The goldfinch by donna tartt donna tartt is a writer who takes her time shes published just one novel per decade since her debut in 1992. How many ways is theo tied to the goldfinch, forced, always, to land in the same hopeless place. This study guide consists of approximately 68 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the goldfinch. Follow along with refinery29s book club as we read and discuss the goldfinch by donna tartt. The bookhouse iowa wholesale books and book fairs k9 in the cedar rapids, iowa area. Leave it to a minor character to nail the glorious trickery of the goldfinchboth the 1654 oil masterpiece by carel fabritius and the book named for it, donna tartts somewhat implausible. For the goldfinch, i provide your book club with a brief summary, a recipe, and discussion questions in that order the goldfinch book club questions and recipe. Find out about the literary influences on the book, bird imagery used throughout, location and mood and the role weather played, as well as a full and detailed plot summary and questions for book clubs. An interesting historical note about the painter carel fabritius.
While i was still in amsterdam, i dreamed about my mother for the first time in years. Coincidentally, fabrituss painting the goldfinch came to new york city and opened at the frick on the same day tartts book was released. In fact, everyone here at little, brown loves itever since i saw your post about bossypants and sent it around to my colleagues, weve been raving about you guys. This article provides a personality perspective that focuses on the relationship between two of the books main characterstheodore theo decker, who tells the story in retrospective. I often tell people that donna tartts pulitzer prize winning novel the goldfinch 20 is my favorite book and its true. Our discussion has now finished, but you can read it back above and leave us your comments below. The goldfinch, by donna tartt the author of the secret history returns with a novel about art, love and loss thats drawn comparisons to oliver twist and the harry potter series.
Ana is the daughter of matthias, head scribe to herod antipas, tetrarch of galilee. Disoriented during the attack, he takes the masterpiece the goldfinch. Its not only great for book clubs, but also for anyone who might want to delve a little deeper into the goldfinch. The protagonist, yearold theodore decker, survives a terrorist bombing at an art museum where his mother is killed. In this comprehensive book club companion, kathryn cope guides readers through donna tartts pulitzer prizewinning novel, the goldfinch. Donna tartt has delivered an extraordinary work of fiction.
Did you enjoy the goldfinch and would you recommend this book to your friends. Like most people, i really enjoyed the imagery the vocabulary each sentence is a masterpiece. A longawaited, elegant meditation on love, memory and the haunting power of art. The goldfinch pulitzer prize winner by donna tartt. The goldfinch is a novel by the american author donna tartt. May 31, 2014 abm thanks for starting the book club. This unread book is guaranteed to be a 1st edition, 1st printing. The editor of the bookour publisher, reagan arthureven forwarded your post to. The characters in this book are so vividly portrayed it is quite possible you will never forget them. This 45page guide for the goldfinch by donna tartt includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 12 chapters, as well as several more indepth sections of expertwritten literary analysis.
Nothing makes me happier than a book that will take up loads of my timeits probably as close as ill ever get to flying to the moon damn you, sir richard branson. Watson makes his powerful debut with this compelling, fastpaced. Please put your thoughts on the goldfinch book club questions in the comments area below. A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. The goldfinch book club questions and recipe if you are new here, welcome. It is hard for me to boil down what this book is truly about because it covers such a wide breadth of themes and i also dont want to ruin the suspense.
Find out about the literary influences on the book, bird imagery used throughout, location and mood and the role weather played, as well as a full and detailed plot. Watsons before i go to sleep is a stay up all night, pageturning thriller. This one, her third, tells the story of a young man named theodore decker who is forced to grapple with the world alone after his motherbrilliant, beautiful and a delight to be aroundis felled in what would seem to be. Softcover, little brown and company, 2014 you can purchase the goldfinch online at hugo bookstores. Apr 14, 2014 leave it to a minor character to nail the glorious trickery of the goldfinchboth the 1654 oil masterpiece by carel fabritius and the book named for it, donna tartts somewhat implausible. In the most perfect way, the novel made me acutely aware of the possibilities of literature. Not only was this book too long, it was unbelievable due insufficient character development. It is a story of loss and obsession, survival and selfinvention, and the enormous power of art. Oct 17, 20 the story of a boy who loses a mother and gains a painting, donna tartts long. The goldfinch by donna tartt, first edition abebooks.
The goldfinch and the book club when i first looked at the novel my monthly book club selected i was overwhelmed. I dont understand why this book is so highly rated. Wknofms book club meets monthly to discuss the selected title. Nov 06, 2017 i dont understand why this book is so highly rated. So as i read i wanted to ferret out what made the novel so compelling to some, while others. Frankly i am not sure i would have continued on had the goldfinch not been a donna tartt book, knowing shed spring a sudden surprise on me toward the end. The goldfinch has been on my reading list for quite a while. Its hard to articulate just how muchand why the goldfinch held such power for me as a reader. The final 5% of the book then beats you over the head with lessons that you should have learned if you were as smart as the author. While theo is only a boy when his story begins, he experiences a sudden transition to adulthood. The goldfinch book club discussion questions arlenes book club. Donna tartts the goldfinch is a complex story about theodore theo decker, a young boy who suffers the loss of his mother in a terrorist attack at the metropolitan museum of art in new york city. However, the existence of the painting holds tremendous personal value to him because of its connection to his mother, its connection.
