Tuesday, December 2, 2014

BOOK REVIEW: The Goldfinch

This is a review of The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Thirteen year old Theo Decker miraculously survives an explosion that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Theo's longing for his mother leads him to cling to the one thing that reminds him of her: a captivating painting that draws Theo into the underworld of art. This is a story that spans decades. It is a story of grief, loss, friendship and in the middle of this lies the mystery of a painting gone missing.

First, I do want to say that this book is a bit long and very heavy. There were times I had to put the book down and read a bit from something lighter. That being said, Donna Tartt sucked me in from the very first lines of the book. I was captivated immediately. The book actually starts with Theo as an adult recounting his life. It doesn't become clear until the end of the book why he is doing this. (Don't worry, no spoilers for those of you who haven't read it yet!) The description of the explosion and its aftermath at the beginning of the book was everything it needed to be: suspenseful, emotional, painful. There were a few things that happened in the beginning that the author doesn't really explain until later.

I don't know if anyone else is bothered by this, but sometimes I feel like some male authors just cannot write for women and vice versa. I know I'm not a man, but I do feel like she wrote for men (and especially a 13 year old boy) and she perfectly described the emotions of a young boy grieving for his mother. He refused to talk to anyone really and it took him a long time to accept the reality of his mom's death. I was incredibly moved by the descriptions of this boy's emotions and how they evolved over time. His grief as a boy turned into anger and shame as a man. Theo's best friend, Boris is someone that I am still not sure whether I loved or hated. It was probably a combination of the two. He was a really funny character and he made no apologies for who he was, which is what Theo needed I think.

Here are a few issues I did have with the book. As I mentioned, the book was very long. I felt like it was too long. Because it was a story that spanned decades, there were times when the events were very dry. There were a lot of events that didn't necessarily need to be there. There were some parts that were harder to put down than others. Also, the ending was a bit anticlimactic for me. It felt like everything that happened at the end was something out of a TV movie and that it was done merely so Tartt could wrap everything in a neat little bow. Maybe it's just me, but I don't always need everything neat and tidy at the end of the book. This is one that could have used an ending with a little mess.

I give this book a 4/5.



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10 comments :

  1. This book is definitely on my year-end must read. I'm glad that the acclimations about it is well warranted.

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  2. Oh they are definitely well warranted!

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  3. So impressed that you read this. It's been on my "Currently Reading" shelf for over a month now. I'm still on the first chapter. But, due to your favorable review, I'm feeling galvanized to pick it back up. Great review!

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    1. Thanks Ellen. The book is a bit heavy and I can see why you may have put it down for a bit. But I would recommend picking it back up. It's so good!

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  4. Yes, I have felt sometimes that a male/female author has trouble capturing a character of the opposite sex, but even those of the same gender have trouble grasping the age of the character either depicting them to old or too young. This does sound like a wonderful read :)

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    1. Thanks Kim. You are very right about authors of the same gender having trouble writing from a different age. But since this one was written about a woman and a large portion was about a teenage boy, she did a great job!

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  5. I bought this over a year ago and still haven't read it. I should probably make it a goal for 2015. I usually have terrible luck with prize-winning books. I have it on my Kindle because it's such a hefty book. Thanks for sharing your thoughts - especially about the end. I don't need things tidy but I like some form of resolution.

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    1. Mary, I had doubts about this too because it does get mixed reviews on Amazon. But I am so glad I gave it a chance. I really liked it!

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  6. I didn't think I would like this, but I loved it! There were times I almost put it down (some sections were just too long) but then when I wanted to give up something interesting would happen. And I didn't expect the ending.

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    1. Kwizgiver, I had to put it down for brief periods of time because it was too heavy yes some sections were too long. Thats why it took me two weeks to finish it instead of two days. Ha.

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