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)

The Goldfinch

I really enjoyed the narration - brought all the characters to life. The book was overly long - at times the level of detail was too much, but overall I enjoyed the story. The resolution of what happened to the painting was a little too neat.

A beautiful and moving book

Would you listen to The Goldfinch again? Why?

I loved the book. It was a truly beautiful production. It does remind me of Dickens in the way that it is but sentimental but has a certain depth of emotion that it is ver difficult for some writers to present.

It was bit long to listen to in its entirety, but I would definitely re listen to certain scenes.

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

There were slot of memorable emotional scenes, but I think the scenes of the the main characters witnessing the interaction between the members of the family that took him in were spot on.

Any additional comments?

A great book, full of heart and soul. The characters were truly alive.

Excellent narration

As a listener, I felt the narrator gave life to the story through his performance, enabling each unique character to shine.

Best book in my library

This a book that bring you to all of your emotions. Couldn't put it down.

Great story line, but too wordy

What did you like best about this story?

Very interesting story, not predictable. Different.

Any additional comments?

The author was very descriptive, in many cases too descriptive. There were multiple times a scene or situation was described in three, four, five ways, each time longer and longer. I wanted to say "Ok! I've got it! Let's move on! I want to hear what happens next!"

The story, itself, is much too long.

I understand the need to describe something in detail, but taking an entire page, with multiple analogies, is highly unnecessary. It's as if the author thinks a reader will understand only one of the descriptions, as another will only understand a different description. This constant over-explaining starts to fee as of the author sees us as idiots who need multiple explanations.
That said, the performance of the narrator on the audible version is excellent! He was able to really separate the characters through his voice. His moments of pause, comedic reactions, as well as his tragic reactions, were on point.
Overall, the story itself is beautiful and multi-layered. I have high expectations of a book that has been widely celebrated. It met some of these expectations, but the length could be about 100-200 pages less, and still come out as a beautiful, prize-winning novel.

You really start to care about this guy!

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

Well, Theo, obviously. But Pittu performed all of the characters perfectly. His Boris was also outstanding. He does it all--accents, male/female, the right emotions.

Any additional comments?

This was a GREAT book. You really get pulled into the story and start feeling like this boy is real. Sometimes he does stupid things and you want to shake him. Other times, you just feel so sorry for the tricks life has played on him. All of the characters were developed to the point that you knew them and what made them tick. This is one of my all time favorite audio books.

Better than I expected!!!

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

The narrator and the author's way of describing scenes and situations.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

How the lead character's life changed from the bombing and through out the story kept my attention.

What does David Pittu bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His accent with Borus and some of the other characters was amazing.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

At times, yes.

Beautifully Written Story of Loss and Life

Most days this book would depress the hell out of me, but in the end it is one of the best books I have ever listened to. I loved the the narration of this book. Often times I would forget that it was one person narrating which in itself is the exact quality that makes for an excellent narrator.

Good but......

The storyline was actually very interesting and I enjoyed the premise. However, there was really not enough content (actual things happening) to need 30 plus hours to tell it. Lots and lots of very, very drawn out sections that could have been truncated. Good story and semi-interesting characters overall, but happy to be done.