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Adina (way behind on reviews, no notifications) 's Reviews > Birnam Wood
Birnam Wood
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Adina (way behind on reviews, no notifications) 's review
bookshelves: new-zealand, ibr
Apr 26, 2023
bookshelves: new-zealand, ibr
When I started this novel, I thought there is no way this is getting more than 3*, if I finish. At the 1st quarter mark, I thought the same. Then it grew on me. When I began the 2nd half I could not stop listening to the audiobook and i thought it was great. When I finished, I exclaimed, this deserves all the stars. After a few weeks I still believe it should get 5*, especially since I never thought I would enjoy reading an eco-thriller.
Mira is the founder of a collective gardening group who plants their crops on neglected plots or, at times, on other people’s property. They are not doing too well, as expected. When Mira finds a piece of land, which was isolated by a landslide, she thinks their problems are over. The property is an abandoned farm located in the town Thorndike, by the Korowai pass. However, Birnam Wood, the way the group is called, are not the only ones interested in the place. Robert Lemoine, an American drone-building billionaire, is looking to place there his end of the world bunker. He proposes to share the place but isn’t everything too good to be true?
Catton spends a lot of time presenting the characters, their background story and the interactions between them. It was boring at first but I realised it was essential in order to allow the plot to go forward and for us to understand the motivations behind the characters behaviour. The tension builds gradually to an explosive ending, which I did not expect. The prose is not over literary but the novel is sprinkled with philosophical discussions about controversial themes such as collectivism, capitalism, climate change and so on. The caustic tone the Birnam Wood members employ can be annoying as hell but still, it makes one think.
Also read by the same author: The Luminaries
Mira is the founder of a collective gardening group who plants their crops on neglected plots or, at times, on other people’s property. They are not doing too well, as expected. When Mira finds a piece of land, which was isolated by a landslide, she thinks their problems are over. The property is an abandoned farm located in the town Thorndike, by the Korowai pass. However, Birnam Wood, the way the group is called, are not the only ones interested in the place. Robert Lemoine, an American drone-building billionaire, is looking to place there his end of the world bunker. He proposes to share the place but isn’t everything too good to be true?
Catton spends a lot of time presenting the characters, their background story and the interactions between them. It was boring at first but I realised it was essential in order to allow the plot to go forward and for us to understand the motivations behind the characters behaviour. The tension builds gradually to an explosive ending, which I did not expect. The prose is not over literary but the novel is sprinkled with philosophical discussions about controversial themes such as collectivism, capitalism, climate change and so on. The caustic tone the Birnam Wood members employ can be annoying as hell but still, it makes one think.
Also read by the same author: The Luminaries
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Reading Progress
January 19, 2023
– Shelved as:
to-read
January 19, 2023
– Shelved
January 19, 2023
– Shelved as:
new-zealand
March 13, 2023
–
Started Reading
March 13, 2023
– Shelved as:
ibr
March 14, 2023
–
15.0%
March 16, 2023
–
30.0%
March 22, 2023
–
50.0%
March 25, 2023
–
70.0%
March 27, 2023
–
80.0%
March 28, 2023
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 79 (79 new)
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by
s.penkevich
(new)
Apr 26, 2023 08:18AM
Wonderful review! Wow this sounds fascinating, I don’t think I realized it was an eco-thriller or by the author of The Luminaries. Great description on how the character building makes the explosive ending work.
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Presumably the title was chosen because of some connection with the events of Shakespeare's Macbeth?
Your review is making me reconsider this:) I felt sure this wasn't for me.
Ooh I did not like this at all but I love to read differing opinions.
Adina, great review. I agree with Sophie :)
Thanks for this review. Even though it was on my TBR list I was teetering on whether to read or not.
Great review I’m glad it’s at the top of my tbr
I loved this book! All my real life friends enjoyed dissing it--I had to get away and read a review by someone who understood it--or felt it the way I did.
s.penkevich wrote: "Wonderful review! Wow this sounds fascinating, I don’t think I realized it was an eco-thriller or by the author of The Luminaries. Great description on how the character building makes the explosiv..." Thank you. i hope you will get to read it.
Ian wrote: "Presumably the title was chosen because of some connection with the events of Shakespeare's Macbeth?" yes, it is a sort of retelling. i do not know the play (i know...) so i cannot give details.
Sophie wrote: "Your review is making me reconsider this:) I felt sure this wasn't for me." I kept at it because I loved her previous work and read that it will change after halfway. Check it out.
Mai wrote: "Ooh I did not like this at all but I love to read differing opinions." And i respect different opinions :)
Stacey B wrote: "Adina, great review. I agree with Sophie :)" Thank you. Enjoy if you decide to read it.
Cheryl wrote: "Thanks for this review. Even though it was on my TBR list I was teetering on whether to read or not." Give it a try and see how it goes.
Wendy wrote: "Great review I’m glad it’s at the top of my tbr"Enjoy it!
switterbug (Betsey) wrote: "I loved this book! All my real life friends enjoyed dissing it--I had to get away and read a review by someone who understood it--or felt it the way I did." I can also underst`and why people did not like it but I loved it. Glad you did as well.
Adina wrote: "Ian wrote: "Presumably the title was chosen because of some connection with the events of Shakespeare's Macbeth?" yes, it is a sort of retelling. i do not know the play (i know...) so i cannot give..."Ah OK! Thanks.
