Before I started reading Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize winning THE GOLDFINCH, I’d begun to hear some mixed-buzz whisperings about the novel. I tried to avoid discussions on the subject and turned my ear away from both negative rumblings and excessively high praise. I also made up my mind not to read any reviews until I finished the book. I didn’t want any seeds of doubt planted or to find myself distracted when coming face to face with certain flaws that might have been pointed out by a disenchanted reviewer. Nor did I want to be built up into expecting the best book ever written only to be let down. I did this for the most selfish of reasons…I wanted to love THE GOLDFINCH. It had been a 21 year wait since Donna Tartt’s first novel, THE SECRET HISTORY, for which I was a huge fan. And although there had been a second and extremely well written book published in between, I was not as taken with THE LITTLE FRIEND.
So I’m glad I read THE GOLDFINCH without any preconceived notions. After finishing the book, which I adored by the way, I then proceeded to read some of the reviews. It was interesting to see such a dramatic swing between those who loved and did not love this book. And as I write this musing, I’m finding it very difficult to predict on which side many of my fellow readers will fall.
In my humble opinion, for truly who am I to criticize Donna Tartt, the book would have been perfect had it been edited down by a hundred pages or so. That being said, the writing is so beautiful that I immersed myself in the sometimes overly long descriptions and only rarely found myself skimming. Of course, I’m also a writer and with every book I read I’m absorbing lessons as well as enjoying the telling of a story.
I will say nothing further about the book, but I do welcome others who have already read it to provide their reactions. And if you haven’t yet read it but plan to, I recommend you not let your opinion be tainted by the views and reviews of others. But come back later and let the rest of us know your thoughts.
Loretta, I can’t comment on the novel, but let me say what a great job you did managing the Food Bank fund raising gala. Having been responsible for many events like this myself in a past life, I know how stressful it can be and rewarding if it goes well. Congratulations on a successful fund raising event! We left early as it is lights out at 8:30 for my partner, however, I hope you were duly honored for your fine work.
Regarding one of your earlier musings, yesterday, Leslie and I went for a drive to Little Compton and found a wonderful beach called South Shore Beach. Here’s some information on it for those interested. The beach is pretty remote, but it’s a scenic drive. It should be outstanding in a few weeks when the leaves change color.
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/rhodeisland/placesweprotect/quicksand-pondgoosewing-beach-preserve.xml
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/travel/my-favorite-place-little-compton-ri.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Henry Kissinger has a new book out: World Order. Probably a timely read for those interested.
Thanks, again, for an outstanding job.
Dick
Thanks for your kind words, but I was only one of a committee who worked on the Uncorked! event. The co-chairs, Nicki and Tricia deserve a great deal of credit for working with the event venue and caterer. The were indefatigable! 🙂 Everyone pounded the pavement in search of auction items and helped promote the event. It was a real team effort. I am absolutely thrilled with how it turned out! The event was fabulous exposure for our cause and the response to the auction items, especially the mission auction, was beyond what we could have hoped for.
I will have to check on your little beach find…it sounds as if it’s awfully close to Goosewing Beach where Geoff and I volunteer for the Nature Conservancy.
Thanks for offering your comments to the website. I am waiting for some photos of the event to post as well. I’m so glad you and everyone else had such a great time!
Thanks for renewing my interest in the Goldfinch, Loretta. I haven’t read any of Donna’s previous books, but I did read a lot of the reviews and figured, even with the criticisms, she must be a pretty darn good writer. I downloaded a sample of the Goldfinch on my Kindle a few months ago and, like you, truly marveled at Tartt’s artistic command of language–since mine is nowhere near hers, I’ll just say she writes really, really well. Having said that, I moved on to other books and didn’t finish reading this one, but now with your recommendation, I will go back and give it another try.
One of my current distractions is Louise Penny whom I am amazed I wasn’t already familiar with since her TENTH book in the Inspector Gamache series (The Long Way Home) is currently on the NY Times best seller list. My friend Fran recommended them, so in anticipation of liking this author, I went back to the beginning and read Still Life, which is the first in this series. What a wonderful little mystery! Great setting, enjoyable characters (good and bad) and a clever plot. For all you mystery fans who may have been as clueless as I was about this author, please try one of her books.
My current distraction, however, is Station Eleven by Emily Mandel, a native of Canada who in her website photo looks about sixteen, but she’s married, so I assume she’s actually older. Anyway, a very strange but so far wonderful novel about both the beforemath and aftermath of a cataclysmic virus that wipes out 99.9% of the world’s population in a matter of days. This is not your typical dystopian, apocalyptic novel. In fact, one of the main characters travels around Lake Michigan performing Shakespeare plays for the few clumps of survivors in the area. Both a can’t-put-this-down story AND great writing, so although I haven’t finished this yet, I highly recommend giving it a try.
I have a few other books in my queue (including the next Inspector Gamache mystery), but I’ll report in when I’ve actually read them.
Dick, I agree that the Kissinger book also sounds very interesting–I heard him being interviewed on NPR the other day, and he certainly hasn’t lost any of his smarts or nuanced knowledge of world affairs.
Keep up the reviews, Loretta–I love getting good reading suggestions!
Cia
Thank YOU for the book suggestions. I will add the Louise Penny series to my list of must reads as well as Station Eleven which sounds just quirky enough for my tastes! Since you haven’t read THE SECRET HISTORY I’d definitely suggest you put that on your list as well as THE GOLDFINCH, though I can’t decide which you should read first…I’ll leave that to you! It’s always a pleasure to read your comments, Cia. Come back often!
I have not read the gold finch, I toyed with the idea but had too many people tell me they didn’t like it. Instead I just finished the circle a dreadful poorly written book that was definitely 100 pages too long. It ‘s about what would happen or what is happening as we become more transparent in this tech culture. The guy that wrote it was supposed to speak at Roger Williams this fall but he bowed out. An outstanding, darkly disturbing book that I reccommend is the dinner by herman koch I’ve read it twice I don’t think I ever read a book twice except for that godforsaken Moby Dick and then under duress and my attempt to impress Doke Jarbeau when we were dating
Great comment, Lala, though I have to disagree with you about The Dinner…once was more than enough for me. Although, I can see why you might want to go back and look for clues. Yes, it was darkly disturbing and the ending takes you completely by surprise. How was Elizabeth George’s newest? I just bought the Sophie Hannah Hercule Poirot novel…she’s been given the honor of reviving Agatha Christie’s most beloved character. I think it’s a great fit and will pass it on when I’m done. Thanks!
It’s great to read the book recommendations. The WSJ has book reviews in their weekend edition and they gave high marks to the Kissinger book. He was speaker at a business conference I attended many decades ago and very impressive so I have that on my buy list. On another note, just finished Gone Girl and wouldn’t recommend it. Despicable characters and a totally unbelievable ending, don’t waste your time.
So good to see your comments, Bonnie! I agree with you on GONE GIRL…not a sympathetic character in the story and a completely unsatisfactory ending. That being said, it was a clever premise and a compelling read…I did have to finish it to see what would happen. And I did like Gillian Flynn’s first book SHARP OBJECTS. Let me know how you like the Kissinger book. Thanks for stopping by the site.