All About Books discussion

Please talk about our January/February Group Fiction Read here!

I'm definitely going to read this. I've read the first 300-400 pages a couple times. A lot to keep up with in this one.

Read it at the beginnig of this year; liked it, but I found some parts too ... long.
I'll follow your comments

Looking forward to reading this.

Read this last year so won't be joining in. Will look forward to reading your comments and chip in when I can

I don't know if I'm ready for one this long. Perhaps I'll read it in February.

I will be picking up my copy at the library today. Hopefully I will succeed better with this one than I did with Atonement...

I've read this a few times and really love it. I probably won't reread over the next couple of months, but will follow this discussion. I might try and read Atonement, belatedly, instead.

Read page one today.....

The Luminaries is a kindle daily deal today @ $2.99.

Just noticed it is available on audible.com, getting it there.

Started last night and read more this morning. Liking the evocative writing. Conveys good imagery and perceptions.

Kept stumbling over pronunciation of Hokitika. Had to look that up. Also studying New Zealand map, especially west coast.

Maori vowel sounds are similar to Spanish vowel sounds:

A - ah, e - short e as in bed, I - ee, o - as the ou in bought, U - oo as in room. Every syllable has equal emphasis (no stressed syllables - unless there's a micron over the vowel, which extends its sound).

However, that's not translating my Kiwi accent to a North American one very well...

The pronunciation of Maori words in the audible version is somewhat mangled, but it doesn't detract from the story too much.

Hope that is some help.

Cool info Megan! That's too bad Audible got the vowel sounds wrong, but I'm glad for your info! Do you speak Maori?

No. I wish...just some basic vocabulary and waiata (songs). I do have some fairly fluent friends though.

No. I wish...just some basic vocabulary and waiata (songs). I do have some fairly fluent friends though.

Read this a few months back, too long to reread now, but I would like to follow along the discussion when you get there.

Megan wrote: "Maori vowel sounds are similar to Spanish vowel sounds:

A - ah, e - short e as in bed, I - ee, o - as the ou in bought, U - oo as in room. Every syllable has equal emphasis (no stressed syllables ..."

Thanks Megan! I started last night so haven't gotten to too many Maori words yet but I do like to know how to sound them out (even if it is just in my own head).

ALERT! This book is a daily deal on Kindle in the UK for £1.19 today!

Jean wrote: "ALERT! This book is a daily deal on Kindle in the UK for £1.19 today!"

That is an excellent price for a long book

I am 170 pgs in (~18%) and it isn't grabbing me the way I had hoped. Nothing wrong with it but instead of being absorbed while I am reading it, I am constantly checking where the next break is.

I guess this is just another reminder that the Man Booker award people and I like different kinds of books...

Leslie wrote: "I am 170 pgs in (~18%) and it isn't grabbing me the way I had hoped. Nothing wrong with it but instead of being absorbed while I am reading it, I am constantly checking where the next break is.
..."

From my recollection, the book improved and I found the second half much more absorbing. I think it is a bit of a slow burner. I hope you enjoy the second half

I'm at 35% done, and Twin Peaks, a television show from decades ago, popped into my head. (I guess I'm having a silly turn.) Laura, I mean Anna, seems to be at the center of it all. I'm quite surprised there is no character called Bob in the story....

Just got this through audible, this is my next book to listen to once I'm finished with Dark Places.

I'm curious as to how important the astrology aspect of this is to understanding the story. I hope it's not that important, but I remember feeling like I was missing something when reading this before.

I read the sample and it reminded me a bit of The Colour by Rose Tremain.

Chuck wrote: "I'm curious as to how important the astrology aspect of this is to understanding the story. I hope it's not that important, but I remember feeling like I was missing something when reading this be..."

I thought this as well. I don't know how much I missed by not knowing anything about astrology. Would be interested to know if anybody who knows a bit more about astrology can offer an opinion

I'm at 35%, and I'm thinking still thinking Twin Peaks, but off the cuff I'd say the astrology thing is connected to the story in how, that in astrology, the time of year you are born will set your fate because the astrological sign you are born under will determine the particulars of your character, which thus seals your fate as it is dependent on the character given to you by the stars' position, earth's position and your astrological sign's luck. Since the author is using about 300 pages to explicitly define every character's character to the nth degree, taking a great deal of time and effort in unusually enormous descriptions about each of the cast usual set of mind, thinking, feelings, likes and dislikes, failings and history, much like a professional astrologer, I think we, the reader, are in the position of said professional astrologer.

Where DID I put those tarot cards?

Interesting how Lauderback says on page 55 that "Welfare is the very proof of civilization" and "A whore is a moral affliction,"... (view spoiler)[but then, ironically, we learn a bit later that he has a mistress who is described as "the mistress of an establishment... called the House of Many Wishes" (page66). (hide spoiler)]

Observations of the author's that I like:
page 56 (view spoiler)[
"...deprecation always waits to be disputed, and, if the disputation does not come, becomes petulance." (hide spoiler)]

page 76 (view spoiler)[
"Balfour's worship of the other man - that which had so easily become petulance - now became, in rising flood, disdain." (hide spoiler)]

I bought the book today but I'm currently reading 2 other books, so I'll join you in a few days.

Same as Giorgia - need to finish two and then will start this (again).

Keep in mind we have 2 month with this one.

