The Goldfinch

By: Donna Tartt

Narrated by: David Pittu

Length: 32 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Winner, Solo Narration - Male, 2014

Audie Award Winner, Literary Fiction, 2014

The author of the classic best-sellers The Secret History and The Little Friend returns with a brilliant, highly anticipated new novel.

Composed with the skills of a master, The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling force and acuity.

It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a 13-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.

The Goldfinch is a novel of shocking narrative energy and power. It combines unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and breathtaking suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. It is a beautiful, stay-up-all-night and tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate.

©2013 Donna Tartt (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

Narrator David Pittu accepts the task of turning this immense volume into an excellent listening experience. Pittu portrays 13-year-old orphan Theo Decker with compassion, portraying his growing maturity in this story of grief and suspense…Pittu adds pathos to his depiction of the troubled Theo as he deals with addiction and finds himself in a dance with gangsters and the art world's darker dealers. ( AudioFile)

"Dazzling....[A] glorious, Dickensian novel, a novel that pulls together all Ms. Tartt's remarkable storytelling talents into a rapturous, symphonic whole and reminds the reader of the immersive, stay-up-all-night pleasures of reading." ( New York Times)

"A long-awaited, elegant meditation on love, memory, and the haunting power of art....Eloquent and assured, with memorable characters....A standout-and well-worth the wait." ( Kirkus, Starred Review)

Fantastic

Any additional comments?

There are few words that would do this wonderful novel justice in praise. I don't really understand other reviewers' comments about a slow start. The pace of the story is perfect from page one. The narration is absolutely perfect.

Best Audible book yet!

If you could sum up The Goldfinch in three words, what would they be?

Interesting, memorable, delicious!

What other book might you compare The Goldfinch to and why?

Donna Tartt's The Secret History has some similar elements but I think this book is her grand slam.

Which scene was your favorite?

Any scene with Boris. He was complicated, philosophical and unpredictable.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

How a split decision made during a crisis changed the course of many lives.

Any additional comments?

I can only hope Donna Tartt gets the recognition she deserves for writing a spectacular story. Additionally, the narrator, David Pittu, added another critical dimension to the book.

Get build up...let down by the story!

Would you try another book from Donna Tartt and/or David Pittu?

This story seemed too drawn out! I

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Not sure

Any additional comments?

If you like stories of people high on drugs, you'll like this story!

Hypnotic story masterfully narrated

Great story constructed upon brilliant detail and precise dialogue. If the author did not grow up among numerous older brothers it is difficult to fathom how she conjured the endlessly perfect descriptions and phrases. As for the narration, perhaps the best! Great work!

Mesmerising and beautiful

Where does The Goldfinch rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Once again Donna Tartt has delivered a masterpiece. This book is rich, deep, and poignant. She takes you through the evolution of a single life and masterfully brings together threads into an engaging and beautiful tale.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I would say the ending was almost unexpectedly deep and moving. Tartt is not an easy writer to digest, and her work rarely leaves things tied up with conventional neatness--yet this ending was masterful, with the poetic philosophical ponderings that underlie the whole book tweaked out in a way that was neither trite nor jarring with the narrative of the story.

Any additional comments?

I thoroughly enjoyed this audio book. It left me wanting start the whole thing over again once I had finished, yet also deeply content.

Lovely

This is a lovely story, with wonderful characters, and a well thought out plot. I went through phases of liking Theo, to being annoyed by him, to further understanding him. The writer gets a bit long winded at times, but overall I didn’t mind that much. Would definitely recommend!

A terrific novel - "sorrow inseparable from joy"

Would you listen to The Goldfinch again? Why?

I want to start over again immediately, a novelty for me. I want to read it as well - and that is a first.

I was greedy and listened to this book practically non-stop. Now I want to re-listen, because I want to go back to the early pages, which impressed me as I heard them, and hear them again knowing how they illuminate all the rest of the story. The connection and comfort of his mother, the disaster - what occurs and how vividly it is described. The bleakness of the Los Vegas section - there is something I want to hear again in every earlier portion of the book, and by the time I finish I'm sure I will be ready to hear the ending portion again as well.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Theo, the narrator, is a great character and it is wonderful how the author keeps you learning more about him throughout the book. She doesn't wind him up with a description and let him go. But Boris is also a favorite, written with such charm, humor and refusal to fit a stereotype. I enjoyed every scene he was in and hoped he would come back in the periods where he was missing.

Have you listened to any of David Pittu’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not heard any other performances but I liked this one. He made some characters sound a little precious, but I think that was probably appropriate for them.

Any additional comments?

This book is incredibly satisfying. I slowed down my listening at the end because I really wanted to savor it. I listen a lot and rarely review, but this book thrilled me. Maybe I hang out with too many posers, but I keep hearing how novels are over and that depresses me. So I am incredibly happy to have found this wonderful, complex, funny, sad and modern novel.

Stupendous

What made the experience of listening to The Goldfinch the most enjoyable?

David Pittu is the perfect narrator.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Goldfinch?

The Las Vegas vingette.

What about David Pittu’s performance did you like?

Each character he voiced had a personality.

If you could rename The Goldfinch, what would you call it?

Oliver Twist Potter

Any additional comments?

I listened in many short sequences over an extended period, not unlike a reader of 19th century literature might approach a serialized novel printed in in a newspaper.

Brevity is a virtue

What made the experience of listening to The Goldfinch the most enjoyable?

The story was engaging and kept me interested for many long driving hours.

Which character – as performed by David Pittu – was your favorite?

Theo was my favorite. Mr. Pittu, please don't do Russian and English accents. It hurts.

Any additional comments?

Ms. Tartt, you are awesome, but fire your editor.

Can't wait for time to pass so I can read it again

Yes to all of this book. Every time I thought I knew what kind of book this was, it totally changed -- in the best way possible. I can't wait to forget a lot of it so I get to re-read it.