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rachelditty's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Picked this up after watching the movie with a friend. I downloaded the audiobook to listen to while I moved into my new apartment. Ended up listening to the last 9 hours in one sitting, and I was completely transfixed by the last two hours. Theo's address to the reader at the end really got to me, and I think this was a good story for me to read at this transitional stage in my early twenties. I definitely want to get a physical copy to put flags in. What a wonderful read.
Some quotes:
"Cool, quiet rooms, where old things slept."
"It occurred to me, that if I didn't already know how my mother had died, no power on Earth could have convinced me they hadn't murdered her."
"...standing up and stretching so that a band of stomach showed between his fatigues and ragged shirt, concave, dead white, like a starved saint's."
"More than anything, I was relieved that in my unfamiliar, babbling and wanting to talk state, I'd stopped myself from blurting the thing on the edge of my tongue, the thig I'd never said, even though it was something we both knew well enough without me saying it out loud to him in the street, which was, of course, I love you."
"My heart was zinging and slamming itself around like a bee under a glass, everything bright, sharp, confusing, wrong."
"Well, let's put it another way. Who was it said that coincidence was just God's way of remaining anonymous?"
"To try to make some meaning out of this seems unbelievably quaint. Maybe I only see a pattern because I've been staring too long. But then again, to paraphrase, Boris, maybe I see a pattern because it's there."
"And who knows? But maybe that's what's waiting for us at the end of the journey. A majesty unimaginable until the very moment we find ourselves walking through the doors of it, what we find ourselves gazing at in astonishment when God finally takes his hands off our eyes, and says, 'look!'"
"Whatever teaches us to talk to ourselves is important; whatever teaches us to sing ourselves out of despair."
"And I add my own love to the history of people who have loved beautiful things, and looked out for them, and pulled them from the fire, and sought them when they were lost, and tried to preserve them and save them, while passing them along literally from hand to hand, singing out brilliantly from the end of time to the next generation of lovers, and the next."
Some quotes:
"Cool, quiet rooms, where old things slept."
"It occurred to me, that if I didn't already know how my mother had died, no power on Earth could have convinced me they hadn't murdered her."
"...standing up and stretching so that a band of stomach showed between his fatigues and ragged shirt, concave, dead white, like a starved saint's."
"More than anything, I was relieved that in my unfamiliar, babbling and wanting to talk state, I'd stopped myself from blurting the thing on the edge of my tongue, the thig I'd never said, even though it was something we both knew well enough without me saying it out loud to him in the street, which was, of course, I love you."
"My heart was zinging and slamming itself around like a bee under a glass, everything bright, sharp, confusing, wrong."
"Well, let's put it another way. Who was it said that coincidence was just God's way of remaining anonymous?"
"To try to make some meaning out of this seems unbelievably quaint. Maybe I only see a pattern because I've been staring too long. But then again, to paraphrase, Boris, maybe I see a pattern because it's there."
"And who knows? But maybe that's what's waiting for us at the end of the journey. A majesty unimaginable until the very moment we find ourselves walking through the doors of it, what we find ourselves gazing at in astonishment when God finally takes his hands off our eyes, and says, 'look!'"
"Whatever teaches us to talk to ourselves is important; whatever teaches us to sing ourselves out of despair."
"And I add my own love to the history of people who have loved beautiful things, and looked out for them, and pulled them from the fire, and sought them when they were lost, and tried to preserve them and save them, while passing them along literally from hand to hand, singing out brilliantly from the end of time to the next generation of lovers, and the next."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Child abuse
quinn24's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Racial slurs, Death, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Sexual content
lucinotlucy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mental illness, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Addiction
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Murder, and Gun violence
glutenfreemaggie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Vomit, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Grief, Drug use, Death of parent, Child abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, and Blood
abbeyhuffine94's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Truly a masterpiece. Super long but totally worth it. Also I loved Boris, what an interesting guy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Violence
giannacolo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Alcohol, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Mental illness, Gun violence, Death, Child abuse, and Alcoholism
Bombingssamdalefox's review against another edition
challenging
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
One of my guilty pleasures is reading about the monstrous activities of wealthy characters. As such, I adored Tartt's 'The Secret History'. Unfortuantely, I cannot say the same for 'The Goldfinch'. I was expecting dark academia, history, priviledge of art. Instead I got a bore. The book is long, and it feels long. The excruciating detail does not add anything substantial to the story and borders on hypergraphia with inconsequential tangents galore. At many points, it just plain bored me.
