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By: TAUR 035
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2026-03-31 15:18:37 |
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6 out of 9 read the book and enjoyed it. Slight criticism of the way the book gave detailed information on some things and very little on others. It was confusing. |
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By: BLENH 031
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2025-12-15 09:43:30 |
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Our group enjoyed this book and rated it highly. It was very enjoyable to read a book by a New Zealand author, the writing was thoughtful, descriptive but not too heavy. |
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By: CHCH 503
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2025-11-28 16:51:38 |
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We enjoyed the book but really wanted to know what happened in the intervening years to cause Robert's inability to work and socialise. |
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By: WHANG 008
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2025-11-28 14:37:43 |
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The group generally found the style of the book disappointing, and that the details got in the way of the story's development. |
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By: AUCK 037
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2025-11-27 10:21:57 |
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Light Keeping was a hit with most/all? of us. Scoring 8.5. We enjoyed the setting of N.Z. history of manned light houses and the transition to automation with a fictional story of unselfish love from grandparents, tragedy, suicide, alienation in a writing style that was restrained in terms of detail of these events but wrote evocatively about the environment. Descriptions of walking down the cliff and up to the light house were described as great writing. |
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By: WELL 041
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2025-10-21 10:03:31 |
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Without exception our group rated this read highly. Very well structured with each character thoroughly and beautifully drawn. The lighthouse itself was a character, as was the land/sea scape. |
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By: AUCK 137
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2025-10-08 09:48:28 |
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This simply but well-written book follows the history of lighthouses and their keepers in New Zealand, and the impact their automation has had on the people who use/need/love the sea. It shows the importance of family and loss, and how the characters are affected by the sea, as it is an ever-changing thing, similar to life. |
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By: TAUR 005
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2025-07-14 10:39:57 |
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Simply written. A light easy read. |
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By: WELL 047
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2025-06-09 10:00:33 |
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Probably our best discussion - on isolated living, redundancy/layoffs, and grandparents looking after children. |
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By: PAIHIA 003
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2025-05-28 10:44:08 |
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Easy to read, well-researched and an interesting topic. Focused too much on 1977 and not enough on other aspects of the characters' lives. |
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By: HAMIL 007
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2025-04-30 10:19:34 |
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'Light Keeping' is a story of family tragedy set partly in the period in which the N.Z. government was automating the country's light houses, and partly in the present, as the effects of the tragedy and the loss of the family's working life and their home are worked through, and ultimately resolved - at least to a degree. Jansen is a capable writer and the book is well researched, but some found the back and forth time structure distracting and to the detriment of the story's flow. In all, we thought it well worth reading but it fell short of being a really good book. |
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By: AUCK 397
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2025-03-17 09:58:13 |
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Slow to get into. Some felt this established the rhythm of lighthouse keeping life. Beautiful imagery in the sea descriptions. Really illuminated a time of social turmoil for a workforce in N.Z. that we had largely been unaware of. Also parallels with tech revolution with A.I. that we are in the midst of here in N.Z. |
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By: MATAM 006
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2025-02-17 12:10:15 |
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Only one person in our group didn't enjoy this book. It was a sad story but we all related to the picture of childhood in N.Z. in the late-seventies. |
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By: INVER 001
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2025-01-13 14:30:44 |
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All of our group really enjoyed this book. Very well-written, with author showing great empathy towards her characters. Loved the way their personalities were slowly evolving as they adapted to the differing situations they found themselves facing. |
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