The Goldfinch
Ratings568
Average rating4
After falling in love with The Secret History I was eager to give this book a read. Unfortunately, it didn't quite capture me the way TSH did. While I appreciated the themes of grief, especially as they applied to my own situation, I just didn't connect with Theo. I felt as though I was floating above him the entire time, rather than experiencing the story with him.
On that note, I often felt disconnected from the plot itself. I had a hard time following along with certain chapters, mainly because I felt so many of them were unnecessary (particularly the long stretch of time in Vegas).
The book is long, very long, and I stuck with it through the end in the hopes that I'd gain some quotable nugget or profound truth. Sadly, I was left disappointed.
There was just something missing from The Goldfinch that was present in The Secret History .
I have a hard time rating this book, because it was written so well and there were parts I really liked. But it was also so depressing, this poor kid never feels loved by anyone after his mother's death, and never tries to get the happiness he knows he is missing because he is too big of a nihilist to reason he should try for more. At times I found him relatable and most others I found him frustrating. He has reason to be fucked up, but he doesn't ever really seem to enjoy life or want to. My favorite character is Boris. He knows all along how to be fucked up and still see good in life.
It spans several periods in time, following Theo Decker in a complicated, meandering path, but it was a worthwhile read. Glad to have finally tackled this one.
Это боль и красота в одном флаконе, невероятное соседство мерзотности и утонченности под одной обложкой. Тут нельзя переоценить каждую букву - все несет в себе смысл и краски, и сама по себе печальная история жизни Тео Деккера уже выглядит как тщательно выписанный шедевр, произведение искусства. Мальчишка стал случайной жертвой теракта в нью-йоркском музее, в котором погибла его горячо любимая мама и который стал отправной точкой для всего его радостей и горестей. Собственно, все повествование строится на противоречиях и двойственности, нет ни одного эпизода, который был бы сам по себе. У всего и у всех в этой книге есть противовес, - и у добродетельного Хоби, и у маргинального отца Тео; неоспоримо прекрасны только ангелы и “Щегол”.
Когда я только читала аннотации к книге и первые рецензии, я не могла найти ничего конкретного, а затравка про взрыв в музее никак не отражала всей мощи тех событий, что описываются здесь. Сейчас, по прочтении, эта туманность стала понятной и обоснованной - нельзя объяснить то, что создано для того, чтобы чувствовать.
Эта книга - чистый наркотик, кайф без отложенного действия. Ее много и мало одновременно, и всех героев тут недостаточно, и всех событий, и искусства, которым пронизана каждая страница.
I loved it. I didn't expect to because I thought it would be too high-brow arty hipster. But I loved going through the journey of shattering loss, unexpected love and heartbreaking beauty with Theo. I absolutely loved the characters. One of my new favourites (of all time??) was Boris - sheer genius. Two months happily spent in Ms. Tartt's capable hands.
The book is definitely well written. But once it starts, it just never ends. It goes from setups to setups, marvellously described, without any payoffs. Tiresome and... Goldfinch in the story is just a plot device.
I was going to give The GoldFinch 4 stars but the last 200 or so pages just dragged on and on and I was fairly disappointed with the ending to tell the truth.
Theo is a great character, he's likeable and I liked his realness. I just felt bad for him throughout the first 3/4 of the book, up until he made a very terrible decision over and that is when I started hating that stupid little painting. Why Theo? Why? And Boris - dude, what the hell??
Anyway, Donna Tartt makes very believable MALE characters. I feel that the female characters weren't fleshed out as much as the male characters. But she is a very talented writer and very brave for putting so much death into this story - I thought I was reading George RR Martin for a second, with every character she kills off.
The Goldfinch was totally not what I was expecting at all. In fact, I don't think I even knew a single thing about it before I picked it up - it's sat on my bookshelf for near on 4 years waiting for me to get started but I was always reading something else. I'm glad I finally got around to it but the massive 800 pages were a little much and it could have been around 200 pages shorted in my opinion.