I was most interested in the art world, art theft, and dodgy dealings underworld of antiques, and yet the book frustratingly spends little time there. All glossy descriptions and no substance of narrative. Why it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction I don't know. The book attempts at some grandiose reflection of life, juxtaposing beauty and purpose and the transcendent universiality of experience through time (through the painting and Hobie), against chance or a higher 'pattern' (through gambling, drugs, and Boris). The last 3 chapters or so are just incoherent rambling of Theo trying to justify his life through these reflections. I am not convinced that Tartt successfully justifies/condones his choices or criticises them. A series of bad events happen to an unsympathetic character, maybe if the story was cut down it would have held my interest. It started strong with an interesting premise, then meandered its way through Theo's chaotic life, never truly addressing the consequences to himself or others. Altogether, very disappointing. The famous painting itself however, is exquisite.
Bits that did resonate with me:
I was most interested in the art world, art theft, and dodgy dealings underworld of antiques, and yet the book frustratingly spends little time there. All glossy descriptions and no substance of narrative. Why it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction I don't know. The book attempts at some grandiose reflection of life, juxtaposing beauty and purpose and the transcendent universiality of experience through time (through the painting and Hobie), against chance or a higher 'pattern' (through gambling, drugs, and Boris). The last 3 chapters or so are just incoherent rambling of Theo trying to justify his life through these reflections. I am not convinced that Tartt successfully justifies/condones his choices or criticises them. A series of bad events happen to an unsympathetic character, maybe if the story was cut down it would have held my interest. It started strong with an interesting premise, then meandered its way through Theo's chaotic life, never truly addressing the consequences to himself or others. Altogether, very disappointing. The famous painting itself however, is exquisite.
Bits that did resonate with me:
- I identified with being in a family that's not your own/familiar (The Barbours, class divides), and the description of Theo's Dad/Xandra (in relation to my own Dad)
- Walden - "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation". Examining city life vs country life e.g. car dependency
- Boris, anti-capitalist
- Boris - "None of us ever find enough kindness in this world do we"
- The Goldfinch painting itself, in particular the bird's torturous chain. The description on pg 342 "fluttering briefly, forced always to land in the same hopeless place."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Murder, Abandonment, and Blood
perlimpinpute's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Mental illness, and Drug use
Moderate: Addiction and Blood
jjhatton's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
very chaotic, everything was dragged out too much, especially the conversations between boris and theo toward the end of the book. I was bored by the end of it. I did really like boris, hobie and mrs barbour as characters though, their softness and warmth was a welcomed contrast between theo and his dad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Death of parent, Addiction, Death, Gun violence, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
frp123's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I adored this book: at first I struggled with the book - picking it up and putting it down constantly, however I quickly became invested in Theodore’s story and wondered what he was to do about the painting. I throughly enjoyed the childhood years spent with Boris and the insight this later gave to his adult character. I truly felt connected to the painting as Theodore did and I worried about what he would do. The relationship (or lack there of) with pippa and how it developed over time showed me diffrent facets of Theodore’s personality. The way he spoke about her and the actions he performed in order to remain in her favour highlighted Theodore’s instability as well as allowing the reader to understand why he was feeling this way. This prompted me to wonder about the attachments we make through traumatic experiences and the continued affect these attachments can have on us. I thought his independence and the criminal actions he chose to perform with his new found freedom showed us that although we want to like and support the main character (as we wanted when he was a child suffering from the terrible los of a parent) there were aspects of his personality so inherently unlikable and wrong that we struggled to come to terms with them. His relationship with Kitsy in perticualr showed how Theodore had’nt grown. It clearly showed how desperate he was for family and how (like with Hobbie and Piappa) he was willing to do whatever it took to keep his life the way he thought it should be. I picked up this book due to my enjoyment of ‘The secret History’ another work by Donna Tartt and was not disappointed. The writing style though academic in fashion was understandable and consistent - watching the life of Theodore through his trials and the passing of time allowed me to understand the actions he took as well as the consequences of those actions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Toxic friendship, and Drug use
Minor: Gun violence and Blood