From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

The Goldfinch

Donna Tartt

Start date: October 1, 2020

Finish date: December 31, 2020

Discussion: LONG READS

Why we're reading this: Group pick Oct 2020 - Quarterly Long Read
[close] Group pick Oct 2020 - Quarterly Long Read

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 14 topics — 457 comments total

LONG READS

David Copperfield - Read-A-Long
By spoko · 22 posts · 400 views

last updated Mar 01, 2025 10:32AM

War and Peace - Read-A-Long
By spoko · 32 posts · 466 views

last updated Aug 01, 2024 08:26AM

showing 10 of 35 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Dec 12, 2019 lethe rated it it was ok

Shelves: s-december, c-record-correct, p-removed, a-adult, l-eng, t-bereavement, r-challenges-past, d-21st-c, t-crime

I didn't DNF it because Donna Tartt, and I'm still giving it 3 stars because Donna Tartt, but on the whole I did not enjoy this.

While reading I thought, "if only it had been shorter, about the size of her previous novels", but upon finishing I think not even that would have saved it for me. The first 200 pages were good, but then it went downhill. I didn't care for the protagonist and I didn't find the story believable.

Glad to be finally moving on to something else. Sorry, Donna.

ETA 13 December: ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

May 24, 2018 Laetitia rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is a book I had been wanting to read since my undergraduate days. I will always remember seeing it on my kindle first options and NOT picking it. Shortly thereafter, the book gained in popularity. Even a peer in a biochemistry class of mine carried it around for several weeks causing me to have immense book regret.

Thankfully, after all this time, The Goldfinch was recently on sale and I have finally read it! Only took 4 years!

Overall, I will say the book did not live up to the anticipation. This is a book I had been wanting to read since my undergraduate days. I will always remember seeing it on my kindle first options and NOT picking it. Shortly thereafter, the book gained in popularity. Even a peer in a biochemistry class of mine carried it around for several weeks causing me to have immense book regret.

Thankfully, after all this time, The Goldfinch was recently on sale and I have finally read it! Only took 4 years!

Overall, I will say the book did not live up to the anticipation. I am most likely unfairly judging it because of my high expectations, as I am prone to doing when I covet a book for so long.

The Goldfinch felt like a never ending story. There were many opportunities in the plot for the story to end but it kept being unnecessarily drawn out. As a reader I didn't quite see the point of extending the story for so long, particularly since there were several break points in the plot that made for excellent endings.

To be noted that Donna Tartt did an amazing job constructing her characters. They felt like real people, and the characteristics described in many of the characters I could visualize these same traits in people in my own life. Unfortunately, due to the dragging plot line, by the end of the book I grew tired of many of the characters. I am not sure if that was the point, or just my own personal bias.

I will also give Donna Tartt credit for capturing the power that art can have on people. The way she described the painting of the goldfinch and the awe it inspired in the main character, Theo, made you feel like you were seeing it through his eyes. In my case, I was not previously familiar with this painting and thanks to my naivety I truly saw the painting the way Theo saw it. Now when looking up images for this post I couldn't help but be disappointed when seeing the painting for my own eyes. Theo had a more intimate connection with this painting than I do, which has removed some of the magic.

All in all I would not recommend this book. I would enjoy discussing this book with people who are already presently reading it, or have read it. But I would not go out of my way to push anyone to read it.

"'Who was it said that coincidence was just God’s way of remaining anonymous?'” - Donna Tartt ...more

Like · see review

Feb 07, 2019 Mindy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

3.5 stars, rounded up for Goodreads.

I can't believe I'm finally finished. I loved and loathed this book at different times. By the end, I came to appreciate it for the epic that it was. A lifetime of misfortune and missteps while orbiting around beauty. I didn't find the main character to be particularly sympathetic but he wasn't entirely irredeemable. The characters just felt real, and no real person is cookie cutter perfect.

While the beginning and body of the book sometimes went on forever in ...more

Like · see review

Aug 25, 2014 Tracey rated it really liked it

Beautifully written. I was not a huge fan of her work in the past so j approached is book with a lot of reservation. I was totally engrossed and was surprised how the pages flew by. Not for everyone but I am surprised how many mainstream readers are enjoying. I appreciated the thoughts about art and impact on individuals and the reach it has over generations. I will be thinking about this book for some time.

Like · see review