Tournament of Books discussion

Hey All,

I read and loved this years Man Booker Winner The Luminaries. As the winner of the Man Booker and the NBA always have spots in the TOB, I wanted to encourage everyone to plan time to read it. As the novel is over 800 pages, it does take some time. I have found that my friends who were trying to read all of the Man Booker short list in a short amount of time, resented "having" to read the book.

Additionally, the book has 21 characters. I took notes about each of the characters in the first few chapters to keep everyone straight and not to have to search back to remember. As the book continues I no longer had to refer back to my character list as they came alive to me. Having the list did certainly help at first.

Anyway, take time to enjoy the novel. I believe it deserved the Man Booker when compared to the others on the short/long list.

Now, what I would really like to see is The Luminaries go head to head with Life After Life. I would have difficultly choosing between the two of these.

I wonder, when the staff at ToB pairs down their list of contenders, whether they will take into account the length of this book. I know Hilary Mantel's two booker winners were in the tourney and they were both long, still, the judges in the later rounds have just a couple of weeks to read the books and an 800 pager might be pushing it, for all that it's well regarded.

There've certainly been judges who've, ah, had issues with the length of a particular tome (Wolf Hall is especially coming to mind) but I feel like it's a dangerous thing to design the bracket considering things like length. For me, I'd rather see the judge say "yeah, it was 800 pages and I couldn't finish it so I choose the other book" than to see an excellent book get disqualified because they're worried people won't have time to read it.

Wolf Hall is a novella compared to IQ84!

well, 2666 was a contender in 2009 and it's over 800 pages too. so there is a precedence.

i wold say, though, that 2666 was a tougher read than The Luminaries. catton's book does have a lot going on, but it's not quite as cryptic or challenging as bolaño's. fwiw. :)

I am reading it now and about 300 pages in and I am really enjoying it. I can tell already that it is a book to reread. I found a podcast interviewing the author on The Bat Segundo (#524) and it was nice to add to the reading experience. I like hearing from the author especially on big windy books like this one.

Topher wrote: "Wolf Hall is a novella compared to IQ84!"

Hear hear! :)

The thing I like about big (long page count) books is that they demand your attention. I'm one to finish what I start (reading wise anyway) so I know when I pick up a whopper I have a commitment ahead of me. This book was well worth the effort. It was straightforward and complex all at the same time. It's a book where I end up marveling at the technical skills of the author. If you liked the TV series Deadwood you will like, and recognize this book.

I'm starting The Luminaries on my Kindle Paperwhite. The character map in the front is really hard to read, even when I zoom in. Does anyone know if I can find a copy of the character map online? I've tried searching for it, but have come up empty. I found a community-posted character list on Shelfari, but I'm looking for an exact match to the one in the book.

Sherri, you have isolated a true problem. I had an egalley with NO character list but I also had a hardcover, so I would switch back and forth from my ereader (not as heavy as the book) to the book. Maybe you can find some tech savvy person who could figure out how to transfer the character map to your computer, then you could enlarge and print it?

You just gave me an idea and I figured it out. Here's a really hacky solution if anyone else runs into this. I opened the book from my kindle library in my computer browser, found the character map, increased it to 200%, did a ctrl+print screen, pasted into MS Paint, then cropped it and printed it. Now I've got a full-sized character map that I can use alongside my Kindle.

Yay Sherri!

maybe you should save the files as jpgs and share them.... is anyone else having the same problem? sherri can solve it for you!

Ok, I added it as a jpeg, but it's still a little small. Try this if you need it, and if it's still too small, I can email it.

http://www.goodreads.com/photo/group/...

I have just broken 200 + pages in the Luminaries and I have not been a fan so far, but I think I've turned a corner. The number of characters has been a challenge, but I also have been trying (maybe too hard) to understand the correlation to the their astronomy representation. Though I will tell you the plot is tricky but I've hopefully hit my groove.

At 200+ pages I was still wondering and floundering, so that's good Janorton. But it was at Part II, p 361, where it started getting really good for me.

Oh, that's helpful. I usually try to read as much of a book as possible when I first pick it up -- I aim at at least 50 pp. -- in order to get over the "new book" hump, but this one I just can't crack. It's taken three days to limp up to about 50 pp. I really need to sit down and concentrate and get 100 or so pp. read today or tomorrow so it can even be possible for me to finish it by Monday -- and so that I don't abandon it.

