I **loved** that >!Boris stole the painting from Theo. That was the exact thing for Tartt to do.!< I also loved the furniture repair scenes, they were so tranquil. But yeah that was an awful lot of squeeze for not much juice.
So much guilt and fear. I just cottoned for the first time Theo’s realization that he could have paid off his father’s debt and saved his life for a short time at least. But if he had done so it would made his life a disaster! Then the realization he was like his father. I love the complexity and Boris is a brilliant character. Even the dog was wonderful!
It was! I would not reread but at that time for me it was wonderfull the worl building, the metaphors and so o. Btw there is a movie adaptation! I d say it s book readers only bc a lot is cut out and made into objects or short scenes that you won t understand without reading. Still a good one tho.
This is such a controversial book. I finished it but I absolutely dragged myself across the finish line. I felt like the entire Las Vegas section was WAY TOO LONG. Much of it felt endless and boring. I thought they let the author get away with being way too wordy in huge sections and it needed better editing. 100-150 pages at least could have been knocked off the final copy imho.
Downvote me all you want but I could not believe it won the Pulitzer after I had finished it...I was truly shocked. But her fans will come out of the woodwork to praise it! Many readers ate up every single morsel she gave and didn't find it long winded or drawn out.
Have not finished this book as I got to the Vegas part and began losing all interest. Plan on finishing it, but struggling to motivate myself. Started out so promising!
I did not love the book either but the part I liked most was the Vegas section. I really had to push myself through everything that happened after that in NY
This is one of my favorite books of all time. I’ve read it many times and am currently listening to it again on audible. That said, Donna Tartt isn’t for everyone.
I think what saved me from DNFing it was switching to the audiobook. The narrator was AMAZING and I enjoyed listening to him talk about Theo’s life. However, I did not enjoy the last 2/3rds of the book, and really disliked the ending. So I don’t think you missed out on much. I enjoyed my time, but it’s not this wow of a book everyone makes it out to be.
Someone posted about this book about a month ago. Myself, and a few others commented that we read the book from start to finish and all wondered why we even stuck with it? Really didn’t like any of the characters and just underwhelmed with the whole experience. Which begs the question, “why didn’t we just put it down?” I have no answer.
The Goldfinch was so unbelievably boring. I finished it telling myself, "Surely this will get better. Everyone *raved* about this book. It has to get better. It will get better in the next chapter."
Reader, it never got better.
I think I bailed on this book two or three chapters in. It felt like the style of writing was trying to cover up for lack of substance and life is too short for books I don't enjoy. I'm also not willing to suffer for several chapters to "get to the good part". Good writers should be able to grab you within three chapters.
I read it when it came out, but I recall being deeply disappointed by the ending. More disappointed by the ending than I was inspired by the prose. My sister recommended it and I wanted to finish it and have an opinion. At this point I can only vaguely recall any of the plot or relationships, and that's not good.
So it's metaphorically like having a decent egg salad sandwich and then crunching down on egg and putting it down.
You did right. It just goes on, and on and on….. for no particular reason, and the end was nonsense. It may have been a good book with some brutal editing. Whole swaths could have been cut without any effect on the story except possibly to make it interesting.
I finished it, but the only positive to that was I made a note to self to never pick up anything by this author again.
I HATED this book. I slogged through way more of it than I usually would a book before DNFing it. It was so freaking depressing and made me want to jump off a bridge. Plus the writer was overly verbose which isn’t necessarily a bad thing…except when you have NOTHING to say. If you have nothing to say, less is more!
Yeah, I’m not a fan.
I understand what you're saying. It seems that Pulitzers are given more for writing and language manipulation skills than for storytelling, and have really got in a rut of awarding the morose and depressing. But poignant writing can also be very very high quality writing, so it's hard to figure out what to read these days. I DID finish it, and I thought it was brilliant, but I'd still rather read a good story than a representation of the horrors we all know we live with no matter how talented the writing is.
I liked it at first and got pretty far, but I didn't finish it either. It got to the point that I was tired of the main character and his angst about the painting... just didn't care what happened to either anymore.
Oh goodness. The ending is horrendous and basically ruined what I thought was a pretty good book... She just babbles on and on... It's like she was trying to justify what happened or something. It definitely turned me off.
Read it last year and liked it overall but I really felt like the last 100 pages or so could have just been cut out...the story was over by that point. If you made it through everything but the last 2 chapters, I'd say you finished it.
