Collaboreads: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

The Goldfinch

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I'm so excited to be joining in on the first #Collaboreads link-up  Created by Amber and Rachel as "the best and simplest book link-up in the land."  It brings together reviews of so many different books by providing a broad guideline and allowing people to pick their own book.  You can find more about Collaboreads here.  This month's criteria was: on the NYT Best Sellers List when you started reading it.  Over the past month, I've been reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.  The beautifully written book has been on the Paperback Trade Fiction List for 11 weeks now. 

On the NYT Best-sellers List when you start reading it. - See more at: http://www.mrthomasandme.com/search/label/collaboreads#sthash.xuqqVcss.dpuf

1. We will pick a random criteria for your book. It'll look something like: published the year you were born or mentions a city in your state or historical fiction about an era you really don't know. 
2. You find your book. (It's probably a good -or even great- idea to get a library card!) 
3. Read. -You'll have a month. 
4. At the end of the month we'll review(ish) our books. Rachel and I will both have places for you to share your links in our posts. 
5. Repeat steps 1 - 4. 

- See more at: http://www.mrthomasandme.com/2015/05/collaboreads-book-lovers-link-up.html#sthash.mx0KKuvh.dpuf

Meet #Collaboreads: a book lover's link-up. 

We introduce you to (what we believe) is the best and simplest book link-up in the land. It works like this: 

1. We will pick a random criteria for your book. It'll look something like: published the year you were born or mentions a city in your state or historical fiction about an era you really don't know. 
2. You find your book. (It's probably a good -or even great- idea to get a library card!) 
3. Read. -You'll have a month. 
4. At the end of the month we'll review(ish) our books. Rachel and I will both have places for you to share your links in our posts. 
5. Repeat steps 1 - 4. 

- See more at: http://www.mrthomasandme.com/2015/05/collaboreads-book-lovers-link-up.html#sthash.mx0KKuvh.dpuf

Riveting

The book started with a 20-something Theo held up in a hotel room in Amsterdam after committing, what you can only assume is, a rather large crime and then goes back to the bombing of a the Metropolitan Museum of Art which tied Theo to this painting and shapes his life with the death of his mother.  I was pulled in from the start.  For much different reasons, I found the end of the book to be just as riveting.  By the end of the story, you cannot help but feel as though you are invested in Theo and want something to work out for him.

The best description I have seen of The Goldfinch is several novels within one very long book.  At 771 pages, the book has been noted for being rather wordy.  It is wordy, but not dense.  Donna Tartt does a lovely job of tying these shorter novels of Theo's life together to show the impact that this painting the events that happened in the museum had on his life.  The Goldfinch does have a fewer slower parts following Theo's time with his father in the outskirts of Las Vegas and his time as a 20-something antiques dealer in New York, but I think the slowness works here.  With so many details, and the troubles Theo was constantly finding,  I found even the slow parts of The Goldfinch to be intriguing.

Elements

Theo's misfortune, which was a mixture of the hand he was dealt and his less than perfect decision making, could be heartbreaking at times and spoke to deeper themes of fate and loss in the book, but you couldn't help but care for him through all of his tragedies as a teenager.  The story isn't as tragic as I'm probably making it out to be; the details of famous paintings and antiques were beautifully portrayed by Theo and the relationships he develops through tragic events are very uplifting.

Associate.

I can't think of any books that combine as many elements as The Goldfinch, but the hopeful tone coming out of family tragedy reminded me of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, one of my favorite books.

Design

Not going to lie, I listened to this as an audiobook (which I really recommend for the voices of all the supporting characters, especially Boris) so it wasn't as much the book cover that drew me in.  However, the cover of the book is beautiful.   It's the face of Carel Fabritius' goldfinch poking out of white packaging.  The packaging covers the gold chain, holding the finch to its' perch, showing only the bird. 

Stars 

I'd give this book 5 out of 5 stars and I would absolutely recommend The Goldfinch to a friend.  I would highly recommend the audiobook if you have 32 hours you are looking to fill (you can always speed it up).  The voices of the supporting characters constantly made me smile.