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)

One of the Best Books I've Read!

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

This would have to be #1 because of it's unusual subject matter, the absorbing manner in which is was written and the driving plot.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hobie was my favorite character. In the midst of chaos, sadness, and uncertainty, he was always loving, caring, and stalwart.

Which scene was your favorite?

There were so many terrific scenes but I would have to pick the one where Theo is in the hotel room ill, confused, and contemplating suicide and his sudden revelation which led to his decision to change the way he perceived his life.

Any additional comments?

There is action for the plot junkies, philosophy for the thinkers, colorful characters for the romantics, and vivid descriptions for the poets, enabling one to have an all absorbing,unforgettable experience

Worth the Hours of Investment

I enjoyed the twist and turns but the drug addiction was a bit much and Theo stupidity was very frustrating during different times.

slow start but rewarding in the end.

Such a great story. I was transported for hours everytime I sat down to enjoy it. I did not find it predictable or too far out of the realm of possibility. It took a bit but I enjoyed the inflection of the narrator's voice. i highly recommend! especially for long road trips and holifay breaks.

Beautifully Written and Performed!

The book is so beautifully written and the performance of the narrator is simply amazing!

Great, good, or...?

I finished this one a few weeks ago. I'm still not sure how I feel about the book. It tells an interesting story, and there are some beautiful parts. Taken as something more than a (long) story, though--I don't know. Typically the language is descriptive and pedestrian, but fits the scenes and characters At times the language gets more abstract and less descriptive. Often, that works. But not always.

This is a book with ambitions, but it doesn't quite achieve its goals. Or maybe I am imposing ambitions on it; the book won the Pulitzer Prize, and perhaps I'm not judging it on its own merit because of that?

So. This is a good, interesting read. I may have reacted differently if I didn't know anything about it before I read it, but it left me feeling like it could somehow have been a bit more.

That said, the narration is almost perfect. David Pittu has a talent with voices. When he narrates conversations, it really sounds like different people are talking. His accents are fantastic, and he can sound like a 3rd generation Park Avenue resident as easily as a Vegas cocktail waitress or a Polish Ukrainian Australian teenager.

Amazing.

This book draws you in. The character development and story is exquisite. Beautifully written- this is one of those books that stays with you and haunts you.

Best narrator ever

The book is an epic of a young orphaned boy through adulthood. Think I liked the first half better. Second part as adult, it was difficult to like the character. The narration was superb.

Unbelievable Narrator

I’ve listened to many audiobooks and this narrator is the best by far. Each characters voice was distinct and easily recognizable. It was easy for me to visualize just what character was speaking. Excellent work!

Intriguing but better read than listened to

Very interesting plot and wonderful message. Descriptions of thoughts and feelings of the characters as they move through the story are beautifully done however descriptions of nearly everything else is overdone, mostly irrelevant, and too time consuming. Thirty five hours of listening would be better spent as seven hours of reading and not an ounce of story line or message would be lost.

Tough but good

An excellent narration of a long but extremely well written work. Gritty in places, with some dark twists and cynical reflections on the human condition . Recommended for more mature but open minded audiences. May be too truthful for some listeners.