I should start by saying I hated this book and the only reason I finished it was so I could write a review and not feel guilty for leaving it unread and looking up the ending on Wikipeadia. Basically I did it for you, Cannonballers. All for you. To me, this book was a literary equivalent of the HBO show Girls. Annoying, pretentious, holier-than-thou, and self-centered. I wanted to punch every, single character in the face. And you know what? I think that’s exactly what Tartt had in mind.
Look, I get it. You’re not supposed to like these characters. These are the worst versions of people, people who only care about themselves and are so sure about their own brilliance in the smuggest ways possible. People who are wealthy and clueless and don’t have any regard for anyone else’s survival. Tartt writes them in such a way that, at times, I felt like I was reading a novel written by a smug university student who was convinced they’re going to be The Next Big Thing. And you know what? That’s not what I want to read. This book was highly recommended to me by a good friend, someone’s whose taste is normally inline with mine, but this was a miss.
Minor spoilers (as this is something that happens in the first few pages): this book is about how a group of college students kill one of their friends. The first half of the book is the build up, the second the fall out. These kids are a group of Classics students as some fancy, tony college in Vermont (I think it’s Vermont?) in the 80s (I think it’s the 80s?). The time frame, almost purposely, is vague and never quite matches up with it’s different references. Drug and alcohol use is rampant and these students, isolated from the rest of the school, seem to think they have laws and rules of their owns. Our narrator is a poor boy from California, joining this established group by lying about who he is and all but shoving his way in. There are lines in the book that are in ancient Greek, Latin, French…and are never really explained. I do not speak any of these languages and found myself frustrated.
There are not many books that, when I finish, make me feel stupid. Not as if the book has dulled me, but like I’m not smart enough to understand the jokes and references. I think books should be accessible, especially when they’re fictional novels. If nothing else, that was my biggest take-away from this book: that I wasn’t good enough for it. And that, my dear friends, makes it not good enough for me.
Years ago I was judged for not liking this book. I feel validated now because I also wanted to punch everyone in the face. I refuse to read Donna Tartt as result of my trauma.
You are not alone! We can form a support group. I wish I could say the same but The Goldfinch just landed on my library e-reader app. I hope it’s better than that dreck.
I’m disappointed to hear you compare this to Girls, a show that really gets on my nerves. I have it on my to-read list for later this year. I’m still doing it though. A bunch of people I usually have similar tastes to really like it.
I gave it three stars but I can’t say I particularly enjoyed it. I thought it was interesting, but ultimately tedious.
I hope you have a different experience than I did! My friend that suggested it to me read my review and we had a long talk about why we had such wildly different opinions. A lot of it just comes down to experience. I’ve always been the person in my groups of friends who’s never felt smart enough (the only one without a college degree in a group with BA’s, Masters, and PhDs) and that, I think, really colored my view on this group that was written about.
Actually, I don’t think it is just you – a lot of people around me are incredibly athletic so I’ve always had the “well, at least I’m intellectual” mindset to make myself feel better about that, and I didn’t enjoy this novel. They’re just a bunch of spoiled rich kids … like I said earlier, spending time with them was tedious. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if they actually talked about intelligent things but all we get is endless descriptions of drinking and drugs. Of course, I have known what I was going to do professionally since I was 18, and started it when I was 22, so I don’t have much patience for people just floundering around, especially when they have no redeeming qualities. I think the worst part is that these characters are unlikable but boring – at least if they made me want to talk about them, I would feel like I would have gained more, but instead, I ended the book thinking, well that happened. I disliked the characters in The Dinner but I wanted to discuss how horrible they were.
I laughed out loud at your comparison to Girls. I, too, was completely put off by the story and characters, even though I knew I was SUPPOSED to love it.
I’ve had The Goldfinch sitting on my kindle for ages, and have no idea when I’ll actually get around to reading it.
I’ve only had a chance to read the first few pages of Goldfinch, because life, but I’m really hoping I enjoy this more. Maybe different characters, a different subject, will do it. I don’t think Tartt is a bad writer, she’s just really good at writing people I hate.