The Goldfinch in DC Public Library

May 20, 2018 Prince William Public Libraries rated it it was amazing

Shelves: realistic, adult, fiction, award-winners

Donna Tartt's love for Charles Dickens shines through in The Goldfinch (but don't let that dissuade you--she's inspired by Dickens, not imitating). In this bildungsroman, Theo Decker experiences the unfathomable when at thirteen years old. He and his mother go to the MET, and the museum is bombed in a terrorist attack. Theo's mother dies, and he is left without a caretaker (his father abandoned them the previous year). In the attack, he takes the famous painting, "The Goldfinch." He also takes a ...more

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Sep 14, 2014 Mara rated it really liked it

Shelves: topic-family, location-usa, genre-thriller, topic-art, topic-grief

I was unprepared for the sheer volume of drama and intrigue Tartt would employ within the span of the coming of age of her main character, Theo. Not only does he face adversity, he faces edge-of-unbelievable amounts of fate, both good and bad, that seem to steer his life wildly beyond his ability to control, or cope. I found the middle section of the book particularly difficult to get through, watching Theo lose himself in doses of drugs and alcohol so large and frequent they too become hard to ...more

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Nov 04, 2014 Kaitlin Baird rated it really liked it

I was not sure what to expect out of this book. At just over 700 pages, I was expecting a long story and a lot of detail. I was correct. I thought Theo was a relatable character. A young boy who loses his mother in a tragic accident and happens to steal a famous painting on the same day. He has to deal with death and with stealing at the same time. I liked that Theo called his old friend to stay with their family. I wished that Theo had stayed with them and his father didn't come and claim him. I was not sure what to expect out of this book. At just over 700 pages, I was expecting a long story and a lot of detail. I was correct. I thought Theo was a relatable character. A young boy who loses his mother in a tragic accident and happens to steal a famous painting on the same day. He has to deal with death and with stealing at the same time. I liked that Theo called his old friend to stay with their family. I wished that Theo had stayed with them and his father didn't come and claim him. I feel like his life went downhill after he left New York City. Theo's life in Vegas was a little crazy for a 13 year old to deal with. He meets one of his best friends there- Boris, and they get into some bad things. Drugs, theft, and overall dismissal of all things good are how Theo spends his high school years. His father and his father's girlfriend are barely there for him. His father is a terrible person who tries to steal from Theo. Boris is a bad influence but a good friend to Theo. Theo's father essentially kills himself by drinking and driving and Theo runs away back to New York. Boris is hesitant to go with him (reasons to be found out later).

Theo also got something else on the day he stole the painting and his mother died; a ring from a dying man at the museum. He was told where to return the ring and goes there and strikes a friendship with the other person the dying man lived with- Hobie. Theo returns to Hobie once he flees Vegas. Theo also has a strange attachment to Hobie's "daughter" Pippa who was also injured in the museum accident. Theo lives with Hobie and graduates from High School- while Pippa visits on occasion. Theo joins in on Hobie's antiques business and starts working after school. Theo seems to have spiraled out of control with drugs and overall lack of motivation at this point. He doesn't seem like a great person. He seems lost and still recovering from his mother's loss. He keeps wondering what his life would be like if she had lived. Theo is floating along life when he runs into the family he stayed with in New York and learned that his childhood friend Andy has passed away. He gets brought back into the family he once knew and kind of finds himself again. He gets a purpose for his life- bringing back the mother of the deceased friend Andy. She is lost and lost her will and Theo helps her get out and move on after loss. Theo also falls in love with her daughter, Kitsy. It seems that Theo has gotten his life on track and making smart decisions. Then Boris comes back into his life.

All along this time, Theo has been thinking about his painting. He has wrapped his painting in a thick wrap and not actually seen it in years. He moved it out to a storage locker and only goes to the building to pay for the locker. He is constantly thinking about it and it has shaped his adult life. He has become very good at the antiques business and is doing quite well at it. He has started selling fakes and doing some not so legal things. He has gotten caught in a bad deal and this person has made a connection to the missing art. Boris has come back with a secret of his own. Boris has stolen the painting while Theo was drunk one day. Theo had never figured it out because he never unwrapped the painting. Boris has had a nice life after Theo left Vegas- he traded the painting away for money/power/leverage. Boris feels bad that Theo didn't know he took the painting and now wants to get it back for Theo. Boris is able to track down the painting and arranges for them to make a deal to get it back in Amsterdam. They are able to recover the painting and Theo is stunned by its beauty. The happiness doesn't last because they are ambushed and the painting is stolen back. Theo is sent back to his hotel room to contemplate his actions (shooting someone, almost dying) and he decides he wants to die as well. He tries to kill himself and when that doesn't work, he decides to turn himself in to the police for the murder. Right before he leaves for the police station, Boris turns up and saves the day. He had gotten the idea from Theo- phone the police to capture the reward for the missing paintings. Boris has tracked down where they have been taken and turns those people in to the police and collect the reward. Boris and Theo get the reward and all is well. Theo returns back to New York and lives a little better life- no fear of the painting being taken from him. The end.

(A side note: Theo ends his engagement to Kitsy- she cheated on him so I don't know why he didn't do it sooner. That part bothered me- how she thought it was alright to cheat when they weren't married so it made it okay. I think Theo was happy with Kitsy in the beginning but once Boris came back into his life, he knew she wasn't meant for him.)

Not quite. After 700 pages, I wanted more! That's it? Boris turns these criminals into the police about the stolen paintings and no one comes back to get them? That was the unbelievable part to me- no consequences to selling them out to the police? Theo and Boris get to live happily ever after? The characters were well written and well developed that I enjoyed this story. I liked the parts with Theo and Boris best. I wanted to finish the book to see how it all came out with the painting, but also just to finish it. This book had so much detail and so much action. It felt like too much at times. I wanted to get to the action, the painting, and they went off on these unrelated tangents. It was an enjoyable read, but a long one. I could have done with like 200 less pages. I can see why it won so many awards, but it wasn't quite my style. I wanted to know what actually happens with Theo after the painting. You get a glimpse but not how he eventually turns out. So much build up, and no explanation. Kind of a let down on that front. I was glad when I finished this book to say the least. ...more

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Dec 14, 2014 Jamie rated it it was amazing

Best book I've read this year! I listened to audio book. Couldn't stop! High vocabulary, beautifully written. ...more

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Apr 07, 2018 Jen rated it it was ok

Shelves: did-not-finish

My goal was to read 1 REALLY GOOD book per month this year and I have been stuck on this book for sooooo long. Part of it is in Las Vegas and I hate Las Vegas / the idea of Las Vegas and the soullessness of this part of the book. I know it's only a couple hundred pages but it is so far from pleasurable to read that I feel dread when I think about picking it up. I am giving up. :/

Then I can read something I actually want to read. ...more

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