I have a love/hate relationship with The Goldfinch... More hate than love... actually just a hate relationship. I got into the book and I did actually enjoy reading it but most of the time, it was hard to concentrate. I kept losing interest here and there and I sometimes had to reread a page or two to actually understand what was going on.
Information about the book:
Aged thirteen, Theo Decker, son of a devoted mother and an absent father, miraculously survives a catastrophe that otherwise tears his life apart. Alone and rudderless in New York, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Theo is tormented by longing for his mother and down the years he clings to the thing that most reminds him of her: a small, captivating painting that ultimately draws him into the criminal underworld.
In the beginning I loved Theo. I felt so sorry for him having to experience losing a parent in such a tragic way, I loved the fact that his friend's family took him in so he could finish the school year at the same school. Throughout the book we met some troubling characters, humble characters and characters that I thought were just a bit pointless. In no way am I bashing Donna Tartt's writing at all, I actually really liked The Secret History. I've always had issues with books that have incredibly long chapters, I just can't keep my concentration and end up putting the book down and procrastinate.
There were parts of the book that I did like, especially whenever Hobie (a lovely old man) was in them but for the most part, I didn't like the majority of the book. There is a film adaptation that I would like to see, maybe I'll enjoy the film more than the book (it's very rare that I say that). If I was to rate The goldfinch out 5, I would rate it 2/5 only because I loved Hobie.
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