I don't need to remind any of you that it won The Man Booker Prize in 2013. I always look forward to reading prize-winning books. I honestly think I have to admit that this one was a bit too complex for me, and yet, I am not saying it is a bad book, or not worth reading. It's a rich, compelling story [plot], filled with vivid characters and tense scenes. It is intricate. I think my main issue is with that last word, the intricacy of it. I'm all for intricacy, but found myself too often just a bit lost as to the exact happenings of the book. Even now, having finished it, were I to try and explain all that happened, I know I would be missing significant parts of the storyline, especially as they chronologically unraveled. And that bothers me, because I was really paying attention!
Instead of trying to delineate it here, I will direct you to this two-minute video, and perhaps you will get a good sense of the story and its labyrinthian layout:
As for me, again, I really hate to say negative things about this book, I think it is remarkable, in so many senses. I always feel like I require a clear handle [so to say], a mental picture in my head of what is going on -- exactly what is going on, as I read a book. And it is in this sense that ultimately The Luminaries threw me for a loop, too many times.
*****
1 comment:
Too bad you didn't get on as much as you would have liked with the books. I am looking forward to giving a try when my turn comes up for it at the library...as an ebook!
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