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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
Melancholy, bereft, meditative, a wrenching account of despair too nuanced not to be true. Richly drawn characters, maybe an exploration of sadness itself...loses focus toward the end though and became a bit unsatisfying.
Neither the description, nor the length appealed, but once it won the Pulitzer, I had to try it. So glad I did. Took me over a month, but what a beautifully told story!
Yes Tartt has problematic things in her books. Now that that’s said:
This book.
This book. I believe it has changed me. It has struck me as deeply as The Goldfinch painting struck Theo. I don’t care to try to describe it, like some spiritual experience that is too “otherly” to put into words that could never truly connote what you mean.
And in typical Tartt fashion, all from the last chaper of an almost 800 page book of well-written but general storybook fiction. Not special, good.. but just a story. Like a boring life until the second of death where it all had meaning.
This book.
This book. I believe it has changed me. It has struck me as deeply as The Goldfinch painting struck Theo. I don’t care to try to describe it, like some spiritual experience that is too “otherly” to put into words that could never truly connote what you mean.
And in typical Tartt fashion, all from the last chaper of an almost 800 page book of well-written but general storybook fiction. Not special, good.. but just a story. Like a boring life until the second of death where it all had meaning.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The book is long and the payoff is extremely worth it. I liked Theo much more than Richard from The Secret History. What a beautiful book about love, art, life, and trauma.
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Murder
Wish I could give it 4.5 stars. Really loved it, but just short of a 5 star book. Hard to read at times, but really great.
I wanted to like this book so much (The Secret History is my favorite book of all time) but I just could not get through it. I love long books (Robin Hobb is my favorite author) but this one felt sooo long.
I enjoyed the times we were in NYC much more than the Las Vegas/Boris timeline. Tartt's writing is still phenomenal and I will always love her for creating my favorite book, but this story line was just definitely not for me. I couldn't even be bothered to finish the last ~150 pages, I'm just going to watch the movie and hope I enjoy it more.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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