A barred thematic is the new puzzle this fortnight, and it’s here. Stay tuned for a few comments on my recent Independent Inquisitor puzzle (coming up Thursday) which will, in turn, provide a basis for the puzzle update in a fortnight’s time.
One of the best books I’ve read in ages was Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries (we got it here in NZ a few weeks before the rest of the world). It’s thus rather unsettling that it went and landed the Booker… On the evening of the dinner and announcement (which was the following morning here) I went into the local bookshop that had hosted the launch party back in August to see how they were receiving the news. Rather splendidly, they were handing out champagne. They even had a few copies to sell (the other bookshop in Wellington had sold out).
Far be it from me to hypothesise what might have tipped the decision her way, but even the most casual glance at the title page cannot fail to observe the imprimatur of excellence.
(OK, it’s there – and also appears between subsections of chapters – because the book is patterned using the Golden Section. Which sounds very dryasdust until you see how Catton uses it to accelerate the plot.)
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