Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

50 reviews

loribeth1961's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Back in the early 1990s, I read an amazing debut novel (that I keep meaning to re-read someday) called "The Secret History" by a talented young writer named Donna Tartt. Tartt went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 2014 for her third novel, "The Goldfinch." I bought a thick paperback copy that languished on the shelf, eventually to be replaced by an e-copy -- which I still hadn't gotten around to reading, until it was chosen by one of my online book clubs as our next read, covering both March & April (because of its 700+ page length -- my e-book copy, when set at a comfortable-for-my-eyes typesize & line spacing, was 1,400+!). (I still haven't read Tartt's second book, "The Little Friend.")

As the book begins, our protagonist/narrator, Theo Decker, is holed up in a hotel in Amsterdam, thinking back to the fateful day 14 years earlier when, as a 13-year-old in New York City, he and his mother decided to pop into the Metropolitan Museum of Art to kill some time before heading to an appointment -- at the same time that a massive explosion occurs -- a deadly terrorist attack.

Amid the chaos, Theo comforts a dying elderly gentleman, who gives him a ring and directs him to take one of the paintings (which happens to be his mother's favourite) -- a small, exquisite picture of a goldfinch, chained to its perch, by Dutch master Carol Fabritius (and it is an actual painting). Wrapped in newspapers and an old pillowcase, the priceless masterpiece -- the one thing he has left that connects him to his mother -- accompanies Theo over the next 14 years, as he moves from his mother's apartment and in with a friend's wealthy family on Park Avenue -- then to the completely alien environment of Las Vegas with his previously estranged father and his girlfriend -- then back to New York again (Greenwich Village).

First -- what I didn't enjoy: the book is very (VERY!) LONG, and very leisurely paced. Maybe it's a sign of our shrinking attention spans in the age of instant gratification, but it did feel like a bit of a slog at times. (At 700+ pages, shouldn't I be able to count it as two books read on Goodreads??)

(As an aside: Scanning the reviews of both the book and the movie version online, the word "Dickensian" kept popping up. There are some parallels in the sprawling, meandering, twisting plot, and large cast of colourful characters -- and one of the characters references Dickens, drawing a parallel between another character and the Artful Dodger from "Oliver Twist" -- but most especially the length!)

It's all well written, but some of the material felt extraneous -- there's a lot that probably could have been cut or condensed. Also, there are lots of foreign words & phrases throughout, which was slightly annoying, because I felt like I either had to stop reading and start typing into Google Translate, or keep reading but possibly miss out on a key piece of information, or at least some little nugget that would add to my understanding &/or enjoyment of the novel.

Still. Just when I felt like things were going nowhere, they would pick up again -- and I'd keep on reading.

What I enjoyed about this book: Tartt really is an amazing writer. The characters are all vividly drawn. As I said, I kept reading -- because I wanted to know what happened to Theo, and his best friend -- the charismatic rogue Boris (who -- timely footnote -- is Ukrainian); and to Hobie, the kindly craftsman and expert restorer of antique furniture, who gives Theo a home and a future; and Pippa, a fellow survivor of the terrorist attack, and Theo's dream girl; and the Barbour family, and more. (Apparently Luke Wilson plays Theo's dad in the movie version -- and I can see that -- but really, the only person I could envision as I read the book was a young Michael Douglas. ;) ) The descriptions of New York City and Las Vegas were cinematic. And Tartt's descriptions of the lingering effects of grief and loss, trauma/PTSD, guilt and anxiety, all of which hang over and colour the entire book, are BANG ON. There are several coincidences and plot twists that, while somewhat improbable, also keep things interesting.

So -- not 5 stars. There were parts of the book where I was thinking 3.5, but I wound up bestowing a solid 4. I will look forward to our upcoming discussion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Blood, Gun violence, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Excrement

badmom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Violence, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Addiction, Car accident, Child abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abandonment, Classism, Gun violence, and Bullying

morbidanatomy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Homophobia and Infidelity

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Fatphobia, and Xenophobia

kiana_hi's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Suicide and Bullying

Minor: Car accident

book_perk's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

2.0

Why is this book so long? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse

Minor: Car accident, Bullying, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Vomit, and Violence

faerieevee's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Antisemitism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Car accident, and Child abuse

fionac326's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Mental illness

booklannah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Mental illness, Murder, and Suicide attempt

marie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Vomit

Minor: Homophobia

danuu's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

If there were an option for negative stars id give it -5 out of 5. I’m surprised no one talks about all the casual racism in this book. Not a single review I've seen mentions the fact that the writer uses slurs casually throughout the book most of which are the main characters inner dialogue. not to mention several characters are referred to as nothing more then their race. The “Dickensian” style of writing is what everyone praises yet the descriptions last pages for no reason at all while barely describing anything at all. they are long and overly done just to be long. it would be different if the descriptions were actually well written and long but they are just long. None of this book was well written. the plot is slow and almost nonexistent, the characters are either terrible people or stereotypes  with no personality and the only form of “development” came through time jumps. one second hes having life problems and in dispair and the next is a time jump and is considered “developed”. Not to mention the book is supposedly based on this painting yet the painting is barely in the book. even his worry about the painting barely makes an appearance. i could go on for pages and pages about whats wrong with this book but by then it’d be as long as the goldfinch and honestly probably more fun to read. The time ive spend reading this i would have rather spent kicking rusty nails with my bare feet. i hope the only people who have to read this are violent inmates and Donna Tartt herself because i truly don't think even she’s read this. I really want to know DOES SHE HAVE AN EDITOR ?? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Hate crime