The Goldfinch : Donna Tartt

Well the good news is my arms have recovered from lugging this around! It’s a superbly crafted tale that ranges across a whole swathe of American contemporary cultures from the well to do apartments of New York to the neo-slum outskirts of LA. There’s plenty of drugs, booze, lying and general nastiness set against characters with old school values and deep honesty.

The central character is not wholly likeable and it takes a while to care for him but once you cross that bridge you find yourself eagerly racing through his story rooting for him all the way. The episodes in his life, at first seemingly unrelated with just the Goldfinch theme tying them together, gradually conflate into a surprising and shocking ending. The story telling skill is unquestionably brilliant and wholly deserving of the wide praise it’s received. Overall quite brilliant.