Catalogue of the Universe

by Margaret Mahy, Darren Hopes (Illustrator)

Determined to satisfy her curiosity about her unknown father, eighteen-year-old Angela May embarks on an emotional journey that shapes and forever alters the way she looks at herself, her unconventional mother, and her devoted friend Tycho. Reprint.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Childrens, Paranormal, Young Adult Contemporary

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Margaret Mahy was a well-known New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. While the plots of many of her books have strong supernatural elements, her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up.

Her books The Haunting and The Changeover: A Supernatural Romance both received the Carnegie Medal of the British Library Association. There have 100 children's books, 40 novels, and 20 collections of her stories published. Among her children's books, A Lion in the Meadow and The Seven Chinese Brothers and The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate are considered national classics. Her novels have been translated into German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Italian, Japanese, Catalan and Afrikaans. In addition, some stories have been translated into Russian, Chinese and Icelandic.

For her contributions to children's literature she was made a member of the Order of New Zealand. The Margaret Mahy Medal Award was established by the New Zealand Children's Book Foundation in 1991 to provide recognition of excellence in children's literature, publishing and literacy in New Zealand. In 2006 she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award (known as the Little Nobel Prize) in recognition of a "lasting contribution to children's literature".

Margaret Mahy died on 23 July 2012.

On 29 April 2013, New Zealand’s top honour for children’s books was renamed the New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret...

Reviews

[oliviasbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember exactly that moment over 21 years ago when I picked up the German edition with its drab, blue, stars-and-moon-clad cover. I proceeded to read the longish, rambling blurb and felt a fascinated tingle run down my back: The plot description sounded so deliciously wacky but did not reveal much concerning what the book really would be about that I wrote down the bibliographic details and determined to buy the book as soon as I managed to save the right amount of money.

Well, I saved my money, I ordered the book, I read it fired up with anticipation and I was disappointed and a little angry although the ephemeral, liquid prose did resonate within me. The blurb had promised the entrance to a glittering treasure chest full of strange people and coincidences, but the book did not really cover much mysterious plot or pushed me off my rocker by astonishing turns. But since I spent so much pocket money on it and had to go without sweets for a while to afford it, I did not pass it on to my friends but kept it.

About a year later I picked it up again (having re-read everything else too often, I suppose), unconsciously geared up my page-turning pace, shook my head in wonder that I had been in fact devouring it and declared myself utterly enchanted. I was extremly puzzled about my own reaction and thought about it quite a lot, re-reading it a second time. I concluded that since the book stayed exactly the same I must have changed. Maybe at 13/14 I was still a bit embarrassed/shocked by Angela's brazen, self-confident attitude towards her body, that breathless, sexy encounter in the dark and the morning-after giddyness the lovers let shine through. Scenes of the book I came to love fiercely and look forward to as an older teen. And although I remember feeling sympathy for Tycho on the first go, I did not get his attractivenes, his beauty, at all. But when I was re-reading it for the first time, I already was 100% with Angela, when she says "I'm sick of this." [...]"I don't know everything I feel, but I do know this. You mustn't ever want anyone but me, Big Science. If you look at any other girl I'll kill her."

Now I've consumed the book for maybe the sixth time and I still love it. And I love the cover of the 2002-Collins-edition. It's perfect and it fits the mood I am in after closing the book. It won't be the last time I savored the story of the girl who went to look for her parents' love and found her own and the guy who had to let his science book drop and step upon the Catalogue of the Universe to see himself in a new perspective because "The Ionians Rule!".

TBR Pile Reduction Challenge 2011, Book #14 (challenger: Nomes)

[Nomes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going into this book I had little idea what it was about. (I had initially thought that with it's title and cover art it would be a little bit other-worldy.

but it is contemp.

