The Goldfinch

The Goldfinch is a very good book that achieved some very high accolades and has led to some pretty crazy debates about how lofty of a tome this truly is and how worthy it is of our praise.

I'll admit that I was a bit taken aback at just how popular The Goldfinch became, considering that Tartt's previous books, The Secret History and The Little Friend were very good, but never sparked such passionate debates in the literary world. I had enjoyed both The Secret History and The Little Friend enough to where I'd recommend them to a friend to read, but I'm not sure that I'd ever say that they were my favorite books.

The first few hundred pages of The Goldfinch are easy to get enamored with; Tartt paints a vivid picture of Theo's world and the tragedies that ensued and the language feels well-crafted and polished. I'm not sure what happens, but eventually that feeling begins to wear off and I found myself reading another Donna Tartt novel, which is absolutely not a bad thing. The narrative is rather straightforward and while well-crafted, there are times as the book moves on where it feels less special.

She is able to build this anxiety and fear over what will become of Theo early on, with him making mistakes as children his age are prone to do, which eventually leads to an adulthood that he was never properly prepared for. At times I was delighted at the attention to detail and awareness involved, like Theo's relationship with Boris being very subtly on that line between best friend and lover or how Theo's relationships with Mrs. Barbour and Hobie were special to him, but he was unable to ever find a way to express it.

Everything was building up to an interesting conclusion when the book kind of ran out of steam near the very end and coasted in to the finish on fumes. That's okay, it was still a very good book and very much worth your time. Stop complaining about the length and just enjoy the ride.