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The Luminaries

Eleanor Catton

Why we're reading this: I have had this book on my list for some time and am now getting around to reading it as part of another …more
[close] I have had this book on my list for some time and am now getting around to reading it as part of another group reading list which requires that I read a book by an author under the age of 30 years. I have heard great things and this will be first book by a New Zealander so if anyone has any comments, I would love to hear them! Thanks and happy reading!

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Aug 23, 2014 Rebekah rated it really liked it

Shelves: genre-book-club, genre-historical-fiction, rating-4, genre-literary-fiction, genre-mystery, book-club, genre-fiction, setting-new-zealand

Wow, finally finished this one! Real life book club choice for October, only two people managed to finish it by the deadline!

The good? Epic descriptions of New Zealand during the gold rush. Victorian Dickens-esque attention to detail and elaborate intricate plots. Great cast of characters.

The bad? The experiential design and postmodern feel grew wearying. Pace is too slow. The last quarter of the book finally tells you what you need to know. By the time you get there, you just don't care that mu ...more

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Jul 10, 2018 Missyjohnson1 rated it it was ok

This was a chore for me. I did enjoy the last 200 pages but the first 600 not so much. I don’t know anything about astrology so I have no idea of the significance of the moon being in capricorn or sagitarrius. This book did not even cause me to want to know more either. Maybe if I had then the references may have had more meaning. Missing that aspect may have caused me to lose out. I was also confused with the significance of the dates to a point. I understood the progress for the most part but ...more

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