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The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt Book and Movie Review 🖼️

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt Book Review

Summary :

I’m gonna preface this by saying I will read anything Donna Tartt writes and love it and this book is an understatement to that and is a showcase of her more than talented writing skills and beautiful prose in this story. The Goldfinch tells the story of Theodore Decker and how his life is changed after he is a victim of a terrorist attack that leaves him in the possession of a very valuable painting, Fabritius’ “The Goldfinch” and how the knowledge of owning this very valuable painting weighs on his conscious into adulthood. This huge (literally and figuratively) coming of age novel navigates topics that people search their whole lives to understand, such as love, life, and death, and Tartt’s ability to write about these topics from the perspective of her male characters is thought provoking, dramatic, and more often that not unpredictable.

Spoilers*** I think that Theo’s development from his teenage to adult years going through multiple tragedies was interesting to see as he constantly grieves his mother, finds no love with his father, and his own found family with Hobie, Boris, the Barbours, etc. which makes him beg the question of fate, and how it has a hand in our lives. Grief is seemingly the biggest thing Theo is consistently struggling with, and the last pages of the whole book are what got me the most, when Theo finally comes to a resolution with what the painting means to him and how he interprets (to put it literally SO SIMPLY) the meaning of life in relation to Death with one of my favorite quotes being, “And in the midst of our dying, as we rise from the organic and sink back ignominiously into the organic, it is a glory and privilege to love what Death doesn’t touch” (p. 771).

The Goldfinch (2019) Movie Review

*Spoilers and minor criticism

Despite the novel being nothing short of a masterpiece, sometimes a lon-gterm story cannot be delivered satisfactorily into a tw- hour film. I loved the movie and personally think the casting is amazing, and Ansel Elgort as Theo was very talented, but it is ALL IN THE PACING!! which I believe was the most contributing problem. I think they should have focused more on Theo’s relationship with his mom prior to the explosion, the negative one with his dad, and absolutely should’ve shown how Hobart and Blackwell was struggling, then leading to Theo bargaining and eventually “scamming” customers. Kitsey is also unbearable in the movie compared to the book but. In short, more focus on a few plotlines as opposed to little bits of every plotline would’ve been preferable. The soundtrack and visual aesthetics were very beautiful, and the portrayal of Theo and Boris’ relationship was better than I could imagine it being in the movie. Besides the general criticisms, this movie is not BAD okay.

OVERALL 7.5/10.

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babel by r.f. kuang book review (for fun)

babel, or the necessity of violence by r.f. kuang book review 🪙

rating: 8.5/10

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this is the first time i’ve read one of kuang’s works and for some reason i feel like this is her best one (I AM BIASED). this book kind of has a reputation for unwarranted reviews criticizing implications of self inserted “tangents” that are against white people but if you’re not utterly DUMB and look beyond that, i believe this book was able to unfold the realization of what it means to have to go against something that has treated you well because of what it stands for, and when to apply violence to achieve what you want, to put it in short. i enjoyed the perspectives of minorities in higher education (also in a white dominated society), and robin’s relationships with his cohort were also very special and made me very happy whilst being the highlights of the story (robin and ramy’s relationship is untouchable and so special, inarguable). *also the chapter ramy’s interlude is a COMPLETE masterpiece and the best chapter in the whole book, sue me. overall, as a rather fantasy repelled reader, I’m glad I read this book, that was definitely supported by magic nonetheless, and would give this an 8.5 out of 10.

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points off because i personally don’t like footnotes when i read and there was a ton lol and kuang’s writing is very advanced and as a kind of rusty reader it was a little hard to digest some of the tangents robin’s inner monologue would go into, but overall a great book and a great ending i loved.