Sunday, August 31, 2014

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

Title: The Goldfinch
Author: Donna Tartt
Pages: 771
Published: 2013
Challenges: Blogger Summer Reading, Chunkster
Genre: Contemporary, Literary, Ficiton
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Personal

Description: It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.

As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love-and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle. (from Goodreads)


Thoughts:  After reading a number of book reviews over the past few months, I realized that I needed to borrow the audiobook from the library and it was a good decision in the end, as I was able to get through several portions of the book.  When all I wanted to do was to give up, even though there were sections that I really enjoyed reading.

I will say that Ms. Tartt's ability to allow the reader to as though they are actually in the place being described.  I really liked Boris more than Theo, who seemed to be a tad too mopy for my liking.  It's not that the book wasn't well-written, it was very well-written, I just felt that Theo didn't deal with his grief very well and felt that the author could have maybe brought some sort of relief/happiness into Theo's life.  I also felt that the author rambled a little too much for my liking.

Bottom line: I would recommend the book for those that don't mind long books that sometimes tend to be on the rambley side of things.  Recommend.

Rating: 3.5/5

Pages for 2014: 16,305

If you have read it, what did you think of it?

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