Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
Birnam Wood is a suspenseful thriller with lots of high drama and fascinating insights into what makes humans want to live. Birnam Wood is moving. On the South Island of New Zealand, a landslide blocked the Korowai Pass, cutting off the village of Thorndike and abandoning a huge farm. The catastrophe offers a chance for Birnam Wood, a clandestine, unrestrained, occasionally criminal, occasionally charitable guerrilla gardening society that plants crops everywhere no one will notice. The team has struggled to turn a profit for years. Possessing the property in Thorndike would provide a final chance at financial stability.
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
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The mysterious American millionaire Robert Lemoine, however, is also interested in the location; he claims to have purchased it in order to construct his end-of-the-world bunker when he spots Birnam’s creator, Mira, visiting the land. Though their political views are diametrically opposed, Lemoine is intrigued by Mira and Birnam Wood since it appears that they may have some enemies. But can Birnam believe him? And when their beliefs and philosophies are put to the test, can they still trust one another?
Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood, a riveting psychological thriller from the Booker Prize–winning author of The Luminaries, is Shakespearean in its drama and Austenian in its wit. Like both of these influences, both authors are concerned with what makes us who we are. It is a captivating, unflinching examination of the human desire to protect our own existence that is ingeniously crafted as a study of intentions, acts, and consequences.
We begin at Birnam Wood, a collective of anarchist gardeners led by Mira and Shelley. After years of barely getting by, Robert Lemoine, a billionaire, makes Mira a sizable offer. There are numerous secrets being held, and each person is driven by a different purpose. What is the response of an anarchist group to a lot of money? Why is a billionaire suddenly passionate about gardening and ecology?
Mira Bunting established Birnam Wood, a guerilla gardening collective, five years ago. This activist collective, an unregistered, unsupervised, occasionally criminal, occasionally charitable group of pals, plants crops somewhere no one will notice: on the sides of roads, in abandoned parks, and in forsaken backyards. The team has struggled to turn a profit for years. As a landslide closes the Korowai Pass, cutting off the village of Thorndike, Mira finds a solution and a method to finally prepare the group for the long term. The natural disaster has created an opportunity, a huge farm seemingly abandoned.
The name of this intriguing thriller comes from a forest that appears in Shakespeare’s play McBeth. Similar to that well-known drama, this book is full of flawed characters whose objectives are difficult to reconcile with their morality. A complex, captivating plot is made possible through accidents, lies, and miscommunications.
The name of a small nonprofit organization that works to grow crops on vacant lots, sometimes with permission and sometimes without, is Birnam Wood in Eleanor Catton’s most recent book. There is clearly some criminality and trespassing going on, but the group’s members consider it as a necessary evil in their quest to help those in need and to push for a more equitable society.
This book features two significant supporting characters in addition to the four major protagonists. The relationship between Mira and Shelley, two major Birnam Wood members, is difficult. They’ve been close for a while, but now that Shelley is starting to feel like it’s time to move on, Mira is both aware of it and dreading it. In order to achieve this, Mira is working toward her objective of demonstrating to Birnam Wood’s management that it is possible to succeed and eventually begin paying the workforce. Shelley, though, has other goals as well. Shelley wants to leave Mira’s shadow behind as well.
Tony, an ambitious journalist who has been away from Birnam Wood for a while, is a third significant figure. As he hasn’t been around and hasn’t experienced the struggles and setbacks of the past, he is horrified by the group’s most recent endeavour, which he feels violates all of their core values.
A middle-aged billionaire called Robert Lemoine is involved in this new project; he claims to be purchasing a sizable tract of land in order to construct a doomsday bunker. Robert has an intriguing personality. We are unsure of how he became so wealthy or how he specifically gained his skill set. He accidentally runs into Mira and promptly gives her the go-ahead to farm a portion of the property he is purchasing.
In addition, he instantly and generously provides her with a large sum of money. The other two protagonists in this novel are Sir Darvish and Lady (Jill) Darvish, who is his wife. Their property is being sold. Despite the fact that she is the brighter and more capable one, Lady Darvish is proud of her knighted husband and they have a happy marriage.
Everyone in the group, with the exception of Tony, is pleased by Mira’s discovery when she returns to discuss Robert’s proposition. Once he leaves the gang, learning all he can about Robert Lemoine becomes his goal.
Birnam Wood prepares a campsite and starts working. These new buddies are won over by Robert’s charm and charisma. Tony looks them up online, calls them, and eavesdrops on them. Sir Darvish, who is inquisitive, comes to see what’s going on.
There are a few story twists at this stage, and things move swiftly. This book would make for a fantastic conversation about morals and the characters, and it is both thought-provoking and compelling.
