Five years ago, a group of young people came together and created a collective called Birnam Wood. Mira and Tony were founders and soon afterwards Shelley came on board. The purpose of Birnam Wood is to provide more food and they grow crops wherever they can find land, regardless of who owns it and whose water they are using. They are somewhat criminal but believe they have right on their side. The collective is constantly in financial trouble as the plots they can find are far sprung and its difficult to grow enough to make a profit. Tony left and went to the United States for years but is recently back.

But there may be an opportunity for Birnam Wood. A landslide near the mountains has left a large farm fairly deserted. The owners, a recently knighted businessman and his wife, had planned to subdivide it and sell it for housing estates but after the landslide that plan had to be put on hold. That huge plot of land, backing onto a national park, could be Birnam Wood's salvation if they get there and start planting. But they aren't the only ones interested in the farm. A billionaire named Robert Lemoine is in the process of buying the farm. When he finds Mira on the land, he seems interested in Birnam Wood and soon is offering to sponsor it. He tell Mira and Shelley that he is planning to build a bunker on the farm but they are welcome there in the meantime.

Meanwhile, Tony suspects something is going on and camps out in the park, looking for what is going on so that he can fulfill his dream of becoming a journalist. He discovers Lemoine's true purpose and puts himself in danger along with the people of Birnam Wood. Can he survive long enough to get the story out?

Eleanor Catton is a New Zealand author who was the youngest Booker Prize winner ever with her second novel, Luminaries. This book is her third novel and generated a lot of buzz as it was chosen as a best book by NPR, Kirkus, The Washington Post, Time and others. The action is fast and furious and the characters are all given sufficient backstories that the reader feels they understand them. The inevitable clash between idealism and capitalism provides lots of drama although the ending is a bit abrupt. This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

I selected this title for my library's fiction book club. I really enjoyed it. It was a bit slow at first and got into the weeds a bit with leftist in-fighting, but once it became a murder mystery, I was very interested and raced to the end. I think it will make for a great discussion.

Birnam Wood is a slow burn that hooks you in from the beginning. The characters are written honestly and with flaws. The drama builds slowly until the climax at the end of the book.

Despite the urgency and relevance of non-fiction books about climate change, I find them to be an absolute snooze to actually read in long-form.

Taking the very real factors that make up the modern political landscape and fictionalizing them though is, apparently, enthralling to me, while still very much delivering the intended message. Evil billionaires, privileged young people who are blissfully unaware that they are not as connected to their cause as they may think, surveillance, wealth/race/beauty as manipulation factors…it’s a roller coaster of action that I did not anticipate from a novel about a guerrilla gardening group in New Zealand.

I also *must* mention that Tony, Birnam Wood’s wannabe journalist and resident fuck boy, is one of the most delightfully spot-on obnoxious characters I’ve encountered in literature. He brings to mind a boy from my English Lit college days who *chose to miss credit for an assignment that he completed* versus ripping a page out of his bound Moleskin to turn in 🙄🙄🙄. We have all met our own version of this person, correct?
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I really enjoyed this thriller with an exploration of capitalism, greed, and the lengths people will go to, in order to get what they want. The characters, story, and mystery were very compelling.

I wanted to love this so badly, but unfortunately, it never quite came together for me. The writing was beautiful, but the storyline never grabbed me.

Birnam Wood; A Novel by Eleanor Catton was a fun kiwi story that I truly enjoyed. I was truly thankful to have gotten to read this before most people! I would like to purchase this one for my physical library!

I did enjoy this book, but felt confused in parts and couldn't follow along. For this reason, I gave it a 4*. I would still recommend this book to my family and friends.

I liked Eleanor Catton’s The Rehearsal a lot, and while this is equally well written, I didn’t find it to be particularly successful.

Tech/capitalism skewering is a popular subject for novels these days, and while the spirit of books like this always feels correct, the actual experience of reading them usually winds up being tedious and either too clumsily on the nose (like this one) or too wonky and abstract, I’m not sure where the ideal balance lands, but authors seem to be struggling to find it:

Despite the titular reference, this also didn’t feel especially Shakespearean, and the plot felt too predictable and isn’t anything particularly unique.

I think it’s fine to make a statement with the subject of a novel, but it still has to be a good read, and this one is a lot longer on message than it is on reader experience. There’s no arguing that Catton writes sharply and evocatively, but the plot is a miss.

Following on from her Booker Prize-winning THE LUMINARIES, which the author herself described as an 'astrological historical murder mystery', Eleanor Catton takes a turn by delivering her version of a slow-burn psychological thriller, as an activist horticultural group becomes entwined with, and comes up against, a foreign billionaire. Catton draws readers into a fascinating tale with her skilfully rendered characters and wonderful writing, Bubbling beneath are a variety of modern and timeless issues, nods to Shakespeare (esp Macbeth) and more. An intriguing, very well written novel from an extremely talented author.

Birnam Wood is one of my favorite reads of 2023. I found it captivating- it took me a good 20-30 pages to get into it, but then I tore through it so quickly. It is smart and witty and oh so dark. If this is where we are heading with climate fiction, I'm all in. My book club was similarly struck by it, and I think this is a book that bears a lot of discussion (though maybe your group isn't so lucky to be full of Shakespeare snobs and librarians as mine). Five stars!

I honestly did not expect to enjoy this book so thoroughly. I didn't have much connection or sympathy for the characters from the outset and even though I do not need to like the characters to like a book, I thought I was in for a long ride. I was proved to be wrong. The story of Birnam Wood was told with such intrigue that it sucked me right in.

Eleanor Catton is a genius at crafting compelling, believable character dynamics. This novel feels fresh and urgent, and the ending gut-wrenching but entirely justified.

