THE GOLDFINCH

This is one the greatest book of all times. A book so deep, so meaningful that leaves me craving for more. A book with great literature giving me joy and shocks all in moments. A book which leaves me in deep thoughts all over again and again. The plot, the characters, the narration and every other thought in Theo's mind is just written perfectly, just apt. It was one of those books which makes you feel every emotion with the characters. With such beautiful description of Theo's mindset, I was speechless and in shock all in a single moment. The way Tart describes New York, Vegas and then Amsterdam is just so mesmerizing. Theo's connection with his mother, his hatred for his Dad, his longing for Boris left me in utter silence. The book covers so many aspects - ranging from mother-son relationships, art and its power, teenage friendship, guardianship, childhood bullies, true friendship, drugs, the criminal world dealing with arts and many more. How Popper remembered Boris when he had seen him after almost a decade, this is just one of those few emotions which can never be expressed in words completely. How the chemistry between two teenagers which remains unaffected even when they haven't seen each other in years is written in such a fascinating way representing true bond. The way Theo craves for The Goldfinch, not because of his love for art completely but rather like the only thing which holds the connection with his mother. The way he touches the painting, how he wants to safeguard the painting from the outside world, and the way he looks at the painting gives me a chill. The description of love is so pure, especially the part when you love the wrong person and you still can't stop loving her is so deep. The way Theo hits off completely with Hobie in a couple of meetings despite the age gap and how he felt more safe there and not at the Barbour's, how Hobie treats him like a normal person and not like a person who just went through a tragedy. The time when Hobie supports Theo when he ran away after his Dad's death brings back my faith in humanity. The moment when Theo is hanging in there trying to end his miserable life and how his mother(or just the illusions) ultimately stops him from doing so was a touchy moment for me. In that instant, when he knew he can talk to his mother only through the mirror and can't even turn around to have a look at her was simply spell bounding. I give complete 5stars to The Goldfinch as it deserves it and nothing less than this.

Imagine if Harry Potter wasn't introduced into the magical world. What would have happened with his life. Well, Theo's story gives an idea of how it would have been. I tell you this because the narrative style was so much similar to that of Harry's. That gloomy, self blaming, careless, over thinking, but at times smart of Harry Potter is what Theo is. The book is quite slow paced and I love those kind of books because of it's taking time to introduce us into the settings and it's characters. I loved Donna's writing style so much. She has written only the best part of all characters. And I would say Boris character was kind of interesting and that's what made the Las Vegas scenes lively. Most people didn't like the Las Vegas setting but tbh, I loved it. That was needed for explaining the friendship between Theo and Boris. But I felt that Donna gave some useless hope between those two characters in the end of that scene which was really disappointing. I expected more between them. And the another thing I was disappointed was the blurb at the back of the cover. This book isn't what they have mentioned in that. There is more to the story. This is a coming of age story, there are so many emotions, friendship and love. Because of that blurb I was keep on expecting more actions but there were nothing except some 20 pages in the last chapter. I would have still read this book if they have written a proper blurb. But overall, I enjoyed reading this book so much.

One of the greatest read of my life. The author takes you on a journey where you find yourself wanting more of what you feel in it, whether it’s the Narrator’s doom into self sabotage and doom or his simple seconds of joy. Need a read to question your own existence? A dive into what humanity means? Why do we do what we do? What keeps us anchored to our pasts? These are all questions you’ll ask yourselves during the read and No you won’t get the answers here, you’ll have to find them out yourselves.

Great book. Must read at least once in a lifetime. Both entertaining and thrilling. 880 pages seems a bit less for such a great story. The way Tartt uses words, it seems as if she herself is the protagonist. She uses words to create such intricate detail that the reader finds himself immersed. A very hard to gain achievement. The last 100 (not the last 25) seem like a stretch, but that is OK.

I'm writing this review fresh off reading the book. This is a 771 page epic and has taken me about 9 days to read. There aren't that many characters in this book. Tartt succeeded in getting me emotionally invested with these characters and made me care about what happened to them or which way they ended up. I consider this a triumph on the author's part and it is ample evidence of her mastery over her craft. I often got the feeling while reading this book, that Tartt was striving to emulate Dickens' Copperfield and/or Twist because of the sprawling nature and some very memorable characters. Also, like Copperfield and Twist, this novel's protagonist - Theo Decker is also an orphan. Theo's very shady Ukrainian best friend Boris often reminded me of Dickens' Artful Dodger. The relationship dynamic between Theo and Pippa often reminded me of David and Agnes from Copperfield. Don’t be fooled by the superlative blurbs (like, “Thrilling”, “Exciting”, “A Page-turner”) appearing on the covers of the recent editions of the book. Make no mistake; this is as much a meditation on life, love, loss, friendship and the human condition as it is a so-called thriller. This gargantuan effort fetched Donna Tartt the Nobel Prize. I have no idea how this novel is going to be judged in 10, 20 years time or whether it will justify the Nobel committee's decision and confidence in this work. Some feted and decorated books quickly fall off the map whereas books that are ignored by critics go on to gain stellar reputations with the passage of time and tend to age a lot better than a lot of their contemporaries. As with everything else, only time will tell. Now a little about the actual physical book itself. I bought this edition for rupees 239 way back in October when Amazon had it on sale. A very good deal for a brand new book which was in reasonably good condition when it arrived at my doorstep. Alas, the storage, packaging and handling for books leaves a lot to be desired. The typeface is nice and crisp on this Little Brown edition and the ISBN number for the book I own is 9781408704950.

An explosive start launches us into the life of Theo Decker, with its remarkable twists & turns as he navigates between various surrogate homes and lifestyles. Intriguing characters & dynamics combine with fascinating insights into the world of art & antiques . Memorable settings, particularly the warm, golden glow of Hobie's workshop.

One of the best novels I've ever read. The story of Theo was so riveting and the book so unputdownable, it left me craving for more.