A DNF for me. 300 pages in and I am so bored with this book. Please take me back to the antique shop, it is the only place I was happy!
Só consegui terminar esse livro depois de ver na Wikipedia como termina a história. Não tive nervos suficientes pra lidar com tudo isso.
Se não fosse pela wiki, eu teria dado 2 estrelas. Depois dela, tá mais pra 3.5
O forte desse livro está no estilo de escrita, que é baseada na encheção de linguiça usada de forma metódica e bastante calculada, nos momentos certos pra nós provocar sentimentos diversos.
Se o protagonista (Theo) está nervoso esperando algo, são páginas e mais páginas que descrevem como ele resolveu lavar um terno na banheira sem muito sucesso.
Se theo está apreensivo aguardando algo, são 50 páginas descrevendo com detalhes todo o nada que o theo fez enquanto esperava.
Nós ficamos genuinamente nervosos, preocupados e angustiados com o theo.
Não sei se indico o livro como firma de diversão e entretenimento, mas acho importante ler se você se importa com técnicas de escrita.
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Edit: horas depois que terminei o livro fiquei ruminando os defeitos, lendo reviews, achando mais defeitos e baixei a nota desse livro.
Sua narrativa arrastada não serve apenas para nós deixar ansiosos, mas também para esconder uns vários furos no enredo.
Durante muitas partes eu conseguia ver o esforço da autora de mostrar para todos que ela era a melhor do mundo. Eu conseguia imaginar o rosto da autora escrevendo, e isso não é bom, né? Quando o livro é bom ele deve ganhar vida própria.
This is a dark, beautiful, intriguing novel. Theo Decker is telling you through his life from the day his mother died tragically. His life goes trough mostly a dark path (drugs, alcohol). We do get sucked in each step of his life until he reaches adulthood. You see through his eyes in extraordinary detailed, the people, the scenery. At times, this book is depressing but you just keep on reading. A remarkable read.
I stopped listening to this almost 2/3 of the way in. It was making me too anxious.
Theo's choices and the path he was taking were too stressful to me.
Unlike some criticism I've read while trying to find out how the book finished, I don't think clichéd writing was a problem in this book. In a lengthy novel not everything can be inventive. There were, in fact, many times when a turn of phrase would be so creative and apt that I was astounded by the effect.
Let me just say that I only took this long to read it due to school and social life getting in the way. However I finally finished this gigantic book and I have a few words to say. Though the book starts out slowly it really builds up the anticipation of what leads to his mother's death. It also creates the bond that Theo has with his mom and it makes the whole thing entirely dependent on that one special relationship. In fact everything was spurred on by that event, ultimately leading to his downfall but his reincarnation as a better version of himself. There is a LOT of details in this book and it may be easy to lose yourself in those little things but bear with it because it truly is wonderfully written. You did it again Donna Tartt.
I do admit, it took me forever to read this book. slow at times but honestly, it's brilliant. and beautiful and wonderful and just yeahh
Running to almost 900 pages, The Goldfinch is going to require a substantial investment of your time, but I think anyone would be prepared to give Donna Tartt's new novel that much. What you might not realise until it is too late however is the amount of personal investment a book like this demands. By the time you get to the even half-way through the extraordinary 14 year journey that has taken Theo Decker to Amsterdam, the dawning realisation that this has to eventually come to an end suddenly hits you. Drawing out the inevitable isn't possible either as there's not a moment of The Goldfinch that doesn't have you completely in its thrall, reluctant to put it down and feeling bereft at its conclusion.