Having finished it ~ it is still hard to convey a synopsis. Not a lot really happens plot wise. There is a storyline of Angela pursuing the dad she's never known, but it's not the main focus of the book. It is more about family and relationships and love and just classic coming of age.

the main thing about this book is it's energy. it's funkily written ~ kind of hippie and funny (in a clever way) and the characters are all exuberant. Mahy embraces her characters and really brings them to life.

while the characters could be cliche (a manic pixie dream girl with a best friend nerd-boy?) they don't even step in the cliche territory. instead, they felt completely like a breath of fresh air ~ it felt very reminiscent to me of the characters in (1994) ~ which, strangely enough, was written by another New Zealand YA author (and is one of my all-time fave books)

The Juniper Game really captured my imagination as a teen with it's vibrancy and characters who were a little risque. I imagine had I read this a teen it would have had the same mesmerising effect. As an adult, I very much appreciated the energy and brilliant Mahy gives her characters. I also loved the ease at which she portrays both the families. I truly felt like a fly on the wall when being in their homes ~ I had the loveliest time eavesdropping in on their lives.

Thanks for the rec Olivia!

* very random point. This isn't spoilerish at all, but it is embarrassing, so I am going to hide it: Angela's mum is called 'dido'
for some reason i kept doing this dyslexic thing and reading it as 'dildo' ~ gee, it was annoying! couldn't get the word right in my head after stuffing it up so many times at the beginning and her name just stuck as dildo. so I just read her as being dildo for the rest of the book. argh. *hangs my head in shame*

[Mariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mahy's writing has a grace, and her views of the world and humanity retain a poignancy long past the teen age when some small thing can mean the entire world. You can still remember why it had mattered.

Catalogue of the Universe is not a fantasy or science fiction tale. It does have a great deal to do with science, however (nerds rejoice! I know I did).
The separate family lives of Tycho and Angela were much more gripping than their love story was, at least to me. Mahy writes about complicated families wonderfully, and she does it in a way that you don't feel like the stranger invited to the dysfunctional holiday dinner. I got a big kick out of Tycho and his brother's dislike for their spoiled sister Africa. Why the parents had unlimited supply of patience for their (pretty worthless) daughter, and not much left over for their sons? The weird kind of reasoning (that really wasn't anything close to reason) behind that worship fascinated me. I felt I could start to see what made that family tick.

Angela's home life is decidedly different from the crazy, if more standard, home life of Tycho's. It's just her and her mom. Her mom reminded me of the stepmom Topaz from I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (the nude scything would be it, I think), only less warm. Kooky, definitely. She may love her, yes, but it's not the kind of warm that would keep Angela safe on cold nights. Angela wants to know who her father is and she begins stalking the man she suspects might be the candidate. Yes, she was asking for heartbreak there. I was again fascinated by how she had to lay herself open to what would so obviously end badly.

As for the love story, well, too much focus was placed on what Angela looked like. That was hardly the point? I despised the notion that she was not good enough for Tycho, or that her looks was all she had to bring to the relationship. I really dislike these kinds of romances, where the supposedly geeky guy whines how the ultra pretty girl won't like him back. No one had the right to treat her as if she were a slut (that she was a virgin all along shouldn't have mattered), or make assumptions about her based on appearance. Angela was a smart girl who wore her heart on her sleeve. She was generous with herself. That makes her plenty good for Tycho in my book. I don't know if that was a message to teen readers? Geeky guys can get pretty girls and don't sleep around? I hope not. I'll choose to be less cynical this time...

Their precociousness was a bit grating as well. I'd have related to it more had I read it when in middle school. Or not. Those hyper in-joke conversations are not much fun unless you're a participant. They were jauntily wink-winking instead of tongue in cheek. Maybe it's a personal preference, but that can stress me out after a bit.

[Ruby Hollyberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the few convincing romances I've ever read. Characters are perfect, setting is incredibly well described, and family drama is Mahy's strongest point. It is fiction, not fantasy, unlike most of her books (Memory is another example of straight fiction), but there is just as much magic in the world without the fantasy elements, because people are just that eccentric and passionate and confusing. They are!

[Rachel Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous novel about the romance and friendship between a troubled popular girl and a brilliant boy; not remotely what you’d expect from that synopsis, though. It’s beautifully written, emotionally perceptive, a mainstream novel which, as is typical for Mahy, has as much of a sense of wonder as her fantasies. It reminds me a little bit of Ursula Le Guin’s wonderful, overlooked Very Far Away From Anywhere Else.

[Yune · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read recently because Margaret Mahy's Changeover impressed me so greatly. Apparently, it had led me to read this one some years ago, but I found it forgettable and only upon picking it up again remembered that this wasn't the first time.

