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Loading... Het puttertje (original 2013; edition 2013)by Donna Tartt, Sjaak De Jong (Translator), Arjaan Van Nimwegen (Translator), Paul Van der Lecq (Translator)
Work InformationThe Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (2013)
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Donna Tartt, a writer of prodigious talent, again takes a decade to write a novel north of six hundred pages; of course its ambitious. Opening with a scenario reminiscent of 9/11, its two main themes would seem to be the emotional damage inflicted on survivors (here, Theo, a boy of 13 at the time of the bombing) and the role of art, of beauty, in the world (here represented primarily in the painting The Goldfinch by Fabritius). Certainly Tartt develops these themes with great skill. Yet as a reader I feel some frustration from the fact that there is a third theme, that of the powerfully bonded adolescent friendship and its later evolution, that I wish had received more of Tartt's attention and development. Such was my mistaken first impression of the only friend I made when I was in Vegas, and - as it turned out - one of the great friends of my life.Boris is the Polish/Ukrainian son of a violently alcoholic single father. He and Theo, both emotionally damaged and largely on their own, survive together on the desert, and deserted, outskirts of Vegas, in a miasma of vodka, cocaine and scrounged/stolen food. Their relationship sometimes seems to spin outside the bounds of the merely platonic. When Theo's negligent father is killed, he runs away back to New York where he lived with his mother prior to the terrorist act that took her from him. He urges Boris to come with him, but this does not end up occurring. Their parting, though not likely intended to be by Tartt, strikes me as the emotional center of the novel, she writes it so powerfully. "But the guy said as long as the money in my fund was used for education - it could be anybody's education. Not just mine. There's more than enough for both of us. Though, I mean, public school, the public schools are good in New York, I know people there, public school's fine with me."It will be a decade until Boris comes back into the picture, apparently driven by a mixture of devotion and guilt that he feels towards Theo. By this time Boris is some sort of mid level gangster figure in the Russian underworld and he is eager to lead Theo on a sketchy quest towards what he believes will be a great reward. Theo, unhappily engaged to a beautiful but cold society girl and still dealing with personal demons, allows himself to be dragged along despite misgivings, and nearly to the doom he has been circling around since that day when he was 13 years old. This is a good book but it was such a chore to get through. I have no issues with a slow burn, but something about The Goldfinch failed to ever emotionally draw me in. The story was much more enjoyable for me than that of The Secret History and I really loved the first 1/4th of the book but after that, I lost motivation and eventually had to switch over to the audiobook to get through the rest. I admire Donna Tartt's writing and can understand why she is so well loved, I unfortunately just have yet to fall in love with any of her works. I still plan to go back and give The Secret History another try at some point in the future. I thought the beginning of this book when Theo was young was fabulous, but then the story bogged down and became somewhat unbelievable. Some paragraphs were so long and full of what seemed useless details that I started skipping bits, and it was hard for me to get a sense of some of the characters. Nevertheless, a mostly beautifully-written book and an interesting tale.
Good things are worth waiting for. . . a tour de force that will be among the best books of 2013. It’s my happy duty to tell you that in this case, all doubts and suspicions can be laid aside. “The Goldfinch” is a rarity that comes along perhaps half a dozen times per decade, a smartly written literary novel that connects with the heart as well as the mind. I read it with that mixture of terror and excitement I feel watching a pitcher carry a no-hitter into the late innings. You keep waiting for the wheels to fall off, but in the case of “The Goldfinch,” they never do. Book review in English 2 out of 5 Book review in English 5 out of 5 stars Has the adaptationAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
"The author of the classic bestsellers The Secret History and The Little Friend returns with a brilliant, highly anticipated new novel. A young boy in New York City, Theo Decker, miraculously survives an accident that takes the life of his mother. Alone and abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by a friend's family and struggles to make sense of his new life. In the years that follow, he becomes entranced by one of the few things that reminds him of his mother: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the art underworld. Composed with the skills of a master, The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America, and a drama of almost unbearable acuity and power. It is a story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the enormous power of art"-- No library descriptions found.
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Unfortunately I do not feel the same about the movie...but the book was well worth the 700 plus pages! ( )