Donna Tartt ~~ The Goldfinch

The verdict of group was brilliant, enjoyable and a roller-coaster of a reading ride. The 2 central characters (Theo and Pippa) were like the goldfinch in the painting ….beautiful and, however much they struggle, chained. There was praise for the dystopian settings, especially Las Vegas, the enterprise and self-medication of Theo, the riotous behaviour of Boris and the lovable dog Popchyk. There was interest in Hobie, living in a subterranean world, lovingly repairing old furniture but unable to fix the children, in the sudden deaths and their finality and whether Tartt was saying something about modernity and the aesthetic. Aside from Hobie and Mrs Barbour, this is a world in which most of the adults are AWOL and the kids look after themselves. There were different views on length (some thinking it could be cut by 200 pages and others that it was part of the structure ….the pace would slow and then you were abruptly off for something completely different), the ease of the resolution, the maturity of the 13 year old. Thought who had read it on kindle thought this a mistake as they would have like to have flipped back more. There was unanimity that Donna Tartt is a great writer and hope that we do not have to wait another 10 years for her next book.

Such a hit with the group….with scores ranging from 8 to 10 with an average of 9.1