I love Mahy's prose, both effervescent and gliding without ever going into acrobatics. She manages to nail feelings and concepts that I stammer over. And her characters are unashamedly quirky, tangled in relationships that are as messy as anything we know in real life, and yet elevated to some human grace. It works surprisingly well for a contemporary teen story.

Angela and Tycho are friends in the way you always dream of having a close platonic friend -- but Angela is beautiful, and of course Tycho longs after her. This feels less saccharine while reading than it sounds typed out, but in the end it wasn't enough to hold the book together for me. Entertaining, yes, and excellently written, but in the end I closed the cover feeling a bit like I'd walked in a circle. But perhaps that's the point, and the subtleties and ripples in these characters' lives were wasted on me, what with the way I calibrated my story scale.

[Victoria Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another beautiful Margaret Mahy story! Tycho was the kind of character that inspired me to go do something. I don't know what, or why, I just felt like I had to. Those quotes above his bed were a great idea. I wanted to be able to go into his room and stand there and read them all.
Angela I didn't like so much. Not because of poor writing or anything like that. I never like characters like her. She reminded me a bit of Margaret Roth Spiegelman. Kind of cocky. Beautiful and she knew it. Her moment with Tycho (you'll know the one I've mean if you've read it) made me mad too. What about Robin? Didn't she feel anything for him?
I loved Richard the most. That banter between him and Tycho, and Africa a little too, was so great. The whole world was a joke to him. I think a book like this, where so much is going on, needs someone as carefree as Richard.
Lastly, the plot was, of course, brilliant. Maybe a bit fast paced, but good nonetheless

[Celia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous love story (which Margaret Mahy does so, so well) - short science nerd Tycho is in love with Angela, his best friend. Tycho's family are chaotic, Angela lives alone with her mother in a little house on top of a hill and is searching for her father. That's about it really - this is a difficult book to discuss in terms of plot. But Mahy writes so well about families, and parents' relationships with their children, it's wonderful. And quite short, as well (which I'm a fan of at the moment, as I don't feel that I am reading enough).

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides]

This had some nice wordplay and metaphor, but it wasn't as gripping as The Changeover.

[Marianna Baer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly intelligent and sexy romance.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do agree that Margaret Mahy is a unique author, she is not afraid to utilize the word play, language, puns and general knowledge at her disposal. Honestly though, I really do not know what to make out of the overall picture of this book; for some chapters were outstanding, others... well, not so good.

I do not own this book. I was browsing through the books of my local library when I saw this one. I do not know what made it stand out from all the others, though I suspect that the word 'Universe' has a lot to do with it for I am fascinated with all things having to do with it. Needless to say, this is not a science fiction novel, and from a short glimpse at the description at the back cover, I realized that is was not as well. Still, I gave it a shot. I am not sorry I did, though I am usually never remorseful to had read a book, whatever its literary qualities. The opening chapter of this book was simply outstanding. Entitled 'Moonshine', it brilliantly incorporates the silver rays of the moon throughout the chapter and it goes on to describe that it was the Ionian scientist Anaximander to have realized that the moon was not self-luminous. The word play is fantastic, and it really it is quite hard to describe Mahy's style exactly. The opening chapter gives a premonition of what is going to be the style throughout the rest of the novel, Mahy incorporating her knowledge of Greek Philosophers and the Heavenly Bodies, which I liked. In fact, if she had kept the pace and style of the opening chapter I would have given this book 5/5 for sure.

The characters of Angela and her mother Dido (a very imaginative name) I liked, the character of Tycho Potter I felt to be amiable as well, for he has a lot of qualities to his character that make him realistic in some regards. The story ,on the other hand, is about the life long wish of Angela to be acquainted with her 'unknown father' (though she secretly knows his name to be 'Roland Chase). As a secondary subplot, there is the unhappy marriage of Tycho's sister Africa (Dido, Africa... You do the math) to her husband, even though they have a son (Hamish) together. This makes the characters of Tycho and Angela similar, in the sense they both have family issues to deal with. Other minor characters include the eccentric Richard (Tycho's brother), Mr. Potter (their father) who suffers from fits, sporadically and their mother Mrs Potter. The principal characters though are Angela and Tycho, who have a lot of things in common that are considered as 'weird' for teenagers their age.