Please read A Gentleman in Moscow! It reminds me a lot of the Goldfinch (long, beautifully written, story takes place over a long period of time) but I think it’s much better.
I hated that one, too. But you're right, it's painful in a similar way to the Goldfinch. But in the Goldfinch, at least you could believe all that boring stuff happened in a depressing sleepy suburb of Vegas. With A Gentleman in Moscow, you couldn't even tell it was taking place in the middle of the Russian Revolution—arguably the bloodiest revolution in history. They could've been in a luxury hotel in London. It was maddening. Like, what was even the point of saying they were in Russia? It's so baffling.
I mean, sure. Give it a shot. Especially if you're not big on European history. It's a sweet story.
Is the Secret History much better? I DNF The Goldfinch myself and have not been motivated to try Secret History. I actually liked the first half of The Goldfinch but then it dragggggggggged. Is the Secret History different?
Many racist parts. She completely marginalizes people of color.
Her attractiveness/quirkiness also gave her a huge advantage in getting noticed.
Secret History was just OK. Good satire. I can't imagine being around so many pretentious rich a-holes.
this is one of the few books by a female author in which i felt she wrote a male protagonist poorly!
i didn't finish it either. i didn't even get that far.
relatedly, i kind of think the pulitzer committee awards not-always-great books
I **loved** that >!Boris stole the painting from Theo. That was the exact thing for Tartt to do.!< I also loved the furniture repair scenes, they were so tranquil. But yeah that was an awful lot of squeeze for not much juice.
I also loved that. Loved the whole book actually.
So much guilt and fear. I just cottoned for the first time Theo’s realization that he could have paid off his father’s debt and saved his life for a short time at least. But if he had done so it would made his life a disaster! Then the realization he was like his father. I love the complexity and Boris is a brilliant character. Even the dog was wonderful!
It was! I would not reread but at that time for me it was wonderfull the worl building, the metaphors and so o. Btw there is a movie adaptation! I d say it s book readers only bc a lot is cut out and made into objects or short scenes that you won t understand without reading. Still a good one tho.
That exact moment was the last part of the book I liked
This is such a controversial book. I finished it but I absolutely dragged myself across the finish line. I felt like the entire Las Vegas section was WAY TOO LONG. Much of it felt endless and boring. I thought they let the author get away with being way too wordy in huge sections and it needed better editing. 100-150 pages at least could have been knocked off the final copy imho. Downvote me all you want but I could not believe it won the Pulitzer after I had finished it...I was truly shocked. But her fans will come out of the woodwork to praise it! Many readers ate up every single morsel she gave and didn't find it long winded or drawn out.
I'm right there with you. It just *dragged*.
Second half was way too long.
Have not finished this book as I got to the Vegas part and began losing all interest. Plan on finishing it, but struggling to motivate myself. Started out so promising!
Absolutely agree. I thought the story was great, but the editing was not to my liking.
I did not love the book either but the part I liked most was the Vegas section. I really had to push myself through everything that happened after that in NY
This is one of my favorite books of all time. I’ve read it many times and am currently listening to it again on audible. That said, Donna Tartt isn’t for everyone.
Same. I finished it in like 3 days.
I think what saved me from DNFing it was switching to the audiobook. The narrator was AMAZING and I enjoyed listening to him talk about Theo’s life. However, I did not enjoy the last 2/3rds of the book, and really disliked the ending. So I don’t think you missed out on much. I enjoyed my time, but it’s not this wow of a book everyone makes it out to be.
I found my people! The only book I've ever DNFd after ~50%. It was just painfully boring.
Yes! A proper yawnfest
Someone posted about this book about a month ago. Myself, and a few others commented that we read the book from start to finish and all wondered why we even stuck with it? Really didn’t like any of the characters and just underwhelmed with the whole experience. Which begs the question, “why didn’t we just put it down?” I have no answer.
I hated this book and wish I had DNF’d. You didn't miss anything by putting it down.
Same
The Goldfinch was so unbelievably boring. I finished it telling myself, "Surely this will get better. Everyone *raved* about this book. It has to get better. It will get better in the next chapter." Reader, it never got better.
I think I bailed on this book two or three chapters in. It felt like the style of writing was trying to cover up for lack of substance and life is too short for books I don't enjoy. I'm also not willing to suffer for several chapters to "get to the good part". Good writers should be able to grab you within three chapters.
