This particular synopsis of the Goldfinch really piques my curiosity and is similar to the initial synopsis that first made me suggest this book:
"For the few uninitiated, The Goldfinch is a sprawling bildungsroman centered on 13-year-old Theo Decker, whose world is violently turned upside down when, on a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a terrorist bomb goes off, killing his mother, among other bystanders. At the behest of a dying old man, he makes off with a painting—the 1654 Carel Fabritius masterpiece, The Goldfinch. For the next 14 years and 700 pages, the painting becomes both his burden and the only connection to his lost mother, while he’s flung from New York to Las Vegas to Amsterdam, encountering an array of eccentric characters, from the hard-living but soulful Russian teenager Boris to the cultured and kindly furniture restorer Hobie, who becomes a stand-in father, to the mysterious, waif-like Pippa, plus assorted lowlifes, con men, Park Avenue recluses, and dissolute preppies." -Vanity Fair
The 800 pages, however, make it a little intimidating. Hopefully it will not be 800 slow pages. As for questions, I found these three questions that I believe would be interesting to answer:
Theo’s mother was obsessed with The Goldfinch painting. Is there a piece of art you are similarly connected to or moved by?
The epigraph for Part III states “We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others, that in the end, we become disguised to ourselves” (369). How does this message relate to the section’s two short chapters? To the novel as a whole? How do the characters disguise themselves to each other, and why?
Good people in the book do bad things; bad people do good. When does a good person become bad, and vice versa?
Here's to hoping for an easy read! (Also I will try not to subject us again to novels of this length haha!)
Hello Ladies
ReplyDeleteSorry to be early – again – but tomorrow Jay returns from Malaysia and Hong Kong and I know time will be at a premium then. I hope you have both had a wonderful month, and that husbands and children are thriving. Here in the U.K. the government and my father continue their dictatorial approach to life and I have one tooth less than I had last month.
I also attended the monthly meeting of my art appreciation club. We’d been asked to identify the work we liked best in an art gallery we visited last month. I find, to my distress, that because I know so little about the technicalities of painting, I base opinions on what I think the artist is trying to tell me . . . that and whether I liked the colour scheme! (Stereotypical comments on women choosing cars come to mind.) As my limited knowledge increases, my ‘favourite’ changes. Last month, it was Alan Reynolds’ painting Dark Orchard, Eynsford, because the dark brown to peach colour palette and the warning about the destruction of nature were an irresistible combination. (Clearly, I wouldn’t do well as an art critic.)
I found this month’s book really compelling. I hadn’t got very far into it before I was likening it to Dickens’ novels, for example Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. This was not just because of the characters (Hobie as Joe, Pippa as Estella, Theo as Pip and/or Oliver Twist, Boris as the Artful Dodger) but also because of the absolute truth in the depiction of flawed characters, the joy and horror of life, its successes and tragedies. All of this created a gripping read and an awful distressing frustration regarding life’s injustices. Very naively, I like my goodies and baddies to be clearly recognisable and to get what they deserve. (Too many Westerns in my youth.)
So, if I have a reservation about a brilliantly written book that’s it – difficult to identify with a character. They were wonderfully depicted. Great variety of perspectives presented on Theo’s Dad, for example, and on other characters over the novel’s timespan. Theo himself had so many shocking problems, so much grief to deal with, that I should have been right on his side from the get-go. But I wasn’t. The writer’s huge technical skill in drawing characters failed entirely to involve me in their lives.
Perhaps this relates to your question, Katie, regarding disguising ourselves to others and thus losing ourselves. I’m not sure how we would survive without the skill of self-disguise – I’d never have got through a job interview without it – and Theo acquires the skill early to survive in the wildly different situations in which he’s placed – the two chapters you identify, Katie, being a case in point. He has to adopt very different personas to be accepted.
But Theo seems to have no real ‘core’ which most of us will have acquired in a stable childhood. The last pages suggest Theo wouldn’t look at it like that at all: ‘there’s no truth beyond illusion’. He lives in ‘the space where all art exists, and all magic.’ So, I’m applying a dull social worker’s interpretation of character to an artist’s presentation of life/characters as illusion. There isn’t any core. We’re all just a series of costume changes. (I think that’s from a Rod Stewart song!) Superficial analysis – sorry – good subject for a PhD thesis.
