Catton takes Man Booker :)

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed October 16th, 2013, 1:44 am

Not only has another historical novel (well, historical mystery, strictly speaking) taken this year's Man Booker prize, but the author is a Kiwi. Go you good thing, Eleanor Catton! Much excitement at the library today.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/book ... aries.html

Now, to actually get on with reading Luminaries. It's been on my TBR pile for a bit but I get getting distracted by HF candy like Bernard Cornwell's Pagan Lord - I mean, who can resist Uhtred?

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Sat November 30th, 2013, 7:19 pm

Is anyone else here reading Luminaries? I'm almost a third of the way through. It's undeniably brilliant in some ways, but I'm starting to wonder whether my brain is getting too worn out for a novel this complicated and this slow moving - I keep losing track of which character was which, and I'm finding it hard to remember the various plot twists on which everything else in the story hangs.

annis · Post by **annis** » Sun December 1st, 2013, 3:47 am

This book is rapidly turning into my bête noire. I've been saying I'm going to read it since long before it was declared winner of the Man Booker, but every time I look at it my heart sinks and I read another 10 books instead

It's become a standing joke among my friends- "Have you started Luminaries yet? Hee hee". I think I've stymied myself with the thought that it's a book I should read - nothing like the merest whisper of a "should" to get me stubbornly digging my heels in

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Mon February 3rd, 2014, 5:13 am

Oh yes, there's nothing like thinking one should do something to put one off the idea!

My library copy of Luminaries had to go back to the library before I was half finished. Not only is the novel long, the prose reads slowly. Although I can't say I've read 10 books since it went back, I've certainly read a few.

Still, there are scenes and characters from Luminaries that I've found unforgettable. I won't say much about them, in order to avoid spoilers, but it's no spoiler to say they involve gold, the novel being set in the Australian gold fields of the 19th century.

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Mon February 3rd, 2014, 9:03 pm

Looks like there will be a TV series based on the novel, so there will be more than one way to enjoy the story: http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/w ... o-Hokitika.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Mon February 3rd, 2014, 11:02 pm

Sounds interesting but there is NO WAY i'm reading an 800 page novel. Sorry.I can' barely get through an average book. Oh well. Maybe I'll watch the tv show instead.

DianeL · Post by **DianeL** » Tue February 4th, 2014, 1:08 am

Every time I see this thread title, I read COTTON takes Man Booker, and I grin and want to congratulate MLE ...

wendy · Post by **wendy** » Tue February 4th, 2014, 2:17 pm

Having just ploughed my way through the unabridged version of LES MIS I think my brain might explode if I go straight into LUMINARIES. But it is on my "to read" list - perhaps for when I have a long international flight!

MLE (Emily Cotton) · Post by **MLE (Emily Cotton)** » Tue February 4th, 2014, 4:14 pm

[quote=""DianeL""]Every time I see this thread title, I read COTTON takes Man Booker, and I grin and want to congratulate MLE ...

[/quote]
LOL, Diane -- but it'd be a record for a book to win before it's published! And my unadvertised previous offerings are under a pen name.
Anyway, since what I write (and read) tends toward action-adventure rather than literary musings, I doubt the Man-Booker type would much like it.

DianeL · Post by **DianeL** » Tue February 4th, 2014, 11:49 pm

None of us probably writes for the prizes anyway - and I'm probably more like you myself. The very idea of winning "literary" recognition kind of gives me a giggle, and not because I think my work is not good either. It's just so beside the point.

But congratulations on just having the stories in you. And on the rain. And on generally being neato.

Okay, on with the thread! Sorry, y'all.