Birnam Wood Review
The contemporary answer to Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang
Eleanor Catton has a beautiful writing style and Birnam Wood is the contemporary answer to Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang. Books set in New Zealand are not often popular abroad and I was glad to be able to get my hands on one. I have had Catton’s Booker Prize winner The Luminaries on my list for years now and I was lucky enough to get Birnam Wood through Netgalley.
I am not usually interested in books about environmental activism but I was lured in by the cover, the meaty characters, and because I have been wanting to read Catton’s work for a while. It was an excellent choice. I am also difficult to impress when it comes to thrillers — I think the true test of a genre known for its formulae is “would I enjoy this if I knew all the twists,” and Birnam Wood passes, though the twists are fantastic and shocking. I was compelled by the characters, especially because they were morally ambiguous [at best] and unlikeable. Unlikeable characters, especially main characters, can easily fall flat for being cartoonish or annoying, but Catton has created truly interesting flawed characters. I am going to have to move The Luminaries up the reading list now!
