Hardcover, 834 pages
Published Oct. 15, 2013 by Little, Brown and Company.
This novel is a murder mystery set in a remote gold-mining frontier town in 19th-century New Zealand. Arriving in New Zealand in 1866 a weary Englishman, Walter Moody, lands in a gold-mining frontier town on the coast of New Zealand to make his fortune and forever leave behind his family's shame. On arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of twelve local men who have met in secret to investigate what links three crimes that occurred on a single day, events in which each man finds himself implicated in some way. Moody finds himself drawn into a series of unsolved crimes and complex mysteries.
It took me SO LONG to read this book. 1 1/2 months. Very unusual for me, even for an 800 page book.
The writing style captured me from the beginning, although it was sometimes (in the first few sections) a struggle to follow the rather complex plot with so many characters. I really appreciated all the authentic New Zealand (and especially Hokitika) references - wildlife, Maori language and culture, street names, etc. since I discovered and started reading this book in Hokitika itself. However, I think many clever astrological references were lost on me. Despite that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. This would be a great one to take apart in an English Lit. class.
Set in gold rush era New Zealand, it reminded me more than a little of the series Deadwood despite being on the other side of the world. It's brilliantly written and is very deliberate and interesting in form - structured according to astrology and the chapters flipping upside down as the book progresses. The mystery was original and unpredictable, but kinda low key.
Stunning prose, in service of a so-so mystery. Catton can invest her characters with so much definition and life with just a few turns of phrase, which kept me going despite the central plot never quite getting out of third gear.
Loved this book
I could not comprehend the astrology references or the reason(s) why the chapters halved in length over the course of the book such that, by the end, the explanatory text at the beginning of the final chapters was longer than the chapters themselves, but I guess that's what college courses are for.
Ah, this is wonderful story telling, drawing me in and becoming more intriguing, as it progressed. And I had no idea that there was ever a gold rush in New Zealand. Most of this tale takes place in the 1860's, and since I live within easy driving distance of Gettysburg, that time period, in my mind, is all about the American Civil War. (Though I am aware that life in the rest of the world went on...)
There is a long cast of characters in this tale, and at first it looks daunting, but they are introduced and involved in a way that I found clear and memorable. This is a story that will stick to me, and I'm glad that I avoided reading anything about it beforehand, since there are so many secrets that unfold along the way.
I only wish I'd read this tome on vacation, when I …
Ah, this is wonderful story telling, drawing me in and becoming more intriguing, as it progressed. And I had no idea that there was ever a gold rush in New Zealand. Most of this tale takes place in the 1860's, and since I live within easy driving distance of Gettysburg, that time period, in my mind, is all about the American Civil War. (Though I am aware that life in the rest of the world went on...)
There is a long cast of characters in this tale, and at first it looks daunting, but they are introduced and involved in a way that I found clear and memorable. This is a story that will stick to me, and I'm glad that I avoided reading anything about it beforehand, since there are so many secrets that unfold along the way.
I only wish I'd read this tome on vacation, when I had more time, because putting it down so often was rather painful!
It's possible one needs to find astrology interesting in order to enjoy this book (I don't). With all the praise this book has received, I was very disappointed to find it to be such a slog. It's a complicated story with many characters, told in multiple flashbacks and from differing points of view, but it lacked the ability to draw me in such that I was inspired to keep track of all of them. Whereas in other novels of similar length and complexity, I find myself keeping notes or a character list to ensure I am following the action properly, I repeatedly found myself a little lost but just pushing through and assuming I'd figure it out -- I didn't care enough to backtrack. Ultimately I found this book very disappointing.
Well, a few months later, I have finally finished this one. I have to say, I enjoyed reading it. I mean the words, the sentences, it was just really good to read, just lovely language and all that.
But then, my rating is bumped down a few notches because at the end, I feel like I barely understand what happened in the book or have much understanding of the (vast) cast of characters. Some of that is probably deliberately unresolved and unexplained but lots of it I feel like I would have to go back and and reread parts of it four or five times to figure it out.
At the end of the day, I liked it but it doesn't seem like it is worth that much trouble to figure it all out, so I'll just have to live with the mysteries.
One of the main reasons I read is to be entertained. This book, after a somewhat difficult and convoluted beginning, is without a doubt, very entertaining. There are many complaints about this book, the whole astrological schtick, the show don't tell critique, the halved chapters etc... And I have to agree with them somewhat. But the fact remains this is a good story, filled with great characters, intrigue, betrayals, blackmail, GOLD!!! It will not fail to keep you wanting to find out the truth, to keep you reading and guessing. I quite liked it.
No wonder she won the Booker. How did she organise such complexity so well?
A long read, but one that gets more and more engrossing as it goes, creating a wonderfully rich story.
