Reviews

Nebeská tělesa by Eleanor Catton

canarqen_defon's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed the flow and language of this as a Victorian novel. BUT: I remain unconvinced that the astrological angle is anything more than an ill-fitting afterthought. The public denouement was enjoyable, although you knew things weren't exactly as it was explained; the "real" denouement was experimental (and enjoyable), but didn't touch on the implications made throughout the story.

I don't like teases. In the end, this was one big tease.

claretumber's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

apangburn's review against another edition

I tried reading this twice, several months apart, but never could get into it.

jenikki's review against another edition

4.0

This book takes a bit to get into, but once you're there, it's a rollicking good murder mystery. Catton has written it in a Victorian style, so at times you feel like you're actually reading a George Eliot novel instead of one published in 2013. Like any good jury story, it features 12 key characters who rotate throughout, telling their version of the events of the day when one man was found dead in his cottage, another went missing, and a woman was found in the road nearby and is assumed to have attempted suicide. What did these things have to do with one another? And who is embellishing their story, and who is telling the truth? There were several times throughout when I got to the end of a chapter and a character suddenly mentioned something that cast light on an earlier story, and I gasped aloud. And interestingly, one of the characters who actually knows the most is unable to communicate with anyone else in the room because he doesn't speak English. But we get his story, and it's a whopper. Much has been made of Catton using astrological signs throughout the book to help illuminate the events, and I'd have to speak to someone who knows more about astrology than I do to actually explain them, but I'm thinking there's more than one university prof out there who's now boning up on astrology to teach this book. ;) I really enjoyed it, and despite its mammoth size (over 800 pages) when you read it moves very quickly, like a good pulpy Victorian novel.

chia2401's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Very very complicated, takes a long time to read, but it paints not only a picture but a whole masterpiece of intrigue and mystery. Difficult to follow, and still leaves you with many questions at the end. Super entangled story, many versions of it make it a challenge for the reader itself to untangle the deeper level. Feels like there are very many layers of meanings 

jaydethegiraffe's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

saedith's review against another edition

Just a bit much for right now, but I'm intrigued so will pick it up again later.

rideauriverreads's review against another edition

I wanted to like this so much but it was just so SLOW. So many characters to keep track of that I would get lost and I just didn't care about the central mystery. The language is undoubtedly beautiful and there were some parts that I liked enough that I thought I could get into it, but after giving it "one more try" about eight times, I'm shelving it for now.

kristin_roemer's review against another edition

2.0

So long, so many characters, not gripping enough, blah blah blah

juliachilver's review against another edition

1.0

There is something of the Emperor's new clothes about this book. Don't be fooled. If you find it slow, lacking in likeable believable characters, fail to understand the very well hidden references to astrology then you are not being stupid. To get anywhere close to understanding this book (although I defy anyone to actually like any of the characters) you have to have ploughed through about 600 pages.