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owen_scanlan's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jfearing5's review against another edition
5.0
If Of Human Bondage had a criminal element...
The book transports you to a world where a teenage drug addict really, really notices color, and for once unleathy relationships function pretty close to reality.
The book transports you to a world where a teenage drug addict really, really notices color, and for once unleathy relationships function pretty close to reality.
bibliobrandie's review against another edition
3.0
I finally finished...took me forever. Still not sure how I feel about this one. I liked the writing and the story, but didn't love it. I've read/heard from people that they didn't like the long middle part. That was the part that I most enjoyed. The ending, I dunno.
samtate's review against another edition
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
nichecase's review against another edition
5.0
Read this in greedy 100+ page chunks whenever I could.
You canыЂыt throw a stone without hitting a review calling The Goldfinch Dickensian but to me it seems like something else entirely: Ripley by way of the Dickensesque. That gnawing guilt and the increasing machinations to dig himself out of a hole, while only digging himself in deeper (and the sexual ambiguity) (and all the boats!) on one hand; on the other, the plotыЂыs fantastic coincidences, the archetypal figures that populate its pages appealing to the same part of the mind that was the sentimental novelыЂыs great insight. (ThereыЂыs something else, too, something maybe uniquely Tarttian: a vicious irony that delights in its own twists and turns.) It even echoes RipleyыЂыs Venice with another canal-ridden European city break, Amsterdam - a drug-soaked metropolis that teeters uneasily between extremes of wealth and class in TarttыЂыs account.
It would be so much fun to read this with Berlant's articulation of the way sentimentality operates: The ground of mass normative fantasy is wobbly, a scene of bargaining for survival and jockeying for supremacy: but the cohabitation of critique, conventionality, and the commodity produces more movement within a space than toward being or wanting to be beyond it. Cohabitation characterises this book in so many ways - Theo's various precarious living situations.
You canыЂыt throw a stone without hitting a review calling The Goldfinch Dickensian but to me it seems like something else entirely: Ripley by way of the Dickensesque. That gnawing guilt and the increasing machinations to dig himself out of a hole, while only digging himself in deeper (and the sexual ambiguity) (and all the boats!) on one hand; on the other, the plotыЂыs fantastic coincidences, the archetypal figures that populate its pages appealing to the same part of the mind that was the sentimental novelыЂыs great insight. (ThereыЂыs something else, too, something maybe uniquely Tarttian: a vicious irony that delights in its own twists and turns.) It even echoes RipleyыЂыs Venice with another canal-ridden European city break, Amsterdam - a drug-soaked metropolis that teeters uneasily between extremes of wealth and class in TarttыЂыs account.
It would be so much fun to read this with Berlant's articulation of the way sentimentality operates: The ground of mass normative fantasy is wobbly, a scene of bargaining for survival and jockeying for supremacy: but the cohabitation of critique, conventionality, and the commodity produces more movement within a space than toward being or wanting to be beyond it. Cohabitation characterises this book in so many ways - Theo's various precarious living situations.
pitabread69's review against another edition
Took a while to finish because it is so dense, but I can still picture each setting and feeling like I was reading it this instant.
benmarconi27's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
5.0
jflynn0902's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sallissss's review against another edition
3.0
I don’t really know how I feel about this book. Some parts of it I loved and just wanted to keep on reading while during some parts I seriously debated giving up on it.
Tartt has a lovely and unique, lively way of writing and while I love that, sometimes it was just too much.
The ending left me a bit dissatisfied. I think for all that happened, I was expecting something bigger? More impactful?
The last 100 pages also made me really anxious and now thinking about the book that feeling kinda comes back.
I don’t know if I would recommed reading this. I much preferred The Secret History to this one and it alao felt like a bit too much at times… but I do think it shines through that Tartt puts a lot of love and effort into her books.
Tartt has a lovely and unique, lively way of writing and while I love that, sometimes it was just too much.
The ending left me a bit dissatisfied. I think for all that happened, I was expecting something bigger? More impactful?
The last 100 pages also made me really anxious and now thinking about the book that feeling kinda comes back.
I don’t know if I would recommed reading this. I much preferred The Secret History to this one and it alao felt like a bit too much at times… but I do think it shines through that Tartt puts a lot of love and effort into her books.
shanabk's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This would’ve been a 5/5 if it wasn’t for the last 100 pages. I had to force myself to finish it.