The Goldfinch is a masterpiece in the classic style of the Bildungsroman. The recounting of Theo Decker's unfolding awareness of the world, its complications, its criminality and injustice, the lack of stability in his life, his sense of being isolated and his ability to love are all affected by one significant event of terrorism in the modern world that skews his view of reality and effectively leaves him an orphan. What follows is a remarkably detailed account that covers every aspect of Theo's life in detail and the storytelling is never anything less than wonderful. It's almost Dickensian in scope and treatment, the book drawing obvious parallels with Great Expectations and even making references and nods to Oliver Twist, but in its own way it is also a thoroughly modern work. It's more than just a character or psychological study, it's more than just a series of escalating incidents that eventually reach crime thriller proportions, but it takes in a whole range of relevant cultural, moral, social and familial circumstances and tries to consider how one can make sense of it all.
What ties it all together and what is the one constant in Theo's turbulent life is the Dutch Master painting of The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius (1622-1654), which accidentally and completely illegally comes into his possession. The painting is many things to Theo, something that he can't shake off or deny, but rather feels a deep affinity for and a responsibility towards it. It's a reminder of the significant moment when the world lost all sense, but it's also a lifeline that he clings to throughout his difficult and troubled adolescence, serving as a connecting element that provides a sense of continuity, connecting, linking elements that would otherwise seem random twists of fate and chance. This is however so much more than just a clever literary touch, but a vital and meaningful element that gives the book distinction and a sensibility beyond the pure narrative storytelling delights of Donna Tartt's brilliant writing.
This was an incredibly satisfying epic novel. It was the kind of read I'm always hoping to find–long, with a wide ranging story and a deep emotional hook, with some danger and discomfort, but at last a resolution of the central problem. I'm so sad it's over.
I thought the essence was brilliant andsome of it was expertly conducted. I qas hookeddrom the beginning, which reminded me of Albert Camus talking about the mother's death. At times, I'd doubt Theo's attitudes, but most of the time I was too engrossed with the great descriptions and other characters' excellent portraits to care. However, to me, rhythm was uneven, with some passages dragging too long, especially towards the last quarter of the book - ans even though I did not see that end coming, I thought it could have been deeper exploited in some of its angles.
All in all, it was worth reading, but I'm not sure it's rhe most amazing fiction woeth prizes and so on.
The Goldfinch is a very good book that achieved some very high accolades and has led to some pretty crazy debates about how lofty of a tome this truly is and how worthy it is of our praise.
I'll admit that I was a bit taken aback at just how popular The Goldfinch became, considering that Tartt's previous books, The Secret History and The Little Friend were very good, but never sparked such passionate debates in the literary world. I had enjoyed both The Secret History and The Little Friend enough to where I'd recommend them to a friend to read, but I'm not sure that I'd ever say that they were my favorite books.
The first few hundred pages of The Goldfinch are easy to get enamored with; Tartt paints a vivid picture of Theo's world and the tragedies that ensued and the language feels well-crafted and polished. I'm not sure what happens, but eventually that feeling begins to wear off and I found myself reading another Donna Tartt novel, which is absolutely not a bad thing. The narrative is rather straightforward and while well-crafted, there are times as the book moves on where it feels less special.
She is able to build this anxiety and fear over what will become of Theo early on, with him making mistakes as children his age are prone to do, which eventually leads to an adulthood that he was never properly prepared for. At times I was delighted at the attention to detail and awareness involved, like Theo's relationship with Boris being very subtly on that line between best friend and lover or how Theo's relationships with Mrs. Barbour and Hobie were special to him, but he was unable to ever find a way to express it.
Everything was building up to an interesting conclusion when the book kind of ran out of steam near the very end and coasted in to the finish on fumes. That's okay, it was still a very good book and very much worth your time. Stop complaining about the length and just enjoy the ride.
Solid 4 1\2. A few parts dragged, but overall engrossing and worth the time investment. I'd happily take a Boris spinoff!
This was an interesting read. I really wish it wasn't so long as there was some parts that could definitely be shortened or cut out completely.
I liked this book but would say that it isn't for everyone. The writing is wonderful and the characters are well developed. That being said, the story does move slowly and the ending wasn't as good as I wanted it to be considering the amount of time put into getting there.