Wonderful review, Adina. I loved this book and I adore Eleanor Catton. And I love your 5 stars. 🌟
Lorna wrote: "Wonderful review, Adina. I loved this book and I adore Eleanor Catton. And I love your 5 stars. 🌟" and I love yours :))
Wonderful review Adina. I have this sitting on the shelf waiting. Your review makes me want to read it now. :-)
Neale wrote: "Wonderful review Adina. I have this sitting on the shelf waiting. Your review makes me want to read it now. :-)" Why wait then?
Adina, I agree this novel is fabulous! I enjoyed Catton's satire and appreciate the moral questions she asks. So much to think about here wrapped in a great plot.
Lisa wrote: "Adina, I agree this novel is fabulous! I enjoyed Catton's satire and appreciate the moral questions she asks. So much to think about here wrapped in a great plot." I agree. An excellent combination which might not be obvious from the beginning.
Excellent review, Adina! This novel is attracting lovers and haters, with not many in the middle! So glad you're one of the lovers!
Jodi wrote: "Excellent review, Adina! This novel is attracting lovers and haters, with not many in the middle! So glad you're one of the lovers!" Me too. :)
Great review. I couldn't have said it better
Shari wrote: "Great review. I couldn't have said it better" Thank you.
Great review. I'll keep it in mind if I come across the library audiobook.
Bianca wrote: "Great review. I'll keep it in mind if I come across the library audiobook." Thank you. The audiobook is good, enjoy.
This review will keep me going, I'm only about 1/4 of the way in and was thinking of DNFing it.
I felt the exact same way. I thought the story got off to a very slow start, and it was only when I was about halfway through that I started really becoming engrossed.
Carolyn wrote: "This review will keep me going, I'm only about 1/4 of the way in and was thinking of DNFing it." i am sorry you did not enjoy it more. I saw that you managed to finish it in the end.
Donna wrote: "I felt the exact same way. I thought the story got off to a very slow start, and it was only when I was about halfway through that I started really becoming engrossed." There was a lot of build-up. it payed off in the end but i understand why many lost their patience.
I’m at page 60 and was thinking of quitting because it’s so slow and boring and nothing is happening. But I’m glad to hear it picks up.
Konnie wrote: "I’m at page 60 and was thinking of quitting because it’s so slow and boring and nothing is happening. But I’m glad to hear it picks up." It does pick up. Hopefully you will like it more then.
Jan wrote: "Nice review, Adina!" Thanks.
Great Review. I agree, the beginning was slow and I'm not sure I would have persevered if it had been an audiobook
Will wrote: "Great Review. I agree, the beginning was slow and I'm not sure I would have persevered if it had been an audiobook" i fin it easier to persevere with audiobooks. I can listen to the story in the background while I do other stuff.
The Luminaries started out the same way. At some point well into the book, I realized I couldn’t put it down.
red_dog_cicada wrote: "The Luminaries started out the same way. At some point well into the book, I realized I couldn’t put it down." true, I felt the same.
I had the same experience with both this book and The Luminaries. Through the first quarter or so of each, they were compelling enough to continue reading. After another, they were just plain good! By the end, I was enthusiastically proclaiming them GREAT books. It almost seems like Catton starts by fulfilling the conventions of some genre, whether contemporary fiction or Victorian novel. Then she begins the task of making the genre her own. Finally, she explodes the genre. I was impressed that she could make Birnam Wood carry the multiple burdens of the climate crisis, the Super Man, economics, activism, and the psychology that drives it all. But she made it happen in a way I continue to think about.
Mark wrote: "I had the same experience with both this book and The Luminaries. Through the first quarter or so of each, they were compelling enough to continue reading. After another, they were just plain good!..." As you said. She is an extraordinary talent. You do not even know when she gets you.
This review nails it. The first half took me 12 days, I read the second half basically in one night. Unputdownable!
Elizabeth wrote: "This review nails it. The first half took me 12 days, I read the second half basically in one night. Unputdownable!" Thank you, Elizabeth. I was lucky because I had stuff do do and listened at the same time. I went easier over the boring bits.
But the ending is abrupt and unsatisfying imo. I actually went back and read the previous few pages again to make sure I didn’t miss something, almost like rewinding a movie. After all of that time invested, sticking it out through the slow beginning especially, I felt like she ran out of paper or lost the last part of her story outline. So disappointing.
Tricia wrote: "But the ending is abrupt and unsatisfying imo. I actually went back and read the previous few pages again to make sure I didn’t miss something, almost like rewinding a movie. After all of that time..." I am sorry it disappointed you. For me it was a natural progression of tension and speed of plot development. However, I can also understand why you found it too sudden.
I hope you are right! I’ve been listening to the audiobook for many days and still have 6+ hours to go. At this point I am more bored and exasperated by the endless descriptions of characters than I am in the story itself—which still hasn’t come together to make much sense.
JwW wrote: "I hope you are right! I’ve been listening to the audiobook for many days and still have 6+ hours to go. At this point I am more bored and exasperated by the endless descriptions of characters tha..." Well, if you don't like it by now, you probably should not bother with the rest. Life is too short to read books you do not enjoy.
