The Luminaries

By: Eleanor Catton

Narrated by: Mark Meadows

Length: 29 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Longlisted – Baileys Women’s Prize 2014

Man Booker Prize, Fiction, 2013

Canadian Governor General's Literary Award, 2013.

It is 1866 and Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand goldfields. On arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of 12 local men, who have met in secret to discuss a series of unsolved crimes. A wealthy man has vanished, a whore has tried to end her life, and an enormous fortune has been discovered in the home of a luckless drunk. Moody is soon drawn into the mystery: a network of fates and fortunes that is as complex and exquisitely patterned as the night sky.

The Luminaries is an extraordinary piece of fiction. Written in pitch-perfect historical register, richly evoking a mid-19th-century world of shipping and banking and goldrush boom and bust, it is also a ghost story, and a gripping mystery. It is a thrilling achievement for someone still in her mid-20s, and will confirm for critics and listeners that Catton is one of the brightest stars in the international writing firmament.

Eleanor Catton was born in 1985 in Canada and raised in New Zealand. She completed an MA in Creative Writing at Victoria University in 2007 and won the Adam Prize in Creative Writing for The Rehearsal. She was the recipient of the 2008 Glenn Schaeffer Fellowship to study for a year at the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop in the US and went on to hold a position as Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing there, teaching Creative Writing and Popular Culture. Eleanor won a 2010 New Generation Award. She now lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

©2013 Eleanor Catton (P)2013 Audible Ltd

Critic reviews

"The Luminaries is an impressive novel, captivating, intense and full of surprises." (Times Literary Supplement)

"The Luminaries is a breathtakingly ambitious 800-page mystery with a plot as complex and a cast as motley as any 19th-century doorstopper. That Catton's absorbing, hugely elaborate novel is at its heart so simple is a great part of its charm. Catton's playful and increasingly virtuosic denouement arrives at a conclusion that is as beautiful as it is triumphant." (Daily Mail)

"It is awesomely - even bewilderingly - intricate. There's an immaculate finish to Catton's prose, which is no mean feat in a novel that lives or dies by its handling of period dialogue. It's more than 800 pages long but the reward for your stamina is a double-dealing world of skullduggery traced in rare complexity. Those Booker judges will have wrists of steel if it makes the shortlist, as it fully deserves." (Evening Standard)

Brilliant complex mystery/love story

What did you love best about The Luminaries?

The writing, the sense of place

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gascoigne--cheerful, independent, insightful, interesting past

Which character – as performed by Mark Meadows – was your favorite?

Walter Moody--the trial scenes were fabulous

Any additional comments?

This book is a complex and brilliantly conceived story with many layers about a remote place and time. The narration is pitch-perfect as Meadows rotates seamlessly between indigenous Maori accents, Irish, Scotch, and English accents. The story is told in a non linear fashion with multiple loops back to the original themes making it easier to grasp. The writing is spectacular. This is a unique piece with throwbacks to a Jane Austen style but with a rare and exquisite layering of plot lines. It takes some time to get through it but it's worth it.

I tried and tried.....

I really wanted to enjoy this book as it sounded so interesting from the descriptions as well as other reviews. I first tried to read the actual hard copy of this book, that was not working. I found myself unmotivated to read the amount of text to get to the story! Then I tried the audio approach and found myself drifting often. I made it through about 30% of the book before I decided to take a break. Maybe I will finish it someday. The narration was fine; it was just the amount of words I had to process to understand the meaning!

The plot was moderately intriguing and I do want to know about the remainder of the story, but the style of writing was a bit cyclical for me. I do appreciate novels that the writing is part of the process and thought that this was going be the same with this book. Maybe if there was a more intriguing onset to the story, it would have kept my interest.

Also, this won the Man Booker award......not sure what that really means anymore. I might not be so interested in reading the next winner of that award next time.

Simply extraordinary

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Not only WOULD iI recommend this book, I HAVE! … to any friend whom I know to enjoy mysteries, fine literature, narrative tone, and -- when possible -- an ear for just simply delectable fun between the lines.

What did you like best about this story?

Each of its many characters were impressively well drawn. The writing is masterful and there is always a sense that the author is having much fun in the writing, the teasing of the reader, the breathlessness of the mystery. It was the most enjoyable page turner I've read in decades. Typically I listen to audiobooks while I exercise. Well, thanks to this book, the number of miles I walked this last month increased substantially! If you love great storytelling, sophisticated literature, intriguing history, fabulous pitch perfect narration, and a true romp through a 19th century mystery, you'll love this audiobook.
If there is a flaw, it's that ending of the book feels a bit rushed … That's the only reason I did not give it five stars overall.

What about Mark Meadows’s performance did you like?

Mark Meadows' performance contributed more to the atmosphere and depth of the narrative than any of the many excellent narrators in other audio books to which I've listened. His performance is simply dazzling--just like the author's. His British accent; the perfect pitch, inflection, and pacing for this 19th century setting; the broad command of the different characters' voices--all made the listening experience so rich. I can't imagine that simply reading the words could have matched the depth and breath of this outstanding audio experience.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The most dazzling, thrilling, entertaining historical mystery of your life!

