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.

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.

Tediously long, hard to care about main characters

Ms Tartt is a compelling writer, and she captures the essence of a scene, the speech patterns of different classes of people, of recent times in America, and the atmospherics of family life brilliantly.

ut she overwrites scenes (the aftermath of the museum bomb) and many conversations between Boris and Theo.

Also, for me, that last part of the book seemed like an afterthought, Theo wandering the world and meditating about the meaning (or lack of meaning) of life, page after page after discursive page, without really connecting to the book itself or adding that satisfying sense of closure we all love to feel when we finish a great book.

Ms Tartt's characters seem stuck and maybe that is what she intends. It isn't that I have to love or agree or approve of every character in a book. But these characters are walking non sequiturs, and I found it hard to understand what motivates their decisions most of the time and this had the effect of distancing me from caring about them or what happens to them.

Perhaps it is not surprising that most grown-ups would not be all that interested in the circular, running-in-place antics of two lost boys high on alcohol and drugs, a situation that doesn't really change enough in the 15 years covered by the story.

So why did I finish the book? Two reasons.

First, the superb narration by actor David Pittu, who lifts the characters right off the page and breathes personality and life into each of them, kept me with this book when I might otherwise have given up. His performance was precise, nuanced, and so emotionally true.

Second, this is not a bad book just because I found it relentlessly tedious and way too long, and since so many other readers liked it, I thought I'd defer to the wisdom of the crowd and see it through to the end.