The Goldfinch

A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

De: Donna Tartt

Narrado por: David Pittu

A young New Yorker grieving his mother's death is pulled into a gritty underworld of art and wealth in this “extraordinary” and beloved novel that "connects with the heart as well as the mind" (Stephen King, New York Times Book Review), named a New York Times Best Book of the 21st Century.

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 a longing for his mother, he clings to the one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into a wealthy and insular art community.

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 mesmerizing, stay-up-all-night and tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention. From the streets of New York to the dark corners of the art underworld, this "soaring masterpiece" examines the devastating impact of grief and the ruthless machinations of fate (Ron Charles, Washington Post).

High Duration : Cost Ratio ... but

There aren't many 1 Credit books that take more than 30 hours to read. Many by Dickens, several by the Russians and David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest (58 hours without the footnotes!). These are worth reading and they are worth listening too and the duration is a bonus.

I listen to audiobooks for several different reasons. Most of those reasons have to do with being entertained or distracted. If the book and narrator are "just good enough" to amuse, distract, or both, the longer the book the better it satisfies what I want from it.

The structure of this story didn't seem strong enough to support its length, so while it was good enough to listen to for 30+ hours, it didn't say anything that was particularly interesting to me, or if it did, it didn't say it memorably.

If you're painting a room (two coats, trim, prep time, and clean-up) this would be a reasonable selection.

Epic exploration of loss, art, & authenticity

To paraphrase Dickens, “It was the best of books, it was the worst of books, it was a book of wisdom, it was a book of foolishness, it was a book of belief, it was a book of incredulity.” This begins to describe some of my thoughts about The Goldfinch.

Theo Decker, the thirteen-year-old narrator of The Goldfinch, has been suspended from school. He and his mother have an appointment with the school principal, but because they are getting drenched in a downpour, they escape the rainstorm in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. There is a terrorist bombing at The Met in which many people are killed, including Theo’s beloved mother. In the midst of the chaos, a dazed and frightened Theo spirits away his mother’s favorite painting, “The Goldfinch” by Carel Fabritius. After the bombing, Theo lives with a friend’s dysfunctional family on Park Avenue, later with his estranged father in Las Vegas where he meets larger-than-life Boris, and back to New York where he again meets up with antique furniture restorer Hobie, who he is connected with through the bombing. Throughout it all, Theo carries “The Goldfinch” as his last remaining connection to his mother, despite the many difficulties his possession of the painting causes. Don’t let my clumsy recounting of the plot deter you; Tartt has written a vast plot with interesting characters, but the really important parts of this novel are Tartt's details and writing.

Other readers may have been bored and exasperated by the detail, but for me it was an important part of the book. The details and descriptions of the dysfunctional Barbours, their Park Avenue apartment, the desolation of Las Vegas, the wry and philosophical personality of Boris as it has been formed through appalling parental neglect, and the incredible details about antique furniture and its restoration helped create a world that at times was more fully drawn for me than the world in which I was sitting and listening to the book. David Pittu is an excellent narrator for this book, especially in his treatment of Hobie and Boris.

First and foremost, Tartt is an incredible writer. She is able to write sentences and paragraphs such as these:
“I accepted all this counsel politely, with a glassy smile and a glaring sense of unreality. Many adults seemed to interpret this numbness as a positive sign; I remember particularly Mr. Beeman (an overly clipped Brit in a dumb tweed motoring cap, whom despite his solicitude I had come to hate, irrationally, as an agent of my mother’s death) complimenting me on my maturity and informing me that I seemed to be “coping awfully well.” And maybe I was coping awfully well, I don’t know. Certainly I wasn’t howling aloud or punching my fist through windows or doing any of the things I imagined people might do who felt as I did. But sometimes, unexpectedly, grief pounded over me in waves that left me gasping; and when the waves washed back, I found myself looking out over a brackish wreck which was illumined in a light so lucid, so heartsick and empty, that I could hardly remember that the world had ever been anything but dead.”

There were some missteps for me in The Goldfinch. Pippa is a red-haired girl that Theo notices at The Met, and over the course of the book, he comes to imagine her as his soul-mate. The character of Pippa and her relationship with Theo are among the few areas in the book that are lacking in detail, but more is really needed. There is also a scene concerning Theo and his ethical slide about three-quarters through the book that made me want to stop listening. I had to stop reading for a week or so, but I thought about the book and what was happening to the characters so much that I had to start reading again.

I’ve read several reviews in which people state that the characters aren’t likable and Theo is too passive. I didn’t find the characters especially likable myself, but for me, any unlikeability was simply part of who they were and was necessary within the novel as a whole. Theo was passive, buffeted by cruel and arbitrary circumstances, randomness, and many well-meaning adults who were damaged themselves, but that is exactly how I would expect a traumatized thirteen-year-old to behave, even as he was growing up over the course of the novel. Theo says and recognizes, “Things would have turned out better if she had lived.” and they certainly would have.

Made me Flinch

Would you consider the audio edition of The Goldfinch to be better than the print version?

I think that the reader is one of the top in the business. Great job!!!

If you’ve listened to books by Donna Tartt before, how does this one compare?

First book, probably last.

What about David Pittu’s performance did you like?

Gifted, his dialects and ability to voice the book put him at the top of the list. After this book I got another book simply because he was the reader.

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

"How I wasted my life after I was in a Bad Situation."

Simply wonderful!

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

One of the best ever. A delight beginning to end and totally captivating

What did you like best about this story?

The story line, the New York neighborhood descriptions, the familiar places, smells, the museum references, the doormen, the characters, the art history, Vegas - just about everything! The blurred lines between good and evil, redemption, obsessions, friendship.

Which scene was your favorite?

Not one particular scene but the imagery of Hobie's shop, the Park Avenue old world apartments, anything with Boris were all fabulous

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

I wouldn't rename it

Any additional comments?

I don't usually write reviews and I listen to a lot of books (at double speed so I really can listen to many!) but this one is just so so wonderful I hope everyone downloads and indulges themselves with the richness of the story, the quality of the writing, the complex yet familiar story line, the power of friendship, the family dynamics. The narrator is fabulous, I have no idea why anyone criticized him - his range of accents, especially Boris, is perfect. Andy, his mother, Hobie, his father's girlfriend - all wonderful. And of course Theo. I will definitely read Donna Tartt's other novels as well as the narrator's. I'm currently in my post-book-I-loved depression.

Beautiful, Real, and Moving.

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

When the main character was discussing love of art, love of old things, and his realizations of how life works I felt this was so very insightful and it just hit me right in my heart. The author has put into words my feelings of art and old things. I feel as though she has justified my feelings and thoughts somehow and explained things I never could. There were many moments in this book, although they weren't directly sad, that i was moved to tears just from relating so clearly and from being submerged in the emotional thoughts she was expressing of peoples relationships with art and antiques and how these things live forever.
As for the comments on life, this is the first time I have read something that so clearly explains the point. No rainbows, just how it really is, and what is really important. This book has stayed with me and changed how I go about, and think about my life.