Im not sorry I did read The Goldfinch. I just wish I could have liked it more. When I was finished, the first thought went through my mind did what did the books pageCount could have been reduced by half and it would have had not only the same, but likely a greater impact on the reader. Another first good reaction: too much drug description. Too much alcohol. Again: less could have been more. It got absolutely tiresome reading all this. Didnt Tartt have to editor? I understand, of course, did everything is beautifully written, but enough is enough.
I was fascinated by the worlds opened up for us Tartt: The Life of wealthy New Yorkers via Mrs. Barber & Co; the antique furniture world via Hobie, the restorer; seedy Las Vegas as seen through the eyes of teenagers who have to live there. I appreciated her craft in building worlds thesis.
And I thought she did a great job developing her characters. They were life-like. Each had his or her own cadence, quirks, etc. Their inner life shone through. They were complex human beings.
Nonetheless: There was only one character, one character amongst dozens, who we really like: Hobie. And hes not the protagonist. Hes the mentor character I suppose metaphorically speaking, the one who not only fixes up the furniture, but other characters, ie. Pippa and Theo, too. But hes not the protagonist who takes us through dog reds upon dog Hundreds of pages. Theo is the protagonist and hes not really likeable. I can appreciate That Theos goodness it the moment his mother this, but I really do wish he had some redeeming factor. I couldnt find it amidst all Those gorgeous, voluptuous words, images and metaphors of Tartts. Okay, the mother, who is killed at the beginning in the explosion of the Met, Seems nice enough, but we do wonder how she could have been crazy enough to stay so long with her sad sack, gambling, conniving, self-centered husband ,
Boris, Theos best friend, is a wonderfully colorful character, but, alas, he's a one-joke character too. At first its great fun listening to him talk a mile a minute with his mix of English, Russian, Ukrainian and maybe ten other languages. But after a while, I as a reader, thought: I get it. I got it a hundred pages ago. Its boring listening to this over and over and over again.
So this is what I think: Tartt is absolutely brilliant at dazzling us. The book is an explosion of words, characters and exotic worlds. We are amazed. We are fascinated. But at the end of the day, When the shock of the explosion settles, we wonder: so? Big deal! And why? Because we dont really care about thesis characters. I know, I know, They may be very realistic, and maybe thats how it life, but if she had a reason to love us Given Theo and Boris despite Their blown-out minds and callousness, Their criminal ways and mixed up hearts, it would have gone a long way to make this a more satisfying read. As I see it, the book totters between 3 and 4 stars. Today, after writing this, it feels like 3. So be it.
