The Luminaries, by Eleanor Catton
hmmm .... I'm trying to read this book because it has won the Booker prize, but so far, at page 99, I have to say, I'm underwhelmed.
The book so far seems to move at a glacially slow pace. The author has a distressing tendency to address the reader, which I dislike because it prevents me from losing myself in the world of the book, and continuously reminds me of the author's presence. The writing is very 'telly' which I'm also not fond of. I prefer to be 'shown' a character, or to discover them for myself, rather than having them described at length by the author.
I'm also struggling to place the book in New Zealand. This may be because it's set in very early New Zealand where the European people were mostly recent immigrants from Britain, but so far I'm missing any New Zealand flavour to the book, other than place names.
I'm determined to persevere though, so I'll keep you posted on how the story develops and whether it improves. I must say though, at this point, if it hadn't won a prize, I would probably not have bothered to press on with it.
The book so far seems to move at a glacially slow pace. The author has a distressing tendency to address the reader, which I dislike because it prevents me from losing myself in the world of the book, and continuously reminds me of the author's presence. The writing is very 'telly' which I'm also not fond of. I prefer to be 'shown' a character, or to discover them for myself, rather than having them described at length by the author.
I'm also struggling to place the book in New Zealand. This may be because it's set in very early New Zealand where the European people were mostly recent immigrants from Britain, but so far I'm missing any New Zealand flavour to the book, other than place names.
I'm determined to persevere though, so I'll keep you posted on how the story develops and whether it improves. I must say though, at this point, if it hadn't won a prize, I would probably not have bothered to press on with it.
posted by burning moon at 12:54 PM
2 Comments:
I have always been of the opinion that if a book does not take you in the first 100 pages, then it never will and I will put it aside and start something else, my wife thinks this is sacrilege lol and will persist to the end of what she will eventually admit was a terrible book
mmm, I always try to finish what I start, although I must say, Moby Dick defeated me, even though I've heard that it's acclaimed as the best novel in the English language. lol. I don't know what that says about me as a reader :o
I did finish this book though, and it was okay in the end, but very long winded I thought.
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