The Goldfinch: Donna Tartt

Donna Tartt has managed to do something rather wonderful and the mechanism is mysterious. I had been definitely absorbed in the book, in a satisfying page turning sort of way; then there came a point when I fell inside the spell of the book - its world becoming real and textured.At one and the same time I was eager to be making the continuing journey of narrative , and yet - I wanted to stay exactly where I was and savour the moment, the reality of where the characters were NOW - she had somehow stopped time for me and I was reading in a very present way, inside the worldTartt managed exactly this trick with her first book The Secret History, creating something special and magical. Her second long awaited book, The Little Friend, was a huge damp squib, for this reader, her sharp intelligence and precision somehow soft: it irritated me, I disliked it.But here she is again, and this one is fabulous. Set across America, primarily in New York, but also in the wide-open spaces of Nevada, in the hinterland of Las Vegas, the book opens in Amsterdam, the central character a man somehow on the run, hyped up, holed up, hiding in a hotel room, sweating, edgy, on the edge of panic. The trajectory of the book is to start him on his journey to reach that anxious opening, and then go beyondThe book is like a large 5 act play - and in some ways reminds me, in its structure, of Shakespeare's last plays, the ones that move beyond tragedy to redemption and understanding - Winter's Tale, The Tempest etc. We have a journey for the central character of the dreadful, lacking - not so much self-awareness as the discipline to manage his character flaws, a certain feckless, dark, damaged nature - and the journey is really to a better accommodation with self. Not the Hollywood journey, the, `make it all better tie the bows and open the box of chocolates journey, but the more bitter, more mature journey of better understanding, and ability to live within the flawed self, and within a flawed world.I am surprised at all the references to Dickens, how like Dickens this was - for me, this connection was not there at all - where I saw Tartt inhabiting some nineteenth century place it was the Russians - and particularly Dostoeivsky.Theodore Decker inhabits a dark, despairing nihilistic universe, which may not take him into such wrongdoing as Raskolnikov, but he does have extremely flexible attitudes to right and wrong - that is, not so much to how wrongdoing damages him, merely that he is not quite able to avoid making poor choices. He combines despair with a fervid appreciation of the value of art and beauty, and transcendence. Some very complex, layered depth of character.Though there is of course a story, as we know from the start, connected with the mysterious Dutch painting of a goldfinch, this is not primarily the story of the painting - there is indeed a strong narrative, a very strong sense of time and place, but what Tartt is doing is exploring the complexity of character and also of ethics.Her writing is beautiful, measured and potent. I particularly appreciated the change landscapes and times imposed on her language in the different sections, moving from a beautiful evocation of wintery Amsterdam, to the vibrant nature of New York (separated by a passage of time, two `acts' here) and the weird, frenetic Las Vegas excess and waste setting, before returning to the start, and travelling beyond, now we understand Theo's journeyAnd, running like a lest-we-forget throughout, the reminder of the potent Goldfinch painting, which is both a real object, and a deeply charged, talismanic, symbolic item.Here is an extract, with a flavour of her writing - gorgeous, evocative - and deadly"Sometimes, in the evenings, a damp, gritty wind blew in the windows from Park Avenue, just as the rush hour traffic was thinning and the city was emptying for the night; it was rainy, trees leafing out, spring deepening into summer; and the forlorn cries of horns on the street, the dank smell of the wet pavement had an electricity about it, a sense of crowds and static, lonely secretaries and fat guys with bags of carry-out, everywhere the ungainly sadness of creatures pushing and struggling to live"That paragraph, started, for me, to play, strongly, Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue, and just as I was comfortably in the blue melancholy, Tartt, as so often, delivered a harsh punch to the gut. She shows you beauty, and immediately nestles you up against the flip side of rot, despair, decay.So, having stunned and grabbed this reader with that first book, this magical third has been waiting 20 years to grab me again with its mix of dark and light. Hope It doesn't take her another 20 to produce something this fine!And I am properly envious of anyone about to start reading this; enjoy the catch of Tartt's carefully crafted spiders' web novel, hover round the edges as long as you can, I'm sure she will stickily, skilfully wind you in and tie you up tight ere long.

