eleanor Catton – Stories and Judgments

As has been mentioned in virtually every review of The Luminaries, there are times when grandiose authors seem to be just born out of blue and crash down into the world of literature like flaming comets, and Eleanor Catton, its author, is certainly one of them.

Before getting into the book itself, I would like to warn potential readers that it is around 848 pages long (depending on which edition you choose I suppose), and is actually the lengthiest Man Booker Prize winner in history.

In other words, this is the kind of book that requires dedication on the part of the reader to get through the whole thing and be immersed in it. It does take a bit to start up, and though there are most certainly always things that retain your attention, you will need a certain amount of patience and diligence to enjoy it thoroughly.

In any case, what I mean to say is that those who don't like long books because of that sheer characteristic would probably do best to steer clear from this one... otherwise, proceed onwards!

To get the story of the book, it follows a certain Walter Moody, a young Englishman who is trying to claim his stake in the 1866 New Zealand gold rush and has freshly arrived in Hokitika.

As he enters the bar he sees twelve men who discuss the series of strange events which plagued the town, including the suicide of the most coveted prostitute and the disappearance of a man who recently hit the jackpot in one of the mines.

As Moody joins those he begins to learn more and more about them, about how their fates are intertwined, what roles they may have played in those strange events, and perhaps more importantly, what drove them past that point of no return.

As you can most certainly expect, the novel is rather sprawling in its nature and is a character exploration with plenty of sub-themes and subplots that take you on countless twists and turns.

However, rest assured that even though the narration isn't of the linear kind, Catton made an exceptional job in the writing department, using a rather spry and vivid style, one that flows easily and doesn't make you reread sentences. The plotlines do interconnect, and there is always some sort of a purpose to the events taking place and actions unfolding.

She does an excellent job at defying our expectations, adding more and more layers of intrigue and complexity upon the characters, ultimately weaving a humongous web of connections, one that explains everything, but at the same time feels too vast to be understood (not literally, of course).

The characters take the center stage in this novel as you can gather, and each and every one of them brings to the table a whole array of different tools, quirks and story arcs. We get to delve deep into the minds of the twelve men, and it feels to me like the end up being studies of conditions observed in the human nature, most likely ones related to Catton's own experiences. In any case, they certainly leave you with food for thought.

All in all, though The Luminaries may be a bit too grand in its size for the taste of some readers, it remains nevertheless a uniquely-intricate, complex, moving and thought-provoking novel, one that is truly different from everything else that is out there, one that will make you wonder about the great unknowns of the universe. I wholeheartedly recommend it to any self-proclaimed reader of books.

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Eleanor Catton Eleanor Catton is a Canadian-born author from New Zealand who published her second novel in 2013, The Luminaries, an effort which ended up earning her the 2013 Man Booker Prize as well as the 2014 Walter Scott Prize shortlist.