David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "the-goldfinch"
The Little Friend
Donna Tartt had to have been thinking of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD while she was writing this book. There are too many similarities to ignore. The book is set in Alexandria, Mississippi, just a stone's throw from Maycomb, Alabama. Harriet Cleve Dufresnes, the lead character, could be Scout Finch six years later. The villain of the piece, Farish Ratliff, will remind you of Bob Ewell. Harriet even has a little boyfriend who worships the ground she walks on.
Harriet is a great character, feisty and brave, willing to take on a copperhead in order to get even with Danny Ratliff, whom she blames for the murder of her brother who'd been found hanging from a black-tupelo tree when she was a baby. Just as captivating are Harriet's great aunts, Edie, Addie, Libby, and Tat. These are truly original characters; no one has written senior citizens better since LADIES OF THE CLUB. Edie, Harriet's grandmother, is an older version of Harriet. When she looks Harriet in the eye, she sees herself looking back at her.
This is a finely textured book, with lots of atmosphere and
folklore that Tartt positions between action sequences. Tartt is great at foreshadowing. There's a scene at the beginning where Harriet learns how to hold her breath (like her hero Houdini) that will come in handy later on.
There's so much to like about this book I have to give it at least a four, but it's not a seamless novel. There's too much description, the kind that the author had to have put in later to give the book verisimilitude. Much of this is repetitive, lots of light playing off of the sides of buildings. I'm not the type to skip description, but I can understand why some readers might want to skim over some of this. The ending is also disappointing, leaving the reader dangling. Any mystery lover (as I am) is going to want to throw the book up against the wall when he finishes. What happens to Danny Ratliff is also completely unrealistic. You'd think at least one of the forty-some people Tartt thanks in her acknowledgments would have balked at some of this.
Harriet is a great character, feisty and brave, willing to take on a copperhead in order to get even with Danny Ratliff, whom she blames for the murder of her brother who'd been found hanging from a black-tupelo tree when she was a baby. Just as captivating are Harriet's great aunts, Edie, Addie, Libby, and Tat. These are truly original characters; no one has written senior citizens better since LADIES OF THE CLUB. Edie, Harriet's grandmother, is an older version of Harriet. When she looks Harriet in the eye, she sees herself looking back at her.
This is a finely textured book, with lots of atmosphere and
folklore that Tartt positions between action sequences. Tartt is great at foreshadowing. There's a scene at the beginning where Harriet learns how to hold her breath (like her hero Houdini) that will come in handy later on.
There's so much to like about this book I have to give it at least a four, but it's not a seamless novel. There's too much description, the kind that the author had to have put in later to give the book verisimilitude. Much of this is repetitive, lots of light playing off of the sides of buildings. I'm not the type to skip description, but I can understand why some readers might want to skim over some of this. The ending is also disappointing, leaving the reader dangling. Any mystery lover (as I am) is going to want to throw the book up against the wall when he finishes. What happens to Danny Ratliff is also completely unrealistic. You'd think at least one of the forty-some people Tartt thanks in her acknowledgments would have balked at some of this.
