The Goldfinch in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Aug 09, 2013 Booktart rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

My second Donna Tartt book in a row -- I was in a reading rut before reading The Secret History and have her to thank for getting me back into reading. Overall, I did not find this novel as compelling as TSH. It's a bit too long and towards the end I felt like it turned spy movie-esque. However, Tartt's writing is beautiful and she very accurately captures the myriad emotions that result from a loved one's sudden death, how these feelings change day-to-day, and how they, along with memories of t ...more

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Nov 17, 2013 Jeff Scott rated it it was amazing

Shelves: e-book, fiction, art, bildungsroman, re-read

Donna Tart has infused all of her love for art, antiques, and classic literature into one book. What she did for Greek mythology and epic poetry, she has done for 19th century English literature in The Goldfinch. A Dickensian homage, she uses this structure as a conduit for the love of art that stands the test of time. The beauty that passes down from generation to generation and the feeling that the pieces that bewitch us are made just for us. The last aspect of the book reminded me of a Vonneg Donna Tart has infused all of her love for art, antiques, and classic literature into one book. What she did for Greek mythology and epic poetry, she has done for 19th century English literature in The Goldfinch. A Dickensian homage, she uses this structure as a conduit for the love of art that stands the test of time. The beauty that passes down from generation to generation and the feeling that the pieces that bewitch us are made just for us. The last aspect of the book reminded me of a Vonnegut quote, “But for those that can't afford beautiful things love the idea of there being such things somewhere.”

Theodore Decker is your classic orphan surrounded by crooks, wealthy benefactors, legally bound help, but most importantly the kindness of strangers. It’s a chance encounter at a museum that enraptures him and defines his formative years. A painting, The Goldfinch, and a young girl both capture his heart just at the moment it will be ripped apart. A terrorist attack at a museum kills his mother and in the confusion Theodore steals The Goldfinch. The next decade of his life will be an attempt to salvage that moment and this split second decision that will haunt him all throughout it.

Orphaned twice over, Theodore tries to find meaning in his life but the physical and mental pain that remain result in drug addiction and bad decisions. Is he like his father, a deadbeat dad who vanished only to re-appear when there is insurance money to be had? Theodore struggles to find himself and while The Goldfinch painting plays a central role in the story and the conclusion, its symbol is what haunts Theodore. He is forever scarred the moment his mother is killed and just like the painting is chained forever. It seems to inhabit a portal of time for him, a way back to before his mother was killed where things made more sense. He builds his life on this moment, on this painting, realizing neither is for him to keep. He must find a way to rid himself of both.

There are many characters taken straight out of classic literature. Donna Tart even calls the girl Theodore is obsessed with Pippa and gives Theodore himself the morals of a Theodore Dreiser novel. His father is like Wilkins Micawber in David Copperfield, but in his case he must keep his gambling wins above 53% otherwise, disaster.

The literature references are very apparent, but it is the art that takes center stage. It is the beauty of art that is intoxicating and selfish. Everyone sees something different in a work of art that is special to them as if the work was made just for that person. It’s the love for that art, and in Theodore’s case theft of that art, that makes one immortal along with the artwork. The ending, in particular, reminds me of the ending in The Bridge of San Luis Rey, the love of the art is passed down from generation to generation just as love of the bridge is at the end of that book. It is a moving conclusion for those who love the classics.

Favorite Passages:
People die, sure," my mother was saying. "But it's so heartbreaking and unnecessary how we lose things. From pure carelessness. Fires. Wars. The Parthenon used as a munitions storehouse. I guess anything we save from history is a miracle. P.31
None of us finds enough kindness in the world do we? P.257
When I looked at the painting I felt the same convergence on a single point: flickering sun-struck instant that existed now and forever. Only occasionally did I notice the chain on the finch's ankle, or think what a cruel life for a little living creature--fluttering briefly, forced always to land in the same hopeless place. P 279
...how strange to find that the present contained such a bright shard of the living past, damaged and eroded but not destroyed. P. 431
The painting had made me feel less mortal, less ordinary. It was support and vindication; it was sustenance and sum. It was the keystone that had held the whole cathedral up. And it was awful to learn, by having it so suddenly vanish from under me, that all my adult life I'd been privately sustained by that great, hidden, savage joy: the conviction that my whole life was balanced atop a secret that might at any moment blow it apart. P. 514
For humans--trapped in biology--there was no mercy: we lived a while, we fussed around for a bit and died, we rotted in the ground like garbage. Time destroyed us all soon enough. But to destroy, or lose, a deathless thing--to break bonds stronger than the temporal--was a metaphysical uncoupling all it's own, a startling new flavor of despair. P. 639
...the line of beauty is the line of beauty. It doesn't matter if it's been through the Xerox machine a hundred times. P. 694
...again "—if a painting really works down in your heart and changes the way you see, and think, and feel, you don't think, oh, I love this picture because its universal.' I love this painting because it speaks to all mankind.' That's not the reason anyone loves a piece of art. It's a secret whisper from an alleyway. “Psst, you. Hey kid. Yes you” Fingertip gliding over the faded-out photo—the conservators touch, a touch-without-touching, a communion wafers space between the surface and his forefinger. "An individual heart-shock. Your dream, Welty's dream, Vermeer's dream. You see one painting, I see another, the art book puts it at another remove still, the lady buying the greeting card at the museum gift shop sees something else entire, and that's not even to mention the people separated from us by time-four hundred years before us, four hundred years after we're gone—it'll never strike anybody the same way and the great majority of people it'll never strike in any deep way at all but—a really great painting is fluid enough to work its way into the mind and heart through all kinds of different angles, in ways that are unique and very particular. “Yours, yours. I was painted for you”. P 698
...the pursuit of pure beauty is a trap, a fast track to bitterness and sorrow, that beauty has to be wedded to something more meaningful. P700
Whatever teaches us to talk to ourselves is important: whatever teaches us to sing ourselves out of despair. But the painting has also taught me that we can speak to each other across time. And I feel I have something very serious and urgent to say to you, my non-existent reader, and I feel I should say it as urgently as if I were standing in the room with you. That life—whatever else it is—is short.
That fate is cruel but maybe not random. That Nature (meaning Death) always wins but that doesn't mean we have to bow and grovel to it. That maybe even if we're not always so glad to be here, it's our task to immerse ourselves anyway: wade straight through it, right through the cesspool, while keeping eyes and hearts open. And in the midst of our dying, as we rise from the organic and sink back ignominiously into the organic, it is a glory and a privilege to love what Death doesn't touch. For if disaster and oblivion have followed this painting down through time—so too has love. Insofar as it is immortal (and it is) I have a small, bright, immutable part in that immortality. It exists; and it keeps on existing. And I add my own love to the history of people who have loved beautiful things, and looked out for them, and pulled them from the fire, and sought them when they were lost, and tried to preserve them and save them while passing them along literally from hand to hand, singing out brilliantly from the wreck of time to the next generation of lovers, and the next. P. 716
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Aug 22, 2014 Gayle rated it really liked it