The story of a boy who loses a mother and gains a painting, donna tartts long. Donna tartt is very descriptive and goes into depth over every little nuance and scene, did. He also gets the boy to rescue the painting of wait for it the goldfinch, the. The goldfinch is a triumph with a brave theme running through it. Dec 22, 20 the goldfinch is one of my favorite fiction books of 20 and i liked it even more than the secret history, tartts debut novel which i loved and is on my book club recommendations list. A guide for book clubs study guides for book clubs. A dramatic event happens about twothirds of the way in that upends the very foundations that the story is built on. Raleigh rand i reread the first few chapters after finishing the book and looked up each painting theo and his mother discussed before the explosion. The goldfinch is so central to the novel that it becomes like a. Id been shut up in my hotel for more than a week, afraid to telephone anybody or go out. A guide for book clubs study guides for book clubs cope, kathryn on.
If you are an avid reader, the goldfinch is the kind of book that you only come across a few times that leaves a lasting impression on you. This article provides a personality perspective that focuses on the relationship between two of the books main characterstheodore theo decker, who tells the story in. It is a beautiful, stayupallnight and tellallyourfriends triumph, an oldfashioned story of. The goldfinch is a novel of shocking narrative energy and power.
Its hard to articulate just how muchand whythe goldfinch held such power for me as a reader. The connection i felt when i read the goldfinch in 2014 radically changed my life. The goldfinch by donna tartt book club discussion questions. The goldfinch donna tartt we can read it for you wholesale. The protagonist, yearold theodore decker, survives a terrorist bombing at an. The goldfinch book club questions and recipe book club bites. The goldfinch and the book club the misadventures of. Oct 22, 20 in kidds the invention of wings, 2014, etc. The 25 best quotes from the goldfinch broke by books. In donna tartts latest novel, the goldfincha brilliant successor to her 1992 international bestseller, the secret historyit takes just a split second for yearold theos life to be upended. Published in 20, it was tartts first novel since the little friend in 2002 the novel is a comingofage tale told in the first person.
Book summary theodore theo decker and his mother visit new york citys metropolitan museum of art so she can view the masterpiece the goldfinch. The goldfinch, named after the 1654 painting by carel fabritius of a chained goldfinch, is a pulitzer prizewinning 20 novel by donna tartt and a book club favorite. While they are at the museum, a bomb explodes, killing theos mother and traumatizing him. Book club kicked off 2014 with our readervoted book, donna tartts anticipated the goldfinch. Oct 22, 20 an amazon best book of the month, october 20.
It was 771 pages and as i thumbed through the book i felt like i was back in grade school where i often got hopelessly bogged down in the minutia of trying to sound out words. The goldfinch donna tartt book club guide refinery29. In leiu of a dust jacket, this version was printed with illustrated boards and backed in green cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Published in 20, it was tartts first novel since the little friend in 2002. The book is professionally wrapped and packed with great care with bubble wrap and placed in a special book box to ensure that the book arrives at your destination in perfect condition.
Book summary theodore theo decker and his mother visit new york city s metropolitan museum of art so she can view the masterpiece the goldfinch. The goldfinch is one of my favorite fiction books of 20 and i liked it even more than the secret history, tartts debut novel which i loved and is on my book club recommendations list. The goldfinch at a glance cliffsnotes study guides book. When i asked book readers about the goldfinch, i generally received two answers. Winner of the pulitzer prize the goldfinch is a rarity that comes. Composed with the skills of a master, the goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through presentday america, and a drama of almost unbearable acuity and power. Always a sucker for a good boyandhismom story, i probably was taken in at first by the cruelly beautiful passages in which yearold theo decker tells of the accident that killed his beloved mother and set his fate. Donna tartt little, brown and companybeowulf sheehan donna tartts multicultural fantasy. A stolen masterwork cannot be bought or sold on the open market, and theo finds that the simple possession of it puts him in harms way. It combines unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and breathtaking suspense, while plumbing with a philosophers calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art.
How the goldfinch got away with its disgraceful racial politics in. Near fine hardcover copy of the goldfinch by donna tartt. Also available as an ebook, and eaudiobook, and as a bookclub kitgoto. I belong to a small book club that chose to read it adn 4 out of 6 give up on it. The goldfinch by donna tartt donna tartt is a writer who takes her time shes published just one novel per decade since her debut in. Stephen king, new york times an astonishing achievement. The novel is a comingofage tale told in the first person. Apr 07, 2015 the goldfinch is a novel of shocking narrative energy and power. What are the similarities between the chains on the boy and the chains on the bird. The paradox of the goldfinch is that it is both priceless and worthless. The jacket is protected by archival protective covering.
As he and his mother explore the metropolitan museum of art, waiting for a spring rain shower to abate, a bomb explodes, and suddenly all is ash. The goldfinch book club discussion questions arlenes. Throughout the book, tartt explores the tension between adolescence and maturity. Oct 22, 20 charles is the deputy editor of book world. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. Inside is a pair of red sneakers filled with ashes and a note that will forever change their lives. Donna tartts latest novel clocks in at an unwieldy 784 pages. Here is an excerpt from the email i received, i love your book club. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors. Luckily for all parties involved, either group will be completely enraptured by donna tartts new book, the goldfinch. The book club choice for may is deacon king kong by james mcbride. It won the 2014 pulitzer prize for fiction, among other honors. The anatomymore i reread the first few chapters after finishing the book and looked up each painting theo and his mother discussed before the explosion.