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A review by evitacademia
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.75
I think this book altered my brain chemistry in a doomful way. I will never read a book like this again and I know it. But maybe that's a good thing, because it was so dense that I feel like reading another book like that will have me bursting at the seams.
The way it's written, the wording and the endless descriptions and examples that often seemed so obscure and out of place made the book what it is. Words like relatable, profound, heartbreaking, complex or intimate all apply but i don't think any word can describe this book. Probably the only person who can do that is Donna Tartt herself. Her writing is mesmerizing and it's so intricate in a way that makes me feel enlightened and stupid at the same time like a child who learns how much about the world it doesn't know and gets overwhelmed. But it's also comforting: I don't know everything nor will I ever know everything and i dont have to know everything. I liked not knowing what she was talking about a lot of the time. References to systems I wasn't familiar with, paintings I didn't know, names I didn't recognize.
Theo's life is made of people replacing each other: his primary caregiver (his mother, then his father, then Hobie) and his brother (Andy, then Boris). And at the end, he was with the people that will stay with him. Granted, Andy and his mother didn't leave him just because they wanted. And his life is built by destruction, it's tranquilized by terror, his existence is so tragically and gruesomely poetic. I loved hobie, his comforting character and home, i loved reading about the furniture. I loved loved loved how every tiny detail was loaded with meaning throughout the entire book in an exhausting but satisfying way and im already sorry to read any other book now cause it will feel inevitably disappointing and underwhelming after having read this. I took so many photos of the pages because I like to do that with pages i find touching or interesting or incredibly written or relatable and my entire photo album of that is filled with the goldfinch. It reminded me of "a little life" so much but it also was its very own. It was the kind of book i would give 5 stars... but...
Despite (or maybe because of) it being brilliant, life-changing, one-of-a-kind, my relationship to the book was reliably distant and at times, hostile. Sometimes (!) the words seemed arbitrary and written for the sake of being jotted down. They gave me a headache when they were chasing each other in suffocating rants that totaled up to mean nothing! So many words, so little said!
The next thing making me feel upset is not the books fault but i am so frustrated over knowing i cant and will never be able to write like that. Its actively making me write less because i know whatever I produce wont live up to that. But maybe when i reach whatever middle zone theo was talking about, i will be able to write how I was meant to write.
Also: everyone talks the same! Their way of digressing, giving extensive details and examples is so alike its uncanny and unrealistic.
Boris being so offensive to groups that neither he nor Donna should be offensive to was disturbing. Losing my respect for a book like this broke my heart. It took me months to finish because it's easily abandoned, overwhelming. Its so dense, so thick, like trying to move through black tar that you forget to enjoy it. I love the book but i dont like it. So, not a 5 star read, but one i will never forget with characters and knowledge I will find in real life and then feel exhilarated at a piece of art coming to life right before me.
The way it's written, the wording and the endless descriptions and examples that often seemed so obscure and out of place made the book what it is. Words like relatable, profound, heartbreaking, complex or intimate all apply but i don't think any word can describe this book. Probably the only person who can do that is Donna Tartt herself. Her writing is mesmerizing and it's so intricate in a way that makes me feel enlightened and stupid at the same time like a child who learns how much about the world it doesn't know and gets overwhelmed. But it's also comforting: I don't know everything nor will I ever know everything and i dont have to know everything. I liked not knowing what she was talking about a lot of the time. References to systems I wasn't familiar with, paintings I didn't know, names I didn't recognize.
Theo's life is made of people replacing each other: his primary caregiver (his mother, then his father, then Hobie) and his brother (Andy, then Boris). And at the end, he was with the people that will stay with him. Granted, Andy and his mother didn't leave him just because they wanted. And his life is built by destruction, it's tranquilized by terror, his existence is so tragically and gruesomely poetic. I loved hobie, his comforting character and home, i loved reading about the furniture. I loved loved loved how every tiny detail was loaded with meaning throughout the entire book in an exhausting but satisfying way and im already sorry to read any other book now cause it will feel inevitably disappointing and underwhelming after having read this. I took so many photos of the pages because I like to do that with pages i find touching or interesting or incredibly written or relatable and my entire photo album of that is filled with the goldfinch. It reminded me of "a little life" so much but it also was its very own. It was the kind of book i would give 5 stars... but...
Despite (or maybe because of) it being brilliant, life-changing, one-of-a-kind, my relationship to the book was reliably distant and at times, hostile. Sometimes (!) the words seemed arbitrary and written for the sake of being jotted down. They gave me a headache when they were chasing each other in suffocating rants that totaled up to mean nothing! So many words, so little said!
The next thing making me feel upset is not the books fault but i am so frustrated over knowing i cant and will never be able to write like that. Its actively making me write less because i know whatever I produce wont live up to that. But maybe when i reach whatever middle zone theo was talking about, i will be able to write how I was meant to write.
Also: everyone talks the same! Their way of digressing, giving extensive details and examples is so alike its uncanny and unrealistic.
Boris being so offensive to groups that neither he nor Donna should be offensive to was disturbing. Losing my respect for a book like this broke my heart. It took me months to finish because it's easily abandoned, overwhelming. Its so dense, so thick, like trying to move through black tar that you forget to enjoy it. I love the book but i dont like it. So, not a 5 star read, but one i will never forget with characters and knowledge I will find in real life and then feel exhilarated at a piece of art coming to life right before me.