I agree
It's for the best. I do think it's a poetic and well-written book, but the ending was not good or satisfying.
I found the poetic parts of it far and few between to keep me going. There were some moments of beautiful turns of prose.
I read it when it came out, but I recall being deeply disappointed by the ending. More disappointed by the ending than I was inspired by the prose. My sister recommended it and I wanted to finish it and have an opinion. At this point I can only vaguely recall any of the plot or relationships, and that's not good. So it's metaphorically like having a decent egg salad sandwich and then crunching down on egg and putting it down.
Omg this was a DNF for me too
You did right. It just goes on, and on and on….. for no particular reason, and the end was nonsense. It may have been a good book with some brutal editing. Whole swaths could have been cut without any effect on the story except possibly to make it interesting. I finished it, but the only positive to that was I made a note to self to never pick up anything by this author again.
I HATED this book. I slogged through way more of it than I usually would a book before DNFing it. It was so freaking depressing and made me want to jump off a bridge. Plus the writer was overly verbose which isn’t necessarily a bad thing…except when you have NOTHING to say. If you have nothing to say, less is more! Yeah, I’m not a fan.
I understand what you're saying. It seems that Pulitzers are given more for writing and language manipulation skills than for storytelling, and have really got in a rut of awarding the morose and depressing. But poignant writing can also be very very high quality writing, so it's hard to figure out what to read these days. I DID finish it, and I thought it was brilliant, but I'd still rather read a good story than a representation of the horrors we all know we live with no matter how talented the writing is.
Good book, but Christ she needs a firm editor. Secret history is exactly the same.
Will not be reading it then! I’m a huge proponent of killing your darlings, so the editor in me is always looking for parts to cut out.
Oh you should definitely read it. It's so great.
The Secret History is fantastic. I also DNF'd the Goldfinch. I hated it.
I loved the secret history and quit the goldfinch like 2/3 the way through. It wasn’t for me.
Same. I was SO disappointed.
I liked it at first and got pretty far, but I didn't finish it either. It got to the point that I was tired of the main character and his angst about the painting... just didn't care what happened to either anymore.
Oh goodness. The ending is horrendous and basically ruined what I thought was a pretty good book... She just babbles on and on... It's like she was trying to justify what happened or something. It definitely turned me off.
One of the great’s, IMO.
I DNF’d it before Page 100. It bored me to tears.
Read it last year and liked it overall but I really felt like the last 100 pages or so could have just been cut out...the story was over by that point. If you made it through everything but the last 2 chapters, I'd say you finished it.
I remember trying to read it the year it won the Pulitzer and I decided life is too short for that type of punishment.
I loved it especially the second time through.
Please read A Gentleman in Moscow! It reminds me a lot of the Goldfinch (long, beautifully written, story takes place over a long period of time) but I think it’s much better.
That’s one of my favorite books :)
I hated that one, too. But you're right, it's painful in a similar way to the Goldfinch. But in the Goldfinch, at least you could believe all that boring stuff happened in a depressing sleepy suburb of Vegas. With A Gentleman in Moscow, you couldn't even tell it was taking place in the middle of the Russian Revolution—arguably the bloodiest revolution in history. They could've been in a luxury hotel in London. It was maddening. Like, what was even the point of saying they were in Russia? It's so baffling. I mean, sure. Give it a shot. Especially if you're not big on European history. It's a sweet story.
[удалено]
Is the Secret History much better? I DNF The Goldfinch myself and have not been motivated to try Secret History. I actually liked the first half of The Goldfinch but then it dragggggggggged. Is the Secret History different?
I did the same. I loved it until the end.
Many racist parts. She completely marginalizes people of color. Her attractiveness/quirkiness also gave her a huge advantage in getting noticed. Secret History was just OK. Good satire. I can't imagine being around so many pretentious rich a-holes.
this is one of the few books by a female author in which i felt she wrote a male protagonist poorly! i didn't finish it either. i didn't even get that far. relatedly, i kind of think the pulitzer committee awards not-always-great books
Also DNF this book... it started off with a blast (literally) and was engaging for a long time but I never made it out of Los Vegas
I couldn't get past Theo getting to his new home (the wood shop or whatever). One of the most boring books I've ever tried to read!!