Narrator deserves an Oscar!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Luminaries to be better than the print version?

Yes! I read the book when it came out but felt that I couldn't adequately untangle the complex narrative and that I missed a lot. Mark Meadows is absolutely, astonishingly capable of juggling the accents and intonations of dozens of characters, a dozen or so of those being main players. He can do Irish, Scottish, English, Swedish, Chinese, French, men, women, high class, lower class, and more. And none of the characters share HIS voice, the voice of the narrator! Mind blown. He has enriched my understanding of this wonderful novel a thousand fold.

Who was your favorite character and why?

There are so many characters, and all are incredibly detailed. My favorite sympathetic characters are the Maori, Te Rau Tauwhare, the owner of the Gridiron hotel, Edgar Clinch, and the newspaperman, Benjamin Lowenthal. I also really like the characters of Aubert Gascoigne and Walter Moody.

Have you listened to any of Mark Meadows’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but what I wouldn't give for him to re-do Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell! The current version is incredibly disappointing. I couldn't even get through it. The multiple, painfully poor narrators of Cloud Atlas could all be masterfully replaced by Mr. Meadows. If Mark Meadows re-did that novel I would pay ANY price to hear it.

Who was the most memorable character of The Luminaries and why?

Impossible. There is no solid MAIN character. This is an ensemble effort. The best part of this audiobook is hands-down the narrator.

Any additional comments?

If you've read this novel and were left confused or unsure what to think, I highly recommend this audible version. Due to the complexity, I recommend glancing at the Wiki page or reading the first chapter to get a hold of the cast of characters so that you are better able to follow the story.

The character and settings stuck in my mind

Would you listen to The Luminaries again? Why?

Maybe. It is a very lengthy book, but the setting and the characters were vivid and interesting and I would find myself thinking about them and wondering about some of what they did. Although there were unresolved bits in the story, overall, the story did create a world that was interesting to visit.

What about Mark Meadows’s performance did you like?

He did a great job giving the characters unique and memorable voices but without being grating.

Extraordinary Brilliant

Fantastic characters, brilliant plot twists , interesting glimpse into mid 19th century New Zealand . Loved both the strength and delicacy of spirit

Sometimes you need to have a book read to you

What made the experience of listening to The Luminaries the most enjoyable?

The pacing of this book is such that reading it myself, I found that I was skipping. One of the things I enjoy the most about audio books is being forced to slow down and enjoy the language. Maybe the complex structural devices do not come through in this experience, but the language is enhanced.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The outstanding character was none of the individuals, but rather the environment. Obviously I have no direct experience of gold mining on the West Coast in the 1800s, but I came away with a vivid picture in my mind.

What does Mark Meadows bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Recently I listened to an interview by Orson Scott Card where he stated that some books are made to be read out loud. The Luminaries is one of those books. The range of characters, accents and the language make listening far more enjoyable than reading.Sometimes I read for plot, and sometimes for the rhythm and language, and while the plot is good, it is not the primary value of this book.

One of the best performances by a narrator

The story is good and worth the 23+ hours but I had to write this review to praise the narrator for such a wonderful job. There are about 16 different characters with all types of accents; Scottish, Irish, Australian, French, etc. He mastered them all and I could always tell who was talking based on the voice. I think this is quite a feat with this particular book. I seldom notice the narrator unless they are very bad, but I wish I could give this one 6 stars.

not audiobook material

First of all, let me say that I adore the actor who read it. This is the first time that I could identify every single character simply by the way they speak, even before 'XXX said' would come (and there are a lot of characters). Mark Meadows does a great job of impersonating different people, men as well as women, and it is not ridiculous or annoying as such 'voice change' can get sometimes when you hear grown men trying to do a woman's voice. The reading was exquisite.

That said, I almost gave up on the book. It feels like a sort of book I would like, but in the end I decided that it was simply not audiobook material: the plot and writing are to complex to perceive without having the text in front of your eyes. Especially in the last chapters, where action happens very quickly and almost exclusively in very complicated sentences in form of chapter summaries. The plot jumps back and forth, there are a lot of descriptions, philosophical reveries and flashbacks, and it's simply too hard too follow by ear. There were a lot of spots where I thought, I love this quote! Wonderfully said! but the story was already moving forward, and I could neither enjoy the turn of phrase properly, no catch up to the stuff that happened in three seconds past.

So all in all, I recommend you to buy the paper version of the book, or alternatively, really concentrate on listening (not next to cooking/running as I usually do, and definitely not in bed, because you'll surely fall asleep and miss a million of plot turns)

Much leading to not much

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The last 100 pages.

What do you think your next listen will be?

The biography of Kierkergaard

What does Mark Meadows bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Various voices

Was The Luminaries worth the listening time?

Up until the two thirds point, I would have said yes. But the conclusion made me wish that I hadn't invested so much time with it.