Pulitzer Prize winner

The Goldfinch

by Donna Tartt

/ Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐ /

The Goldfinch is my favorite kind of book: a big, juicy read that goes on for hundreds of pages. I love to immerse myself in a character's story, his internal struggles, what makes him tick. 

The long review that follows only touches the surface of the rich, detailed story. Other readers have complained that they couldn't get through the 700-plus pages; I on the other hand read the book twice.

And boy does Theo Decker have struggles. At the tender age of thirteen, Theo finds himself in minor trouble. He and a friend were misbehaving in school, and Theo and his mother were summoned to the Headmaster's office. They have some time to kill, so they duck into MOMA. A terrorist bomb explodes in this hallowed space and Theo's mother is killed. During the panic and confusion, Theo steals a priceless painting, presumably because his mother commented on it. The Goldfinch depicts a tiny bird chained to its perch. The painting becomes the driving force of Theo's life.

Theo is adrift. He finds his way to the tony apartment of his casual friend. Theo is miserable, blaming himself for his mother's death. His deadbeat dad appears and whisks him off to Las Vegas. Theo goes from miserable to lonely and miserable. He makes a new friend, Boris Pavlikovsky.

Boris is the person parents think of when they say "a bad influence." The two boys become involved in petty theft and serious drug use. The semi-deserted subdivision of Las Vegas becomes a metaphor for the sadness, loneliness, and devastation Theo feels.

After skipping ahead eight years, the rest of the book chronicles the next few years of Theo's life. He spends much time at the antique furniture business of a man he encountered at MOMA. He is shown incredible kindness by the surviving art dealer, Hobie, and eventually becomes a partner in the business. Boris turns up again years later with devastating news. The two young men embark on a desperate quest to regain something that had been lost.

It didn’t occur to me then, though it certainly does now, that it was years since I’d roused myself from my stupor of misery and self-absorption; between anomie and trance, inertia and parenthesis and gnawing my own heart out, there were a lot of small, easy, everyday kindnesses I’d missed out on.

Theo has been stealing from Hobie's customers by selling them faked antiques. Hobie find out and is bereft. Theo has completely wrecked the one good thing that remains in his life. Meanwhile, Theo returns The Goldfinch and collects the sizeable reward. He then uses the reward to make the defrauded customers whole.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes long, detailed character studies. I rated this book four out of five stars. It loses a star because it drags in some parts.