200 pp. in. Still not gripped -- but I'm hoping to get to Part II today and see if I can get over that hump. Does anyone else see similarities between this book and The Crimson Petal and the White? I LOVED Crimson Petal, though, almost from the first page.

The whole of Part I is setting up for the rest of the book. It's like Orientation. Though not gripping, it does put you into all of those characters heads so the rest of the story flows. In fact, the story gains speed and gets faster and faster, the Parts get shorter, and by the end it all makes sense. I call this one of those "eye of the needle" stories, meaning if you pass the test of the initial somewhat tedious or difficult section, you get rewarded by the rest.

I've been really enjoying it since page 1! How fun to hear it gets even better. I love her writing style and the way the characters are being introduced.

I loved Luminaries just about from page one. It was like a ball of yarn that was unraveled and twisted. I thought is was fantastic in how it was told and how it all came to the end point. I am sure I missed much of the connections to astrology it is the sort of book I think I would enjoy for all new reasons on reread or via audio book.

I am a little over 200 pages in and really like it so far. My "problem" is that this seems to be a book to read slowly and savor, yet I really would like to finish before it comes up in the tourney March 6th.

Now, why did I think it was coming up on March 3rd?

Tourney starts March 3rd, the 6th is the date for The Luminaries vs Hill William

Yeah, just checked. I'm a doofus. Thanks!

Well, I'm not going to finish by tomorrow (esp. considering I'm at work now) but of course based on everyone's good positive encouragement I'm really into it. So, I have a request, will one of you tell me if there are any spoilers in the tournament tomorrow? Thanks.

I'm not going to finish either. I started out loving this book, but I'm pretty sick of it by page 300. I guess I'm the opposite of everyone else! I'm going to finish it, but right now I'm just kind of over it and don't really care what happens. I hope that changes when I get to part 2.

I have about 200 pp. left to go and I'm hoping (against hope) to finish it by tomorrow. However, it's my birthday and I'm being taken out to dinner before going to an evening event, so the likelihood is pretty slim.

Ellen - You weren't loving 200 pages in, are you loving it now that you are almost done?

Unfortunately, no. I mean, it's ok -- but it's no People in the Trees. Every time I've determinedly made time to sit down and read it I either find something to distract me -- or I fall asleep. Which is a sign that it's just not doing it for me.

Ellen - that is EXACTLY what I've been experiencing. Once I sit down to read it I enjoy it, but when I stop I don't want to go back to it.

So Sherri, I think we're in trouble. I do like it better than I did, but I laughed reading Ellen's note because even though I like it better, that would describe me too. Unlike, for me, The Goldfinch where I would try to read it everywhere.

So funny Ellen your Luminaries experience is my TPIT experience. I was never excited to get back to it and fell asleep almost every time for the first 200 pages. I am glad I read it and know it was well done but never felt compelled to turn the page. Luminaries I read for a four hour xc flight straight never once boring or tiring of it and only stopped because we landed and looked forward to getting back to my hotel to return to it.

This is why they make chocolate and vanilla ice cream -- and also why there is a Tournament of Books, thank god!

I just finished a couple hours ago. I really enjoyed it the entire time, but felt it picked up steam in the last half. I expect it to win tomorrow. I also expect Tale for the Time Being to Advance. If I'm right, I will be sad either way with the result if that match up

Frankly, I kind of wish How to get Filthy Rich...would win, but I know it won't.

Finished, 11:30 last night. Meh.

I'm really enjoying it, but think I will put it aside to read The Dinner. I'm sorry it didn't make it past the first round.

Katie wrote: "So funny Ellen your Luminaries experience is my TPIT experience. I was never excited to get back to it and fell asleep almost every time for the first 200 pages. I am glad I read it and know it w..."

I am having that problem with The Good Lord Bird. I can see it's a worthy book but I just can't get excited about it. OTOH, I think I'd like to re-read The Luminaries.

I'm curious - did any of you have a character you really loved or felt like you connected with in The Luminaries? I didn't. On the other hand, James McBride somehow made all of his characters, even the nastiest, likeable.

I just finished - Finally. Did I miss this round of the tournament? Just Kidding.

I didn't love it but can someone explain to me what happened to Crosbie Wells? Was it just the concoction of things that killed him in the end? I felt like that last chapter preview was a cop out - like I could have just read that after the flashbacks started and been done. I'm feeling negative and I'm not really, I know there are things I didn't grasp, but I do feel good about the accomplishment.