Tycho loves to include random trivia in his conversations and thoughts. For example, he quotes Democritus (430BC) who said all those years ago that 'Nothing exists but the Atoms and the Void' (his 'Atomic Hypothesis'). This is what I really liked about Mahy, she shares her general knowledge through her characters constantly. This mean that the characters' discourse is teemed with animation, with actual informative facts. Angela, although on a much different league than Tycho, she is beautiful and has a boyfriend Robin, whereas Tycho is short and ,erm, not as beautiful, is fascinated by the animation of the latter's conversations of this sort. His 'animated mind' makes up for his physical shortcomings. This, I believe, is reminiscent of Dorothy Wordsworth's descriptions of her family's friend, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, as having an "animated mind" and conversations despite his physical shortcomings (in a letter). My reason for this comparison is that Mahy actually quoted Coleridge in this book ("It was a miracle of rare device/A sunny pleasure dome with caves of ice"-Referring to a fridge in Tycho's witty opinion).

I think it is unnecessary in this case to delve on the story-line. There is a dramatic turn near the end that will shock the general reader I think, but overall it is a sweet, yet somewhat dull in certain chapters (especially concerning Tycho's family issues), story of friendship, which develops into love. Again, what I really like is that Tycho with all his knowledge of Ionian Scientists transcends the normal pointless dialogue that plagues other characters. I would like to devote my last lines to some of the interesting philosophical observations that will delight readers and the 'everyman' alike: Parmenides said that nothing ever moved, Hericlitus said that everything moved all the time (I agree with the former), Anaxagoras said that 'The purpose of life is to study the Sun, the Moons and the Heavenly Bodies' and that Pythagoras (the triangle man) thought that the world had to be a sphere! Honestly, I did not know this before I read the book. Thanks Mahy!

All in all, this is a good book, considering its context and theme of friendship conquers all. However, I could not help feeling underwhelmed as I compared the book with its opening chapter. There were other moments of pure brilliance, but that is my final feeling regarding this book; being somewhat disappointed by my initial expectations. Still, I think that it is deserving of at least 4/5 stars.

[Courtney Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been wondering lately how Margaret Mahy's YA novels would hold up as an adult reader. I read a lot of them as a teenager, and have a rather blurred memory of a hot girls and smart boys (or smart hot girls and mysterious boys, or mysterious girls and spiky boys, or spiky girls and mysterious boys ...), a dash of fantasy, a splash of creepiness, and a contemporary setting.

'The Catalogue of the University' follows most of these: a hot girl and a short science nerd; an air of fantasy (not actual fantasy, but that hyper-everything of being 17); and a present-day setting (the references to one and two cent coins are the only deeply dated - and quite endearing - aspect of the story).

What Mahy nails, I think, beautifully, is the intensity and floatiness of those last days of high school, when you're just killing time before life starts. The love story is touching, not at all sickly; in fact, Mahy was more too the point than I was expecting, the scene in which the female lead retells trying to recover from {insert spoiler here} by going to a dodgy bar, getting a man to buy her expensive drinks, taking him down to the river, trying to seduce him in order to wash the bad away with more bad then throwing up on him, was realistic, humorous, and authentically teenage-girl-mixed-up.

My favourite part of the whole book however was one almost throw-away line, that's pure Mahy. Angela is riffing with her mother, ridiculous ways for them to make money:

"I'll help you," she said. "Not those sickly chiming clocks though. We'll make clocks that laugh and mutter to themselves. We'll be Old Mother Time and her everlasting daughter."

It's an idea that could have come straight out of The Door in the Air, one of my favourite Mahy books, a collection of stories that I must have read 20 years ago. I love any writer who can leave that kind of imaginative thumbprint on my mind.

[Cheryl Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite of the three Mahy books I've read recently (the other two being THE CHANGEOVER and THE TRICKSTERS), perhaps because it didn't involve magic -- at least her brand of it, which I find a bit oblique. Instead, they're just people being people, and the people are really dimensional and interesting: Angela, the beautiful girl who wants to find her father; Tycho, the short astronomer who loves Angela; their families and houses -- and that's about it. Thinking back over it, I'm a bit startled by how little actually takes place in the book (which covers only about three days total), but MaHy makes that little matter; and the writing is filled with interesting nuggets of observation or wisdom:

"We're nature red in tooth and claw, *and* read in truth and law, both at the same time."

