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A review by e11en
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
5.0
This book absolutely CONSUMED me. I have so many feelings all swirling around inside my head and I want to shout about them to anyone that will listen. It’s a massive call, but this is easily my favourite book of 2019. I know I’m SO late to the party on this one, as I feel everyone read it five years ago, but I can’t help gushing praise.
It has been sitting on my bookshelf for years, as one of those necessary, aspirational “oh, I’m sure I’ll get around to it one day” things. One of those books that everyone tells you is a ‘must read’ but you secretly doubt it. I kept putting it off because, at nearly 800 pages, let’s face it, it’s a gargantuan undertaking. And I knew that it won the Pulitzer for fiction, so I assumed (quite incorrectly) that it would be overly literary and dull like award winners often tend to be. Boy, was I wrong. I was hooked from the first page and it never really let go of me.
And that’s the brilliance of The Goldfinch. The writing style is simple, accessible. Which draws the reader in and allows Tartt to explore some dark content without turning off the reader. With the exception of Hobie (what an angel), all of the characters are vulnerable and flawed; completely loveable and also utterly detestable. I don’t usually buy into addiction fiction. And often when books present such depressing, torturous content I am turned away. But this just all felt so good. So very wrong, that it was right. There were several scenes where I felt my heart lurching with anxiety and compulsively tearing through pages to see what happens next. The ending had me outright sobbing. What an emotional rollercoaster.
It has been sitting on my bookshelf for years, as one of those necessary, aspirational “oh, I’m sure I’ll get around to it one day” things. One of those books that everyone tells you is a ‘must read’ but you secretly doubt it. I kept putting it off because, at nearly 800 pages, let’s face it, it’s a gargantuan undertaking. And I knew that it won the Pulitzer for fiction, so I assumed (quite incorrectly) that it would be overly literary and dull like award winners often tend to be. Boy, was I wrong. I was hooked from the first page and it never really let go of me.
And that’s the brilliance of The Goldfinch. The writing style is simple, accessible. Which draws the reader in and allows Tartt to explore some dark content without turning off the reader. With the exception of Hobie (what an angel), all of the characters are vulnerable and flawed; completely loveable and also utterly detestable. I don’t usually buy into addiction fiction. And often when books present such depressing, torturous content I am turned away. But this just all felt so good. So very wrong, that it was right. There were several scenes where I felt my heart lurching with anxiety and compulsively tearing through pages to see what happens next. The ending had me outright sobbing. What an emotional rollercoaster.