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton. It is the story of a group of guerilla gardeners who find empty land and plant things on it, because they believe that capitalism is the enemy, and anyone should have access to land. I got through maybe 30% of it and then DNF'd. I had a hard time following the characters, and an even harder time caring about them. Possibly will try it at another time.

I was so excited to read this. The story immediately hooked you in with rich characters and their world. I enjoyed learning what motivates them and about their relationships and connections with each other. It was a very character driven plot.

And then. And then the hook fell off. The story began to slog and I lost all interest. It took a weird turn and I wondered if I was reading the same book. There were twists and turns that felt far fetched and forced. In the end I couldn’t tell you what was up or down or the point of it all.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me the ARC for review.

This is a book that seamlessly intertwines the beauty of nature with a gripping mystery, creating a reading experience that is both enchanting and thought-provoking. Set against the backdrop of the eponymous forest, the narrative unfolds with a poetic grace that captures the essence of the woods. The author's vivid descriptions breathe life into the natural surroundings, making the forest a character in its own right. From the rustling leaves to the dappling sunlight, every detail is meticulously crafted, immersing readers in the atmospheric splendor of this novel. The plot weaves a captivating tale of intrigue and discovery, as characters delve into the mysteries concealed within the heart of the forest. The pacing is expertly calibrated, allowing suspense to build organically while maintaining a sense of wonder. The author skillfully blends elements of mystery, folklore, and the supernatural, creating a narrative that keeps readers eagerly turning pages. Character development is a strong suit of "Birnam Wood," with each protagonist contributing a unique perspective to the unfolding mystery. The ensemble cast brings diversity to the story, and their individual journeys are interwoven seamlessly. The emotional depth of the characters adds resonance to the overarching narrative, ensuring that readers invest not only in the mystery but also in the fates of those navigating the woods. 4.5 rounded up!

Admittedly it took me ages to read this. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't a highly-compelling page-turner with the pace of a thriller and the heart of great literary fiction. Highly recommended!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Can't tell if this book is a brilliant reminder of the perils of climate change and the responsibility we all hold to preserve and protect our world, or a lazy plot with an abrupt ending (devolves into a caper, then an apocalyptic slash). Catton's an intellectual and thought-provoking writer, and the New Zealand setting a smart and interesting perspective.

For years I’ve wanted to read Catton’s tome, The Luminaries, but by waiting so long, along came Birnam Wood, a book that spoke, in many ways, directly to my life.

… their real objective, as they understood it, was to help an alliance of western nations work in secret to wrest rare-earth market dominance away from China, securing a rare-earth supply chain, from mine to magnet, for the United States.

This quote seems to mirror my current reality, except Catton got it wrong.

For me, it’s Canadian copper mine, Faraday, “exploring” (i.e. destroying) the mountain range in front of my home that I love so dearly… (only this company is sending our U.S. “domestic” copper away to Asia – to China – whereby the US has zero benefit, and our government allows it to happen under the guise of “We need this copper for green energy in the US”). All around us, in Arizona, is this reality: Canadian-, Mexican-, Australian-, and UK-owned mines paying little to no export taxes for our resources, thanks to 1872 mining laws still intact. Pure profit to foreign entities, while “green” energy, with its thirst for copper, devastates the sensitive, riparian desert environment that supports millions of migratory birds from South America. I digress… or maybe I don’t.

This story is about capitalistic greed and emphasizes the race to control the world’s mineral resources. Hmm. Sounds hauntingly familiar.

Unfortunately, that’s mostly where it ends regarding a gelling between me and this book. Sure, there are millennials in this novel concerned about helping the Earth (I am not a millennial, but have the same passionate concerns, as an old tree-hugger, who, once upon a time, would have bought an electric vehicle, not knowing their cost on the environment).

So there was that common environmental concern. But there also was lots of whining and finger-pointing at my generation for the cause of global warming and capitalistic greed (funny – as a Gen X’er, I could finger-point all the way back to the Industrial Revolution, or colonialism, or maybe more accurately, European/Christian beliefs about dominion over the Earth).

Who knows. Maybe Catton is making fun of her own generation. Or maybe she’s further magnifying her generation’s anger toward the previous generation (which so much literary fiction does today). We all have a lot to be angry about as the world warms and greed seems to be the uniting factor between all nations.

What I do know with certainty is that I felt the author’s “voice” throughout this entire book, instead of the characters’ voices; I’ve watched recordings of Catton at speaking events and she’s intelligent AF. There are plenty of intelligent people in this world, but I have a hard time believing that every, single 20- to 30-something in an illegal “farming-to-do-good” cooperative is going to be a great philosopher and deep, existential thinker.

They all spoke (and ruminated in their heads) like they had Ph.Ds. or studied with the world’s great philosophers. That was a mega slow-down in my enjoyment of this book and killed much of its authenticity for me. Sure, you’ll have some brilliant people in every group, but not all of them experts on political ideology. That and the fact that the novel is painfully slow to take off. I started on e-book, and it just wasn’t working. So I moved to audio. And that, too, had my mind wandering off to anything but what I was listening to. I switched back to reading, then back to audio and finally I was able to stick with it. In the end, I’d have been happy to finish it, because the middle actually got interesting and intense. But then… the ending…

I will leave you with ellipses because the ending infuriated me. I’m still parsing out what it meant. I think I know. I think it might be accurate in answering “is the world worth fighting for?” question. But from a craft perspective and, in fairness to readers, it was a cop out.

So, why a “3” (translated as liked)? Because I appreciate books that tackle humanity’s tendency toward self-interest over the good of many; that tackle greed; that tackle environmental issues; that shine a spotlight on mining greed and habitat destruction. Sure, the writing could feel pretentious at times, but – in all reality – I liked the last third of the book immensely. Mostly.