(Continuation - length of review corresponding to length of book? Sorry)
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure about good people becoming bad and bad becoming good. After nearly forty years of teaching different races, social classes and ages, I didn’t find anyone who is entirely either. But I fear I am pontificating again.
Going back to the book, Tartt’s reach exceeds that of Dickens in many ways, not least the variety of settings. The Nevada/Las Vegas section was marvellous – all that teenage angst reflected in desert heat and flat monotony: such a contrast to New York’s Park and Greenwich Village. Then onto Amsterdam and gangland – more like Dickens’s London, perhaps.
An excellent book, some marvellous description (Welty dying was unforgettable) incredible plot and sensitive analysis of ‘the human condition’ – reflected in the portrait of the chained goldfinch do we think? And what a complex plot – how she kept a grip on all those settings, characters and their motivations I can’t imagine. Inevitably, then, a blockbuster read and a massive literary achievement.
I should also say that reading it brought great kudos: in a discussion about the pros and cons of first person narrative novels I bought this up as an example. The writing group was suitably impressed. So, thank you, Katie.
Hello ladies,
ReplyDeleteAll is fine and warming up in my part of the world. We had an amazing few weeks in the States and saw some spectacular scenery. ivars is off on his annual surfing sabbatical down the coast and i am alone with my dogs for a few days, and so far it is blissfully quiet.
I have been reading our novel over a period of months to ensure I finished in time, still I am late with my comments, sorry. I have enjoyed this story very much and am amazed at the skill of Donna Tartt to provide us with such detailed characters. I also enjoyed the different locations and having just spent a little time in Nevada and Las Vegas thought her depiction of here marvellous.
When does a good person become bad and vice versa?
This is such a challenging question Katie !
I feel perhaps The Goldfinch characters highlight the fact that good and bad reside in everyone and sometimes crucial moments in life lead us down one path or the other. All the characters had redeeming qualities, [except maybe the mad murderer in Amsterdam], All also were flawed and made some bad decisions .
I have to admit my knowledge of Art is very limited.I always enjoy attending art galleries and shows but am truly swayed by colour and subject. I love the Impressionists but admire the skills of artists that have almost photographic detail in their work. I have no favourites, embarrassingly sometimes I think I just love the peace and serenity that Art Galleries seem to radiate.
Sue, you have summed up The Goldfinch so beautifully in your comments, thank you, I find I have little to add.
Thank you Katie, for choosing this novel for us it has been a joy to read.
Much love, Nancy
Hello to you both! Please forgive my tardiness. I feel that I had an extremely difficult time answering my own questions. A lack of sleep cause by two little people has made already challenging questions even more challenging haha.
ReplyDeleteI was very nervous about this book because it was so long but I found it to be very captivating. I flew through it on my many long and terrible commutes. I felt a great deal of sympathy for Theo but I didn't enjoy his constant drug use. As a teen in Nevada with little to do, I could understand his activities but once he returned to New York he should have given that lifestyle up. In my opinion the only character who really hid was Theo. He tried to hide his pain, his obvious PTSD, and his drug problem. However, the only person he was successfully able to hide from was himself. Maybe Hobie was unaware of Theo's issues but I believe that was more due to Hobie's generous and distracted nature rather than Theo's abilities of disguise. (Loved Hobie by the way! Kept imaging him as the actor Stephen Fry)
As for good people doing bad things and vice versa, I think Boris said it best. In one of the last chapters, he mentions that Theo wants good and bad to be black and white but it's not. There are many gray areas in life. You both mention how good Tartt's characters are and I have to agree! They too are neither completely good nor completely bad.
And finally for my question regarding art, I'm afraid I wouldn't know a Rembrandt from a Picasso if my life depended on it! And I'm afraid I haven't been to the Philadelphia Art Museum in years but there is one room in the museum that is suppose to be Roman Villa with mock buildings. The part of that room I've always loved the most is the ceiling. It is painted to look like the sky at dusk. Some may argue that that doesn't "count" as art but someone had to have spent the time in painting it and adding the stars so I say it counts! I could spend hours looking up at that ceiling, pretending that I am in an ancient Roman Villa pondering the universe and the stars.
I agree Nancy. Sue's incredibly insightful review was excellent. I have gotten my hands on November's book and look forward to it.
Much love,
Katie