"Few things were so irrevocable as hanging up the phone in a phone booth."

"Tycho put his arms around her and held her close, feeling he must certainly prop himself up until he got over the thrilling news now delivered to him from all his astonished frontiers."

Very satisfying.

[Amanda Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I picked up this book. First of all, there were a lot of adjectives. Now I don't mean the author described things a lot, I mean that every other word was an adjective... It was very distracting. But really that is my only qualm.

The story was good, a bit slow to start for my taste, but when it kicked in I really liked it. There was a lot of talking about Philosophers and metaphysics but not at a level that students/young adults couldn't understand. I really felt that how it was handled would cause the reader to look up the philosopher instead of just passing the paragraph over so that is good.

Also I loved the ending (I don't want to spoil it).

Overall it was a fun and quick read!

[Rachel Brand · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mum bought me this book when I was about fourteen, and by which point I had nearly completely moved on to reading adult books. As a result of this - and the fact that this looked like a sci-fi novel from the synopsis - I never read it until now. It's an okay novel, one which I would have eaten up as an eleven-year-old - but not the kind of thing I really enjoy now. It tells the story of how the lives of two teenagers change in the days after they graduate from high school. Nothing particularly special about it, but it was well written and not too much of a chore to read.

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was reading along, loving Mahy's style, and all of a sudden I realized-- Angela is totally a manic pixie dream girl, though she manages to mostly dodge the cliche by a) being written 30 years ago, and b) being more interesting than most. Then John Green was in my head, which was a little uncomfortable when reading Mahy. Anyway, Mahy is still a master and Catalogue of the Universe is pretty darn great, but I'm looking forward to reading more of her YA stuff that has a twist of fantasy in it.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps I am more of a romantic than I normally would admit, but this book made me almost wish I were a teenager again, exploring that first intense all-consuming relationship - how it felt to really know someone. Mahy writes in a way that wonderfully describes how a first love can completely turn your world inside out, both the good & the not-so-good, and launch you into other realms.

[Karl · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5 okay i know i felt very indifferent about this book. But i think this is just not my cup of tea. I usually tolerate reading romances and ya but this felt something is missing. I got this book from second hand book store and its price tag is almost a give away. I enjoyed the geeky stuff and all but i would have much fun reading it of the drama was spot on. :(

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book felt slower than what i usually read with not much happening until near the end with the car crash. Despite this it didn't bore me. it was an enjoyable relaxing read. i was kind of concerned there would be an annoying love triangle but there kinda just wasn't as one of the guys wasn't really in the story which was an interesting decision. i am glad i read this

[Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Margeret Mahy is a very unique writer, the way she plays with words is her trade mark. This is a beautiful love story and although 'Catalogue of the Universe' is set in reality more then Mahy's usual, it still has that feeling of magic that she weaves so well.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a little hard to get into, but once I got my head around the style, I quite enjoyed it. I felt as though it could have kept going for another hundred pages or so, but all in all, it was quite a satisfying read.

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay. The characters are interesting, but it moved a little slowly for me (and it's not a long book). I guess I would say the dialogue is kind of strange and philosophical. Overall, okay story.

[Ariel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don't know why I read her books , I didn't much like this one either . Some people really enjoy them though so I'm not sure ? It was okay , wouldn't choose to read it again .

[Marleigh]

First line: "One hot summer night Angela woke up and found she could not go back to sleep again for, beyond her closed lids, the room was infected with disturbing silver."

[Anja Fruelund]

Charming teenage lovestory, honest and simple, a much needed antidote to the melodramatic romances of Twilight and the likes.

[Elizabeth]

Lovely, thoughtful YA about New Zealand teens.

[Jenne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this weird little story. She is so good at detailed, real-seeming characters and places.

[Dennis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just couldn't get into the book. I was hoping for a sci-fi adventure with the romance, but it's just a couple normal kids doing a lot of normal things that I just don't care about.

[Clementine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad, touching and interesting. Enjoyed witnessing the repeat of the past but with a happy ending.

[Sasha Boersma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story. The ideas are a bit disjointed for my taste. A good book for the younger teen girl set - very thoughtful.