I have finished The Goldfinch of Donna
Tartt two days ago. I am usually a slow reader, maybe because I read difficult
books, rarely novels. I get my brain rest watching feel good repeats on
television. Books are meant to teach me something. Lately, I have been making
some exceptions though, reading Knausgaard’s My Struggle and more. At the
moment I have more books on the go than usually, this is because there were so
many temptations in Polish bookstores to which I have succumbed and my reading
backlog, as the result, is very impressive. Or overwhelming, if you like. The
Goldfinch made me put all the other books aside and I finished it in a record
time six or seven days. The book has over 800 pages. Big part of my days and
sometimes nights was dedicated to reading. I was totally immersed in the book.
Nice feeling, really. I experienced it often in my young years so I felt
rejuvenated in spirit.
Various people classify the book as a
bildungsroman, a type of novel concerned with development and maturing of a
person. This is a story about Theo who is thirteen years old when the story
starts with a very dramatic event of explosion in the Metropolitan Museum . He
is in the museum with his mother when the tragedy strikes. His mother is killed
in the explosion and the boy escapes from the place with his life, a ring and
the small painting of the goldfinch painted by Fabritius in 1654. I do
not intend to write about the story, just my major impressions and observations
resulting from reading the book.
I must have seen the painting a long
time ago, maybe even twice as I have been twice in the gallery of Mauritshuis
in the Hage. That’s where the painting is on display. Mauritshuis is my most
favourite gallery in the world. Of course, I have seen rather limited number of
galleries, but this one is to me very special. Maybe because I like the Dutch
paintings or maybe because it is not too big and one can enjoy the paintings
without being overwhelmed.
I must confess that there were
other paintings in the Maurithuis that made bigger impression on me than The
Goldfinch. I can hardly remember the little painting of the little bird
from those times, but there is a vague recollection in me.
The story is gripping and
this is one of the reasons why it reads so well and captures one’s attention.
For me it was much more, though. I have been always pondering over questions:
“how to live Prime minister?” or “what it is all about?”. Maybe the book has
not given me definite answers but it gave me some pointers. Or maybe it was me
who came to my own conclusions? I feel, however, that improved clarity of
thought was inspired by the book. This is, I think, one of the
many strength of the book. It triggers off readers’ reflection over their own
lives.
The book is concerned
with love of beauty and particularly with preservation of antique objects or
even only their fragments. Antiques have been my interest since many years, so
I responded to the book in a particular way. There were times when I thought
that I pay too much attention to objects, to “stuff” as I sometimes
dismissively called my treasures. The book made me think of attachment to
possessions as more noble than I saw it before. I look at it now as a love of
beauty rather than possessiveness. Nice feeling.
Friendship, one of my
core values, is a very strong part of the book. The friendship that is
accepting, understanding, accepting without understanding, blind because it is
based on trust that underlines the relationship. Friendship I would
like to experience but I am not sure if I could master that much trust as Theo
has for Boris. I find Boris’ character absolutely fascinating. He is Russian
who is thrown into various countries and he assimilates well there. However, to
me deep down he is Russian, he has Russian soul and Russian complexities of the
character. It is very difficult to understand the Russia n soul. Donna Tartt does. This is
colourful and fascinating part of the book.
That was a nice review, AC. Happy birthday, first, for today. I know that name days are more important in Poland, but birthdays should still be remembered!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your description of the book and will try to buy it. I am fairly deeply embedded at the moment in the relationships between art, culture and life, if from a predominantly Australian perspective. I wonder if we over-complicate things? Prejudiced, I would argue that is a very slavic trait.
One should, I would argue, be able to take pleasure in in beauty and also familiarity without hanging too many things on top.
Thank you, Jim, frankly I thought that it was forgotten.
DeleteI like looking deeper into things, you are perhaps right that it may be slavic and this is what I am after all so things are as they should be with me. (lol)
You have convinced me to buy it. Quite when I will get around to reading it however will be left to Ganesha! Great review is what convinced me.
ReplyDeleteI am taking big responsibility for you potentially wasting your time, but I think that the book is special and hope you will like it when Ganesha permits. Maybe as Jim thinks I over complicated some issues but if one does not look deeper, in this particular case, reading it only as a story may be a waste of time.
Delete