The Goldfinch

[Anonymous]

I read it, enjoyed it well enough, but agree the book needs major editing. There were times where it was just so SLOW! I read a lot, so I'm able to plod through books, but I wouldn't rave about it. I agree with PP's take on the Amsterdam trip.

Typically, I prefer books that move the story along a little quicker. I even find James Michener novels to be more engrossing than the Goldfinch!

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed both The Goldfinch and The Interestings. Another great book -- very different -- is Unbroken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loved The Goldfinch! Probably the best book I read all year (2103). I will admit it did get weird during the Amsterdam times but I thought it was great.

Now, I'm reading The Interestings. Gawd, is it boring. I'm struggling to finish it. Anyone else like this one?

+1 I'm totally with you on both books. I liked the way The Interestings started, but after the first 200 pages, the title just became ironic.

+2. Loved goldfinch. Thought the interestingly was boooring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I loved The Goldfinch! Probably the best book I read all year (2103). I will admit it did get weird during the Amsterdam times but I thought it was great.

Now, I'm reading The Interestings. Gawd, is it boring. I'm struggling to finish it. Anyone else like this one?

I REALLY like The Interestings! Was kind of meh on The Goldfinch, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is precisely why I don't read. The disappointment of having wasted a few hours of your life on a meh book is just awful. So sorry, OP.

That's the sorriest reason I've EVER heard for a person "explaining" why they don't read. The loss is yours.

[Anonymous]

I know I'm behind the eight ball here, but I just read The Marriage Plot (checked out of the library) by Jeffrey Eugenides and it was awesome! I couldn't put it down. I was a bit skeptical that it could be as compelling as Middlesex, but while it was very different, it was still very entertaining. Highly recommend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know I'm behind the eight ball here, but I just read The Marriage Plot (checked out of the library) by Jeffrey Eugenides and it was awesome! I couldn't put it down. I was a bit skeptical that it could be as compelling as Middlesex, but while it was very different, it was still very entertaining. Highly recommend.

I loved The Marriage Plot. Almost more than Middlesex. Eugenides and Donna Tartt have a similar facility with language that I find almost transcendent at times.

OP, I loved Tartt's use of language in The Goldfinch. I loved the way she got me to so completely inhabit Theo Decker, so that I liked him even when he wasn't particularly likable. I felt like I was living his PTSD along with him. I loved the small details, like what his mother wore or what she was reading. It's a novel about love and loss, but it's also a novel of ideas and the place of art in our world. I know "Dickensian" is thrown around a lot about The Goldfinch, but it's an appropriate adjective. I don't know of many novelists who can do that.

The Interestings was fine. Meg Wolitzer makes me laugh. This is one of her most fully realized books.

My big disappointment was Zadie Smith's NW. I couldn't finish it, and that's unusual for me.

[Anonymous]

Omg people...the line about not reading was a joke. Sarcasm. Ever come across that in one of your books?

Wow. Just wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is precisely why I don't read. The disappointment of having wasted a few hours of your life on a meh book is just awful. So sorry, OP.

And what about the hours where you read something really great and transporting? Or has that never happened to you? So sorry if that's the case.

plus 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Omg people...the line about not reading was a joke. Sarcasm. Ever come across that in one of your books?

Wow. Just wow.

It was a LAME joke. There are too many people who actually think that way. Their idea of "reading" is to peruse People magazine at the dentist's office.

[Anonymous]

Lame joke for a lame thread. If you feel compelled to vent over a book, then well, you know the rest.

[Anonymous]

And I stand by my statement that it's kind of interesting how a handful of professed readers didn't catch the sarcasm.

Peace out.

[Anonymous]

Read Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. Many reviewers' book of the year.

[Anonymous]

Read Wonder. Read it with your kids.

[Anonymous]

Do you think a DCUM book club would work? I have gotten great recommendations here and wonder if it'd spur me to read more. I'm in a real person book club that I love, but we don't actually read books anymore.