A review by mckmillican
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

5.0

This is the perfect fusion of two of my 2024 reading goals: to read fewer and better books, and to read books set in the places I travel. Reading Eleanor Catton’s brick of a novel while slowly traveling down the west coast of New Zealand (including a stop in Hokitika itself along the way) was the perfect way to kick off the year. I love that Catton is not afraid of genre, word count, or specificity. This is not a shapeless ambient contemporary musing - this is a Capital S Story told lengthily and brilliantly. She assumes she has smart readers who can hang with her through 700 pages and 40 characters and 50 dictionary references (her vocabulary is intimidating). When I finished The Luminaries, I set it down and thought: “Wow! I am SO glad I read that,” which is the energy I hope to maintain for the remainder of my 2024 reads.