21 November 2013, The Tablet

The Luminaries

by Eleanor Catton

All that glisters

 
Eleanor Catton is not just the youngest ever Booker winner (in this infantilised era, 28 is literary babydom) but her novel is also the longest, at 832 pages pipping the mighty Wolf Hall. Her conceit of making the characters conform to astrological rules and planetary movements is not just a bit of happy scaffolding but central to the novel’s plan: horoscope charts are interleaved between chapters and sections have headings such as “Moon in Taurus, Waxing” and “Saturn in Libra”. The sections get shorter and shorter as the book progresses; like the starry skies, it is to be a revolving narrative. All of these tricks seem designed more to dazzle than enlighten, and will no doubt keep English dons in work for decades.The book opens dramatically enough in January
Get Instant Access

Continue Reading


Register for free to read this article in full


Subscribe for unlimited access

From just £30 quarterly

  Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
  The full weekly edition in print and digital including our 179 years archive.
  PDF version to view on iPad, iPhone or computer.

Already a subscriber? Login



User Comments (8)

Comment by: Mark godswin
Posted: 07/09/2016 04:56:38
Me and my ex-wife at all times have always tried to stay friendly over again after our divorce which occurred in early September. But Dr alexzander you are not going to believe this. she is back!!! Yes, she really came back in 24 hours just as you guaranteed Sir. Now I'm fully persuaded that you are a legit and authentic spell caster and your web site is the best I have ever come across. This is so mind-boggling for me. Emily is back!!! I haven't by any means experienced something like this before. Thank you so much Dr alexzander. I never expected such a result. dream come true. wow! You were so kind with me. “And may your kindness float back to you like ripples that float back to sea shore”. Thank you Sir for your precious help. I have never been so happy in my life like the way I am today. You are a genuine spirit and you will never be forgotten for making me a fulfilled man once again.. You are my hero.. The kids are overjoyed to have their mother come back home for good. so i promise to use this outreach to share his good news to the world and let them know of Dr alexzander the great spell caster that saved my marriage. you can get in contact with him through his email address or web site below. alexzanderhightemple@gmail.com or http://alexzanderhightemple-com.webs.com
Comment by: Sue
Posted: 17/07/2016 10:12:29
OMG! Thank you so much Dr. Trust for restoring back my Broken marriage for 4 years of total separation with my lovely husband cos of her mistress who use a spell on him to abandoned me and our kids. i have contacted so many casters online several times but be scammed. i saw a testimony on the internet of one Juliana testifying of your good work, i contacted you which you assured me just 48 hours for an instant result. Sir just same 48 hours as you promise my husband came back home begging for forgiveness to love and cherish i and the kids forever, am so happy and thankful to you Dr. Trust,,,I am So Happy and Excited because as i am writing this Testimony, My husband is madly in love with me again. If there is any body Out there who is in Difficulties and need help should kindly Contact Dr. Trust on His Email ID and he is Ready to Help you no matter the Situation, (Ultimatespellcast@gmail.com or Ultimatespellcast@yahoo.com call +2348156885231) Web http://ultimatespellcast8.wix.com/ultimatespellcast
Comment by: ELIZABETH STRONG
Posted: 11/06/2016 04:37:49
Hi friends getting your ex back now and saving your marriage from a divorce or breakup! am ELIZABETH STRONG i want to share a live testimony on how Dr Ewan was able to bring my husband back to me, myself and my husband were on a serious breakup, even before then we were always quarreling fighting and doing different ungodly My husband packed his things out of the house and we had to live in different area, despite all this i was looking for a way to re_unite with my husband, not until i met Dr Ewan the great spell caster who was able to bring my husband back home, and he assured me that my husband will come back to me within 48hours hours after he has finish the preparation of the love am very glade today to tell the world that Doctor Ewan is truly a man of his word because my husband came back to me and we settled differences my family is back again and we are happy living fine and healthy, with Dr Ewan all my dream came through in re_uniting my marriage, friends in case you need the help of Dr Ewan kindly mail him on( covenantsolutiontemple@gmail.com) or call him on+2347052958531, Sir i will forever recommend you!!!
Comment by: Colm
Posted: 27/03/2016 18:06:51
Excellent article by Clifford Longley! Pope Francis wants an inverted Pyramid structure. So we should move to the traditional election of bishops by their diocese. And we need an elected board to which our bishop should report.
Comment by: spotlight
Posted: 18/03/2016 16:54:01
I disagree 100% with Brooke's comments. I deny any complicity in acquiescing in the power structure of the Church, just as I deny any complicity in the crimes of abusive priests. Brooke's warm and fuzzy theory does not fit the facts--- we have plenty of lay PMs in the victim advocacy groups like SNAP and Bishop Accountability, and it still does not change a damn thing! Unlike pilots, the Bishop and I are not equals-- he does not ask me how to run his diocese and I don't ask him to repair my car. In the event of a miraculous reversal of roles, I would fire all the bishops and flatten the hierarchy, and he would have to take public transportation.
Comment by: Denis
Posted: 15/03/2016 16:52:31
This reads too much like the secular media's craving for apologies. If Clifford Longley is talking of forgiveness in a religious sense, then shouldn't the emphasis be firstly on seeking God's forgiveness through the means of confession. After all isn't that what the Pope has been asking us all to make an effort to do.
Comment by: Richard Brooke
Posted: 14/03/2016 20:59:57
...our share, however limited, in perpetuating the flawed power structure of the church can we - whatever our p[lace in the church - become part of the solution instead of being part of the problem, and authentically act, in Longley's terms, as PMs to the bishops' PFs. (apologies that my comment comes in two posts).
Comment by: Richard Brooke
Posted: 14/03/2016 17:00:32
I agree wholeheartedly with most of what Clifford Longley has to say, but I think his notion of "the Church" needs filling out. Since we all - laity, religious, and clergy - are constituent members of Christ's body, the Church, I don't think the distinction in his first paragraph between "the Church" and "us" works. Using "the Church" as shorthand for the hierarchy, which seems to be what Longley is doing, misses an important point: we laity (or more generally any of us who feel ourselves relatively powerless in the Church) cannot entirely distance ourselves from the evils of sexual abuse which have been perpetrated, because we are complicit in acquiescing in the power structure to which Longley rightly objects. Only if we acknowledge