Reading the Chunksters discussion

1. How does astrology affect the construction of the novel and its flow?

2. Despite a slightly neutral tone in her narrative and all characters are equally detached from the narrator, some of them are more personally likable. Who is the one your heart follows more than others?

3. The events of the novel go back and forth; the time fluctuations are not very significant, but they are still present in the novel. How does the temporal tapestry affect your reading? Does the novel benefit from it?

Please post our thoughts below.

Will be reading this weekend!!

The characters we've met thus far all seem to have some level of culpability in the various mysteries. None are completely innocent. In this section, I thought the interactions of Anna and Gascoigne were interesting. Could they be star-crossed lovers? That may actually have some meaning in this novel!

A lovely description: She was a reflected darkness, just as she was a borrowed light. (Moon?)

I don't mind the time slips; it fits with Catton's idea of the spheres of time, past and present rotating and aligning at different rates. The astrology is largely lost on me, except at a very superficial level (Lowenthal a Gemini, maybe?) Like the stars, I'm sure there's an influence, and I glimpse it occasionally.

Well its interesting that she constructed the novel to fit the astrological signs, thus, she constrained herself to certain character interactions in each chapter while also trying to maintain the plot. Its quite a feat, but one that is starting to lull for me. I would very much like to get on with it, as it were. While I liked Gascoingne in this chapter, and think he might be my favorite character now, I'm still a little bored with the limited interactions and scope of each chapter. Really ready for something meatier to happen. I think others must feel the same.


Susan here are the zodiac signs as posted at the beginning of the book on the wheel diagram:
Te Rau Tauwhare (a greenstone hunter): Aries
Charlie Frost (a banker): Taurus
Benjamin Lowenthal (a newspaperman): Gemini
Edgar Clinch (an hotelier): Cancer
Dick Mannering (a goldfields magnate): Leo
Quee Long (a goldsmith): Virgo
Harald Nilssen (a commission merchant): Libra
Joseph Pritchard (a chemist): Scorpio
Thomas Balfour (a shipping agent): Sagittarius
Aubert Gascoigne (a justice's clerk): Capricorn
Sook Yongsheng (a hatter): Aquarius
Cowell Devlin (a chaplain): Pisces

Thanks, Becky! My wheel has symbols, but no names for the signs.
Yes, it seems like we will see the story from many viewpoints.

SusanK wrote: "Thanks, Becky! My wheel has symbols, but no names for the signs.
Yes, it seems like we will see the story from many viewpoints."

Mine didn't either. I think that seems a bit like cheating! :-) Just giving away information like that without expecting the reader to work it out based on the chapters.

I've got to read these new chapters. I'm bad with group reads as I like to read in big chunks and hate having to stop just as I'm getting into a novel.

I'm wondering about the significance of the names. The section when Frost and Mannering go to Chinatown has a line that mentions "on the Coast, wherever there was water, there was gold--and there was water all about..." I noticed that at least two characters have last names that have something to do with water: Frost (who is the one thinking about this line) and Wells. Possibly even Wetherell, albeit not in the right spelling. I'm probably reading way too much into that, but it just struck me somehow. I wonder if all the names mean something in some way.

I'm finding it harder and harder to follow this as a true narrative, that it's being relayed by one person at a time to Moody. There are too many internal feelings that different characters seem to be able to relay about one another, including some internal thoughts of Anna's, who is not part of the discussion at all. It makes the jumps back into the room when the men are talking feel rather disjointed and interrupts the flow of the story in what feels like an illogical way.

Other than that, I'm really enjoying how the story is playing out, finding bits and pieces of the puzzle at different times, like a true murder mystery. The number of players is a bit overwhelming and I'm having a very difficult time keeping track of all the men (maybe I'm better with Agatha Christies, where usually the limit of characters is about ten), but the story itself is slowly unfolding and definitely not boring, as the plot thickens further and further. I'm definitely curious what direction it's all heading!

I have sort of raced ahead a bit, so it's hard for me to place what happens in this part of the novel. But I think I have enough of my wits to answer the last question.

The pattern in the storylines made me think about writing out a timeline, with each character having a different color. (Maybe a few too many detective procedural television shows.) I didn't do it, but I can't help but think it might have been helpful. Since I don't normally read books like this, it generally means I'm less likely to remember all the tiny specific facts, so I'm hoping that such references keep coming up to keep them in my memory (assuming they're all important). If I was really trying to keep it straight, I think I would be more focused on that than on the book. I sort of feel the same with the astrology signs; they sort of make sense to me now, but I would prefer to get through the whole thing, then reflect on the astrology, and then reread the book with everything combined in my memory.

