The Goldfinch in Reading with Style

Jan 04, 2014 Wendy rated it it was ok

Shelves: doorstops, literary-fiction, 1001-books, pulitzer

First, I just want to say I <3 all my GR friends! I know so many of you liked this. I read The Goldfinch and I can see the draw, but my cynical side got the best of me on this one.

First, an equation:

(Harry Potter quirkiness - magic) + (Trainspotting - consequences) + (Age of Innocence) + (an art heist) + (deluge of beautiful yet ultimately mind-numbing prose a la Edgar Sawtelle) = The Goldfinch

The Goldfinch is a celebration of excess, whether it's the drugs, or the *feels* & jerking around of em ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

May 18, 2014 Tanya Patrice rated it really liked it

It is UNBELIEVABLE to me that David Pittu is the sole narrator of the audiobook of The Goldfinch. He does the voice of the characters (accents and all) so expertly that I was convinced that this was a cast reading. He is emotional, on point with the pace, and does an outstanding job of keeping us in the story - even when it was clear that the book was getting too wordy, and going on too long.

The Goldfinch win the 2014 Pulitzer for Best Novel, and I can see why. It's a really epic book that has u ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 09, 2014 Megan added it

Shelves: fiction

Getting the most important thing out of the way, namely because I went searching for it midway through reading the book but couldn't find anything conclusive! If anyone is looking for "Does the dog survive?"-esque spoilers, here they are: (view spoiler) ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 06, 2016 Bucket rated it liked it

Shelves: literary, 1001-read-all-editions, parents-affecting-children, life-and-death, reviewed, bildungsroman, tragedy, friendship, hella-sweet-book-club-read, pulitzer-winners

This novel is sometimes slow, sometimes action-packed, and could have done with about 200 fewer pages. While the characters are vivid and flawed, usually a good recipe for success for me, I just didn't love this book.

One reason is that there were multiple places where Theo's thoughts or observations rang distinctly false, taking me right out of the story. For example, describing his therapist, at age thirteen:

"If I'd had to guess, I would have said he was newly married, with a baby -- he gave This novel is sometimes slow, sometimes action-packed, and could have done with about 200 fewer pages. While the characters are vivid and flawed, usually a good recipe for success for me, I just didn't love this book.

One reason is that there were multiple places where Theo's thoughts or observations rang distinctly false, taking me right out of the story. For example, describing his therapist, at age thirteen:

"If I'd had to guess, I would have said he was newly married, with a baby -- he gave off a glazed vibe of exhausted young fatherhood, like he might have to get up and change diapers in the night -- but who knew?"

This is absolutely not a believable observation for a thirteen-year-old to make, especially an only child without a normal father figure. Another example:

"I remembered all the times I'd stepped inside to find my mother sorting the mail, waiting for the elevator. Fresh from work, heels and briefcase, with the flowers I'd sent for her birthday."

His mother died when he was thirteen; how many times could he realistically have sent her flowers? It's hard to believe a thirteen-year-old did that, let alone that he did it when he was even younger.

The best moments were Theo's interactions with the painting, which were few because he keeps it hidden for most of the book. His thoughts in those moments, though, are the most real emotions he has:

"Quickly I slid it out, and almost immediately its glow enveloped me, something almost musical, an internal sweetness that was inexplicable beyond a deep, blood-rocking harmony of rightness, the way your heart beat slow and sure when you were with a person you felt safe with and loved. A power, a shine, came off it, a freshness like the morning light in my old bedroom in New York which was serene yet exhilarating, a light that rendered everything sharp-edged and yet more tender and lovely than it actually was, and lovelier still because it was part of the past, and irretrievable."

The painting is Theo's only remaining connection to his mother. Without giving anything away, I will say that I was a little disappointed in the ending. The ultimate lesson of the book (repeated multiple times by multiple characters to make sure the reader can't possibly miss it) is that good things can come from terrible, horrible things and that no matter your intentions, good or bad, the result can still be really good or really bad. This doesn't really interest me.

I'm more interested in Theo's final reaction to seeing the painting one last time:

"And I'm hoping there's some larger truth about suffering here, or at least my understanding of it -- although I've come to realize that the only truths that matter to me are the ones I don't, and can't, understand. What's mysterious, ambiguous, inexplicable. What doesn't fit into a story, what doesn't have a story. Glint of brightness on a barely-there chain. Patch of sunlight on a yellow wall. The loneliness that separates every living creature from every other living creature. Sorrow inseparable from joy."

Themes: tragedy, drugs, art, psychology, love, survival, destroyed childhood ...more

Like · see review

Feb 27, 2014 Kate S rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2014

I read this as it was a part of the Tournament of Books X.

The beginning of this book was so promising. I enjoyed the initial scenes in New York, watching the young Theo adjust to a variety of new lives which is understandable in his predicament. Once his father comes into the picture and Theo moves to Las Vegas, I begin to lose interest and am less interested in Theo as a character. As he makes one bad decision after another, I find it harder and harder to pick up this book and lose all interest ...more

Like · see review

Jan 22, 2017 Tobey rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2016, tnt-bingo

This book took me way too long to read and that was partly because of the weight of the book and the weight of the story. It took me a long time to get into if and I'm still not sure what the whole point of it was. I think I lost the point somewhere amidst all of Theo's unhappiness and misery. Or maybe that was the point, I'm not too sure. At any rate, I am glad I've finished with it and can move on in my reading life. ...more

Like · see review