I very much enjoyed 'The Secret History', I have a copy of 'The Little Friend' which I really must read (!) but have read 'The Goldfinch'. I was interested to read other reviews because I had mixed feelings about this one. It is a very long book, but that doesn't matter because for my Donna Tartt will always be about the writing and not about the plot. The plot is as it is, it is interesting enough, one doesn't really care about any of the characters; the only character Tartt makes us care about is a pet dog. None of the characters are particularly likeable. There are a couple of characters who are a bit one-dimensional, but in general the plot rolls along and is enjoyable.What I am always astonished by in Donna Tartt's writing itself. The beginning of the book is quite incredible. The aftermath of an explosion, which comes as a complete surprise (you know something is going to happen, Tartt takes you this way and that anticipating it but it still comes as a surprise) is stupendous. Tartt has a wonderful way of writing about confusion, shock, and high adrenaline stuff - like in 'The Secret History' where the character runs through the night - and takes us brilliantly into the mind of the main character at that point. After this, there is a long section where the character is living in Las Vegas, where nothing happens, there is just desert, sand, and constant sunshine beating down day after day. Many reviews have complained about the length of this section but for me it was the best part of the book, as the endless narrative and the nothingness of the activity just captured the mood of this part of the novel; it was fantastically languid. For me this felt like a narrative device rather than Tartt trying to fill pages. The book moves on well, but towards the end we get a bit of a diatribe on the nature of life, art, the universe and everything, which I could have done without.

'The Goldfinch' is a huge book of nearly 800 pages. It is the engrossing and engaging story of Theo a damaged young man whose life alters after a random act of terrorism that leads to the death of his devoted and loving mother. During a visit to an art museum 13 year old Theo encounters a dying elderly man and in a split second an impulsive act shapes his future. After staying with a school friend and his dis-functional but wealthy family, Theo meets the mysterious Hobie the business partner of the decreased man from the art museum. Theo's life is thrown into further dis-away when he moves to Las Vegas to live with his alcohol dependent father and his chaotic partner Xandra. With no steady parenting the lonely and vulnerable Theo befriends the all too worldly Boris. Boris leads Theo on a self destructive journey towards drug abuse and self harm. Quite simply 'the goldfinch' is a breathtaking masterpiece. Theo who i feel can be viewed as an anti-hero is almost like a modern day version of Oliver Twist. The writing is pure and at times the pace is fast and exciting, the portion set in Amsterdam almost has a Quentin Tarantino quality . There is also a bittersweet love story at the core of the story that is at times heart rendering . The character of Theo is totally believable. almost a morality tale the Goldfinch really manages to explore how a flawed individual's destiny can be shaped by a string of events and encounters . My only criticism is the book is too long in places with some over written passages that seem to go no-where. We also do not see enough of Pippa who is also left traumatised by events in her childhood and lasting injuries from the bomb attack. Pippa's story is never fully explored apart from a tender evening spend with Theo close to the conclusion of the book. Was the book Worth waiting 10 years for?, i think so as it is probably one of the best novels of 2013.

This is the best book I've read for a long time; it's beautifully written and grips the reader until the very last page.

Mein Kind ist begeistert von dem Buch.

I've read The Goldfinch during the apocalyptic Covid-19 lockdown weeks, and maybe that is one of the reasons that it is a book that hit a soft spot in my heart. It seems as if Theo and Boris will remain lifelong companions, next to my other beloved imaginary friend, Vera Stanhope.It isn't just a beautifully rendered image of a strange but strong friendship, but it is also a book that brings a message of hope and beauty, something we all long for these days. Even if Theo hits rock bottom a few times, he always finds a way to get back up again and deal with his grief and losses as best as he can. Even if he is terribly flawed, he is one of the strongest charachters in fiction I've come accross in a long time. Not only in his demeanour, but certainly also in the craftmanship that the author has used to depict him.It is the reason why I dragged this book as long as I could - it has taken me more than one month - as I wanted to revel as long as I possibly could in the company of Theo, travelling around the globe and even to cities close to where I live: Antwerp and Amsterdam.I was gratefull that the book was as long as it is, I wouldn't have changed or skipped a thing. I'm just afraid now, it will be difficult to find a similar beautifully written book with such lively characters, a compelling storyline and a hint of philosophy and art history.Bravo !

Ainda não li, mas queria mostrar como é a versão econômica

Voy menos de la mitad pero me ha encantado hasta ahora, y el producto llego en excelente estado.