The Goldfinch

I don’t understand why this book is so highly rated. I belong to a small book club that chose to read it adn 4 out of 6 give up on it. Those that finished were very frustrated. Not only was this book too long, it was unbelievable due insufficient character development. Things just sort of happened around people and they “changed” (not evolved) from chapter to chapter. There are many books I’ve not liked, but I have this crazy need to stick it out and finish anything I start. This is the first book in decades I gave up on. That should sum it up.

I just couldn’t get into it. The sentences, paragraphs, passages… all just SO incredibly long. Theres a fine line between descriptive and excessive. This book is the latter. Everything just went on and on. Sentences so run-on they need track shoes.
So I sat there, my mind designing this foster of a thought while I laid comfortably on the grey, semi-soft couch I bought once on sale on a Tuesday evening at a Rooms-to-Go, realizing that my life had taken a turn for, quite possibly, the worst, and wondering if I would ever reach the long-crying light at the end of the tunnel that is this pretentious book.
See- that was MISERABLE to read. Don’t do that. I’m sorry I did that. You’ve actually got to get to the point sometimes. Plus, I got halfway through and I felt as if nothing happened. I understand that this is a “realistic” book and may even be an eye-opener for some, but I just found the story profoundly boring, or dare I say it, lame. She could have composed a much more compelling story with such an interesting background and plot. After all, it is the plot that attracted us all in the first place, isn’t it? I’m sorry to say that this book is overrated and like I said, pretentious.

I did not want to be one of those people who did not finish this book yet still trashed it. I did finish the book and I can tell you that there was not anything I can say I found enjoyable about it. I have made it a goal to read at least one Pulitzer Prize winning book each year. I believe the reason this book won in 2014 was that Donna Tartt was obviously knowledgable about the drug culture and the art world. There was not a single character that I cared about by the end of the book.

I did not like this book at all. All the drug, booze, swearing was just too much for me to overlook. Perhaps there is an element of society that lives this kind of life, but I really didn’t enjoy reading about it. The dishonesty of most characters was so out of my comfort level.

I bought The Little Friend some years back and thought it was an excellent book, lent it to friends that also enjoyed. When I saw that she had won the Booker Prize I immediately thought to buy the book for my Kindle. Sadly I didn’t, as I read so many poor reviews. too long, boring, heavy etc etc Then just recently a friend told me that she had bought the book and loved it and passed it on to other friends so I downloaded it straight away.
The writing is superb, cannot understand the complaints, this is literature at it’s best. It’s not meant to be a fast read, take it slowly, yes it’s a long book, so what, it’s virtually three books for the price of one. It’s a hard story, showing us that the affects of terrorism on those that are involved and those that lose loved ones. It also opens our minds to the fact that there is both good and evil in all of us and cowardice and bravery. The characters in the story are the best portrayals that I have read for years. Miss Tartt doesn’t churn books out one after the other as so many authors, they are gems, to be read and not forgotten. I sincerely hope that this becomes a modern classic because it certainly deserves it.

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