Comment

Jul 17, 2014
I listened to the Goldfinch and I highly recommend it. The reader is excellent. He never wavers from the voices. He never carries over a character's voice to the narration. He's just really great. The book won a well-deserved Audie award. With that technicality taken care of I also want to say I loved this book. It's interesting to read reviews on Goodreads and in magazines. There is a lot of debate over whether this book is "literature" or just a good story (or terrible). There's no answer to that question really. Personally I don't care. I read for entertainment, not to better myself or for prestige. Many (including Stephen King) call this book Dickensian. To me it's the anti-Dickens. Yes, the main character is poor, cast-out and a victim of circumstances but ultimately he does not rise above. He remains depressed. Love does not rescue him. For many people this book was an incredible downer. The story, though, and the writing are so great. Listening, you can just let it wash over you. The description is excruciatingly detailed. That drives some people crazy but to me it's just wonderful. The best books evoke strong emotion and this book evoked, at times, incredible tension, frustration, fear, disappointment, laughter and tears. Most of the characters are not minutely drawn (only Theo and Boris get the full treatment). The objects in the book get more attention. That is the crux of the book. People live short, desperate lives and then die. Beautiful things live on, meaningful over and over again to new generations.