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The two of her books that I have read, have simply been amazing. Its like indulging in a reeeeaaallllyyyy dense chocolate dessert. There are times when you may not want to eat the whole thing, but it's just too good to stop eating. Donna Tartt has a way of subtly immersing you in her world by making you slowly sink into her words and writing style. I will say that this one took a bit longer to seduce me than Secret Histories did, but in the end it was worth every second.
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I bought this in hard cover, shortly after it was released in 2013. I picked it up many times over the years, intimidated by its heft and breadth. I started it on Christmas, 2020, at exactly the right time. Theo, Boris, Hobie, Audrey, Welty and Pippa will live in the library of my heart as long as it beats.
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Pretty brutal. I liked the first 1/3 of the book, but I feel like this book could have been written in about 1/3 of the words. It feels very self-indulgent and its depressing without any promise of a payoff in the end.
I am ridiculously frustrated with the protagonist, who is incredibly selfish and seemingly without any redeeming qualities at this point. Just can't do it anymore. Abandoning this with the last third of it to go. Life is too short to spend any more time with Theo and his horribly ...more
I am ridiculously frustrated with the protagonist, who is incredibly selfish and seemingly without any redeeming qualities at this point. Just can't do it anymore. Abandoning this with the last third of it to go. Life is too short to spend any more time with Theo and his horribly ...more
It was certainly a good story and every bit as well-written as the author's two previous books, but I think it was much too long. It seemed like there were endless pages of the narrator being in either a drugged or a drunken stupor during his teen years, for example. Yes as much as I was tired of certain narrative threads and wondered how much longer they were going to go on, I never wanted to stop reading because it is obvious that the author chooses every word carefully.
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Along with so many other people posting on Goodreads, there were times when I absolutely loved this book - - - and then there were other times when I found the detailed descriptions of some relatively minor event excruciating.
The main protagonist Theo runs the gamut from likeable to awful - - from a young man that you feel enormous empathy for to an adult that you want to shake at times. Yet, his character is REAL - - just as the characters of Boris and Hobie and Andy and Mrs. Barbour are incre ...more
The main protagonist Theo runs the gamut from likeable to awful - - from a young man that you feel enormous empathy for to an adult that you want to shake at times. Yet, his character is REAL - - just as the characters of Boris and Hobie and Andy and Mrs. Barbour are incre ...more
not perfect, but well crafted.
I hated the Mildred Pierce flashback frame that opens the book. The plot was silly. There's a bit too much padding around some of the sentences. And the pathos!
But there is something about Tartt's imagination, her characters' longings, and her prose style that's just magnetic. Theo is a lost soul and it's often really difficult to wittiness his life. But there's something about his strife you can identify with and that pulls you in.
So despite its flaws , it was a truly enthralling read. ...more
But there is something about Tartt's imagination, her characters' longings, and her prose style that's just magnetic. Theo is a lost soul and it's often really difficult to wittiness his life. But there's something about his strife you can identify with and that pulls you in.
So despite its flaws , it was a truly enthralling read. ...more
Nov 12, 2013
Jessi
marked it as to-read
Dec 18, 2013
Jessica
marked it as to-read
Dec 22, 2013
Heron
marked it as to-read
Jan 18, 2014
Gary
marked it as to-read
Feb 15, 2014
Charlotte
marked it as to-read
Jul 01, 2015
Kate Thompson
marked it as to-read
