The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
A 13-year-old New Yorker named Theo Decker miraculously escapes from an accident that kills his mother. Theo, who has been abandoned by his father, is fostered by the family of a wealthy acquaintance. A small, enigmatically alluring painting that eventually entices Theo into a wealthy and exclusive art community becomes the only thing that reminds him of his mother. Theo is bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by classmates who don’t know how to talk to him and tormented above all by a longing for his mother. As an adult, Theo effortlessly transitions between the plush salons of the wealthy and the dingy maze of an antique shop where he works. He is the centre of a constricting, perilous circle and is both estranged and in love.
The Goldfinch is a classic tale of loss and obsession, survival, and self-invention that will captivate you, keep you up all night, and make you want to tell all your friends about it. This “soaring masterwork” explores the terrible effects of loss and the cruel workings of fate, from the streets of New York to the shadowy corners of the art underworld.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
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All future events in Theo’s life will begin with the museum explosion, a youngster and a dying man’s accidental encounter, and “stolen” artwork.
Theo, who is orphaned, heartbroken, and suffering from survivor’s guilt, moves in with Andy Barbour’s family. Rich and well-known in society, the Barbours family is strange and weirdly broken in some aspects. Even so, Theo is given a temporary residence in New York’s opulent Upper West Side by the coolly elegant Mrs Barbour and her emotionally sick husband. Theo’s slacker father and his glamorous partner, Xandra, soon appear to pick up Theo and take him back home for reasons that reveal him to be less than noble. Home is in Las Vegas.
Theo is alone while in Vegas. Theo becomes friends with a cagey Russian child named Boris, and after seeing his father’s abandonment of his son, falls into drunkenness and drug addiction.
Theo eventually makes his way back to New York, where he now resides with James Hobart, a furniture restorer who was also Welty’s friend and partner when the latter was dying at the museum. Theo’s obsession with Pippa, Welty’s unattainable redhead granddaughter, stays with Hobart on occasion as well. Theo, who is now in his twenties, rekindles his connection with the Barbours and launches a dubious career selling restorations as antiques to would-be collectors who are more wealthy than they are knowledgeable about the items they are purchasing.
It became apparent that there were Dickensian motifs scattered throughout the book because Theo’s story is a bildungsroman about the youngster who acquires the Dutch Golden Age picture, the title Goldfinch. There are frequent references to “Oliver Twist” and “Great Expectations,” sometimes subtly and other times overtly. At any given time, I had the impression that Theo was a combination of Pip and Oliver Twist, that Boris was a combination of Bill Sykes and the Artful Dodger, that Hobie was a combination of Mr Brownlow and Joe Gargery, that Mrs Barbour was Miss Havisham, that Pippa was mostly Estella and occasionally Biddy, and so on.
At at least that’s how I viewed the similarity between Dickens’ and Tartt’s characters. The Dickensian motif was used effectively by Tartt since it read more like an appreciative homage than a copy. The result is always smooth rather than gimmicky or manufactured.
Tartt’s portrayal of a young kid maturing and discovering his purpose in life also includes some bittersweet elements. I liked how she developed Theo into a complicated, angel/devil persona, complete with questionable behaviour and other unsavoury character flaws.
Young Theo, who appears to be intelligent, thoughtful, and enthusiastic, takes a wrong turn. This is where Boris’ personality comes into play, making me really loathe him. As I read Theo’s story, especially as he descended into vice and crime in Las Vegas, I could see the inevitable consequences of his foolish decisions, which were primarily prompted by Boris. Theo undoubtedly received a harsh blow from fate, yet he makes no attempt to defy the odds. Instead, he yields to Boris’s influence. This results in disappointing character growth for Theo, yet it is nonetheless moving.
The Metropolitan Museum in New York City serves as a temporary haven for thirteen-year-old Theo Decker and his devoted mother amid a downpour. While there, a bomb detonates, killing Theo’s mother in the debris. Theo, who appears confused and may be experiencing a concussion, stays by the side of a dying guy whom he had seen just before the explosion. Theo receives an heirloom from the man, Welty, in the form of a ring, which will eventually lead him to the gentle “Hobie.” In his final moments, Welty desperately gestures toward a painting, asking the youngster to grab it, as if to prevent it from being destroyed in the debris. The painting is known as “The Goldfinch” by Carel Fabritius.