Of course, I don't as I borrowed it from the library -- hopefully I will be able to renew when it is due in 6 days!

i found out something interesting that Google will do. I'm beginning a chapter in the book that is called 'Mars in Capricorn'. Google presented several chart reading sites that explained what this title means:

http://astrology.about.com/od/thebirt...

I've been trying to read this book for months now - only on page 213. Just never grabbed me, BUT I want to join in the discussion - maybe others' insights will help!

aPriL eVoLvEs (ex-Groot) wrote: "i found out something interesting that Google will do. I'm beginning a chapter in the book that is called 'Mars in Capricorn'. Google presented several chart reading sites that explained what this..."

Ha! That is the chapter I am at right now :)

Did you find the astrology stuff helped or gave you insight into the book?

@Mary Ann -- I feel that way too. I think that it is that the author describes too much detail about stuff I don't care about. Plus, the constant shift in perspective I find distracting -- I just get interested in a given storyline when it is ended. But I will persevere...

@Leslie - helping with insight? Not with the individuals themselves, but big picture? Perhaps yes, if the author is fashioning characters to fit every different astrological sign available (12?) with the point being made that whether we are being driven by fate, gods or character, maybe personal choices, luck and social perceptions of our value can trump our possible fated futures. (Actually, it seems to me that all of the characters are self-actuated, reacting to events and directing their lives as if they were sentient billiard balls, using whatever resources they have. But then I don't know what is going on yet....)

Not having reached the end yet, I am guessing the astrology will be debunked by the activities and mystery going on, even if the characters are following their 'fated' paths set by their personalities and birth signs. But of course, it might end with everyone ending up where their astrological fate is sending them, making all of their efforts, struggles and hopes useless. The characters themselves appear oblivious to their astrological sign.

I wish that I could start actually liking a character. I am impressed by the writing and the complexity of the characters. Perhaps the point is complexity is besides the point. IDK. I hope the ending reveals all....

I am on page 158 and I am enjoying it a lot because I love Victorian writing, even faux Victorian. However, I can see it will take a while - it is dense in addition to being long. That is, it's not something you can quickly zip through. I keep having to remind myself which character is which. I think audio (if well done)might help since the characters have different accents.

At one point, there's a story at least 3 people deep, that is Moody is hearing a story told by Balfour and in the story, Balfour is hearing a story told by Lauderback. This is all fine, but then the author switches to omniscience and introduces the Maori character. and I thought "Whose voice are we hearing here?". Maybe she needed to do that, since none of the other characters has any ability to understand or describe Te Rau Tauwhare. He's my favorite so far, and in a way the most sophisticated and "civilized".

I agree with you, Robin. Te Rau Tauwhare is the most compelling character in the book thus far. I'm also frequently having to back up and remind myself which character is which.

Good observation, too, about the change in voice that occurs. A bit jarring I thought.

The characters are believable enough, but none come across as all that sympathetic (except Te Rau). I am curious about the conspiracy that Walter Moody has stumbled into.

I am breathing a sigh of relief -- I was just able to renew my loan of this so I don't have to finish it in the next two days! I was unsure I would be able to renew as there were some people who had the book on hold but luckily there were enough copies elsewhere in the library system to take care of that.

I agree that Te Rau Tauwhare seems the most sympathetic character. However, as you progress and learn more about the background of the other characters, they do become more sympathetic than they originally appeared (except perhaps Carver).

I am still unsure of who is guilty of what but (view spoiler)[I am feeling like perhaps Crosbie Wells did not die a natural death. And is Emery Staines alive or dead?? (hide spoiler)]

Robin wrote: "I am on page 158 and I am enjoying it a lot because I love Victorian writing, even faux Victorian. However, I can see it will take a while - it is dense in addition to being long. That is, it's no..."

My thought

I'm only about two and half hours into the audiobook but I am really enjoying it. I'm hooked on the mystery of the storyline so far.

Finished it - I think the book deserves the prizes because its architecture and cleverness are by the creative MFA literary/literature numbers. But the story is not a warm one, and the characters are too obviously pieces of a puzzle, or actors on a stage.

I had not considered it in this way, but now reconsidering after a while I think yìI'd say the same aPril eVoLvEs

I just finished Part 3 and have some concerns about (view spoiler)[the supernatural connection between Anna and Staines that is being clearly implied. She shoots herself & he gets the bullet wound; she eats and he gets the nourishment... Plus I am upset that Shepard has killed Ah Sook. (hide spoiler)]

Almost done with Part 4... I am surprised that Walter Moody is comfortable with (view spoiler)[the perjury that is being solicited in the trials. (hide spoiler)] I would have picked him for a strait-laced type.

@Leslie

The same scene struck me the same too about Moody.

Feel like I have been ignoring this one, getting stuck back in tonight.

I've finished the first long section, and I was glad there was a bit of a summing up. But I still felt like I should have taken notes on each character and drawn a timeline of where everyone was at certain times and days (too much work!) I agree that the characters are more symbolic than real. Instead of "show, don't tell", every time she introduces a character, she tells us how he is in a couple of paragraphs. From their actions, I can't tell a lot of them apart, except Mannering really stands out. And of course the non-Europeans are distinct.

I'm halfway thru but my ebook expired yesterday. Can't renew. Have to get back on waiting list.

There's a hard copy that looks like I can probably get a hold of within the next 2 to 4 days so this reading of this book is temporarily suspended :(

Oh, that's such a shame. I hope you get a new copy soon