(I'm certainly no critic and sometimes talk in circles till I get my point across.....)
I've gone back and forth between a 3 and a 4 for this book, but ultimately stuck with 4 for a few reasons. The moment I picked this book up, it was obvious there was something 'different' about it...and not just the fancier paper it was printed on (and believe me, I did enjoy rifling those fancy pages...one BIG reason I still refuse to go to an e-reader). I thoroughly enjoyed this book, on the surface and in t (I'm certainly no critic and sometimes talk in circles till I get my point across.....)
I've gone back and forth between a 3 and a 4 for this book, but ultimately stuck with 4 for a few reasons. The moment I picked this book up, it was obvious there was something 'different' about it...and not just the fancier paper it was printed on (and believe me, I did enjoy rifling those fancy pages...one BIG reason I still refuse to go to an e-reader). I thoroughly enjoyed this book, on the surface and in the deeper sense. For entertainment and enjoyment purposes, the story line and plot were different; I found that I looked forward to picking up where I left off and not once did I dread having to continue on. That, itself, is enough for the 4th star. :D Although it is a bit 'wordy' in spots, I found those sections to be enjoyable and pleasant to read; there was something in Tartt's writing that just kept me going forward. Yes, it's a sad and low story (pretty much entirely), but again, I found the pages turning pretty easily. The characters were interesting, to say the least. Some might call them scum bags, low lifes or con artists...I guess that's true. But who cares, really, as long as the story flows and it makes me come back for more. What I found the most interesting, were the last 10-12 pages; I kind of felt like Tartt (writing as Theo) was spelling out for me, point blank, the "moral of the story". I read those pages twice. There were some pretty 'deep' things in there ("list is catastrophe"???).

Theo, tossed into a situation no child should have to even imagine, seems to hit all the low points a life can possibly hit. And in the end....."life is short". I admit, I felt cheated when I read those words, almost as if it was too simple. 771 pages to tell me that. I already know that. But.....the story gave me a different way of getting to that point, of illustrating how "sometimes you have to lose to win".

(for what it's worth, I read this book in less than a week; I'm glad I didn't let the number of pages intimidate me.) ...more

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Feb 22, 2015 Kathy Wheeler rated it liked it

This book needed a better editor. I've rarely taken such a long time to finish a book of this length. Still not positive why it won a Pulitzer. Although I liked the story and the writing, I grew impatient with the overly descriptive scenes. It was as if Tartt wanted to be absolutely sure that her readers were able to get a sense of the place she was writing about. And there's nothing wrong with that, but Tartt uses 15 descriptive scenes when 5 will do to deeply root you in a place. ...more

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Jan 13, 2014 Tori rated it really liked it

Shelves: arts-and-crafts, heroin-opiates, 1read-in-my-40s, read-in-2014

I put off reading this because I don't usually enjoy novels over 300 something pages. I totally loved the book until I got about half way through, and I feel very tempted to go with 3 stars instead of 4 now that I am done. It was too long. There was a section near the end that I had trouble following what was happening. I didn't really care for the last couple hundred pages. I'm still glad I read it, but I can't help feeling like I could have read 3 books that I would have loved in the time that ...more

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Nov 08, 2014 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

It clocks in at over 700 pages, and I have friends who thought that this was slow and draggy. I agree that there are a few parts that could have been tighter, I wasn't bothered by the pace of the book. In fact, one of the main themes is how long Theo is haunted not just by the accident but by what happened after the accident. I was willing to wait the long haul with him.
Theo lives with his vibrant mom in NYC. On a day when he is suspended from school, they go the the museum to see a new exhibiti ...more

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Jan 02, 2014 Tria rated it really liked it

This book kept me up into the wee hours. Rich characters, riveting plot, drugs, art, big cities, action...all of the elements to keep you fully engaged and submersed, despite the 784 pages. Cannot wait to devour Donna Tartt's other novels. ...more

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