Donna Tartt
The Goldfinch
It is Donna Tartt's third novel, published in September 2013. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2014. The key event of the novel is the terrorist attack at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in which Theodore Decker's mother is killed and he, while escaping, accidentally takes Karel Fabricius's painting "The Goldfinch".
Plot:
The Goldfinch is told in a flashback, first-person narrative by Theodore "Theo" Decker. Thirteen-year-old Theo's life is turned upside down when he and his mother visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see an exhibition of Dutch masterpieces, including her favorite painting, The Goldfinch by Carel Fabricius. A bomb explodes in the museum, killing his mother and several other visitors.
Among the ruins, Theo meets an old man who, before dying, gives him a ring and conveys a cryptic message. Believing the man is pointing to the Goldfinch, Theo takes him in during a stampede. He fulfills the old man's last wishes and returns the ring to his business partner James "Hobie" Hobart, who runs an antique store.
Theo's life collapses when his unlucky father arrives with his new girlfriend and takes him to Las Vegas, and the main character does not forget to pick up the painting.
Theo's life collapses when his unlucky father arrives with his new girlfriend and takes him to Las Vegas, and the main character does not forget to pick up the painting.
Topic & issues:
1. Class and Money
2. Education (education can also be a dark and corrupting force)
3. Obsession with beauty, art and status
4. Friendship
5. Death
6. Desires
7. Hypocrisy
Characters:
1. Theodore "Theo" Decker
Peculiarities of text composition & genre features:
Reminiscences are very common in the novel - the character continually returns to the events of his past, which creates a multi-layered narrative. In addition, the beginning and end have a symmetrical shape - the novel begins and ends with the main character's dream. Thus, as the novel progresses, there are frequent repetitions.
The novel begins in a hotel in Amsterdam with a description of Theo's dream in which he sees his dead mother for the first time in a long time. Next, he goes deep into the history of the past at the time when he was thirteen years old, describing the events that led him to this place. He continually returns forward in time or vice versa back, leading the narrative of the entire book. Thus, the novel describes Theo Decker's life journey from his adolescence to adulthood.
The novel's narration is in the first person. Therefore, we learn the whole story through the subjective view of Theo Decker. In this book, one can also assume the presence of an unreliable narrator.
Reminiscences are very common in the novel - the character continually returns to the events of his past, which creates a multi-layered narrative. In addition, the beginning and end have a symmetrical shape - the novel begins and ends with the main character's dream. Thus, as the novel progresses, there are frequent repetitions.
The novel begins in a hotel in Amsterdam with a description of Theo's dream in which he sees his dead mother for the first time in a long time. Next, he goes deep into the history of the past at the time when he was thirteen years old, describing the events that led him to this place. He continually returns forward in time or vice versa back, leading the narrative of the entire book. Thus, the novel describes Theo Decker's life journey from his adolescence to adulthood.
The novel's narration is in the first person. Therefore, we learn the whole story through the subjective view of Theo Decker. In this book, one can also assume the presence of an unreliable narrator.
Genre features & Extra:
The novel can be seen as a coming-of-age novel, as Theo goes through several trials and undergoes a moral transformation along his life's journey. The novel is not a detective story in its genre. But it has some genre features. For example, how the author keeps us in suspense in many episodes of the book. The fact is that the book begins with a description of the hero's imprisonment in a hotel, who is obviously hiding as a criminal, because of which, of course, we can interpret the story as a detective story. Afterwards we learn about the accidentally stolen painting and experience constant anxiety, like Theo, due to the fear of exposure. Then the hero commits criminal activities more than once: he sells fake antiques and becomes an accomplice with his friend Boris.
You can see how from novel to novel Donna Tartt's position becomes more and more optimistic. And it is in the third book that we are confident that everything will work out for Theo, that goodness and love will remain in his life.
The novel can be seen as a coming-of-age novel, as Theo goes through several trials and undergoes a moral transformation along his life's journey. The novel is not a detective story in its genre. But it has some genre features. For example, how the author keeps us in suspense in many episodes of the book. The fact is that the book begins with a description of the hero's imprisonment in a hotel, who is obviously hiding as a criminal, because of which, of course, we can interpret the story as a detective story. Afterwards we learn about the accidentally stolen painting and experience constant anxiety, like Theo, due to the fear of exposure. Then the hero commits criminal activities more than once: he sells fake antiques and becomes an accomplice with his friend Boris.
You can see how from novel to novel Donna Tartt's position becomes more and more optimistic. And it is in the third book that we are confident that everything will work out for Theo, that goodness and love will remain in his life.