1. I'm more understanding about the way she flat out tells us the character of the people involved, it's so we can connect it quickly to the star sign (although I still feel that this is a rather immature writing style). Otherwise we've already discussed the structure of the novel.

2. No. I've no connection to any of them.

3. I don't know about benefit. Perhaps it does. It is a mystery novel and it helps in so far as it can offer bits of information in a disjointed way which relies on the writer being sharp enough to pick up/remember for later.

Moon in Taurus (Waxing)

Taurus Moon likes the familiar instead of the exotic. They will be prepared to put up with just about anything to preserve this familiar sense of security. Strong-willed, they are set in their ways. They want to create a solid, comfortable existence so they feel secure and happy. Moon in Taurus is steady, and makes those near them feel comforted. They can be very conservative and set in their ways. Sociable, Moon Sign Taurus loves companionship. They are emotionally balanced, and like to finish one thing before starting another.

They don’t like unpredictable or messy situations or emotional outbursts. They take their time before committing to anything, but once they do, they are reliable and persevere, no matter what it takes. You can usually trust their instincts. They analyze every move first to find out what is the safest course. They can become predictable and slaves to routine, since this gives them a sense of security

I had to read back a few chapters to remind myself of some of the details now that the plot is getting pretty complex. So in this chapter we get the introduction of the Aurora mine which has the sweet smell of fraud written all over it. I wonder how realistic this would have been. Personally I think with the lure of gold the governing bodies would be pretty alert to people trying to cheat the system and would jump on a big discrepancy like this pretty quickly.

It's certainly obvious enough to make Charlie Frost take notice and he goes to see Dick Mannering (who seems like a real piece of work). I was interested in Eleanor writing that Mr Frost was ashamed of having been born in NZ and that he 'mailed off' for a bride.

Dick Mannering has his fingers in just about everything going on in the town by the looks of it, none of the businesses particularly steady or stable, but I'm sure they are all pretty profitable. Charlie is definitely impressed by his wealth and subservient in his attitude.

Mannering chafes Frost on the quick sale of Crosbie Well's estate but Frost seems unconcerned, genuinely unconcerned on the surface; unlike many other people who, caught up somehow, bluster out that they are innocent of any wrongdoing but seem concerned about being thought in any way culpable which is in contrast to how other people have reacted. Frost just says that the reason the sale was so quick was due to a tip off and that he could process it so quickly because Crosbie Wells had no paperwork. Which is rather peculiar even for that day and age.

Mannering says that he knows Crosbie Wells widow, Lydia (Greenway). Is this the first person who claims that they knew her previously? Was she a prostitute perhaps? He certainly thinks (or says so) that she is both clever and devoted to money.

Frost reveals that the gold found at Crosbie Wells hut was inscribed with the name Aurora which was Emery Staines's and so thinks that the money belonged to him rather than Crosbie, but then Mannering reveals his big scam and though it would serve him right to be cheated (nothing like cheating a cheater) I think there must be more to it.

One other thing about this chapter was during the conversation between Balfour and Lowenthall, Anna and Emery were refered to as 'chalk and cheese' (white/yellow - moon/sun) and the question is put 'who is chalk? Emery I suppose because of his quarrying'. But Emery quarries for yellow gold not white chalk. This conversation has convinced me that we are not meant to know which luminary Anna is and that Emery is meant to be the other. Those two are being made out to be interchangeable. In Greek mythology Apollo (sun god) and Artemis (moon goddess) are brother and sister and very close to each other.

Lowenthall reveals that the Godspeed slipped out of the harbour very late on the day of Crosbie Wells death. He also relates an anecdote, back in the 'present' about a Francis Carver Wells who placed an advertisement for a lost shipping trunk in his newspaper about 8 months ago.

This was a long chapter and a lot happened, even with a 3rd re-cap I've probably missed out some crucial information but that just make it more like a modern mystery :-)

I finally picked this back up and actually started over. I find that paying attention to the astrology makes me lose the story so I quit. The narrative jumping from person to person hasn't bothered me much. I have started jotting down a few notes to help me remember who is who. I have found Gascoigne to me the most likable character....mann wring the least likable....and somehow I think Pritchard is much more involved than it currently apoears

I finally picked this back up and actually started over. I find that paying attention to the astrology makes me lose the story so I quit. The narrative jumping from person to person hasn't bothered me much. I have started jotting down a few notes to help me remember who is who. I have found Gascoigne to me the most likable character....mann wring the least likable....and somehow I think Pritchard is much more involved than it currently apoears

I agree, I found that just reading the story and not worrying about the astrology made it a much better story for me.