The Goldfinch

Reception

Critical reception of the novel was polarized.[3] Early on, the trade publications Kirkus Reviews and Booklist both gave the novel "starred" reviews.[4] Booklist wrote, "Drenched in sensory detail, infused with Theo's churning thoughts and feelings, sparked by nimble dialogue, and propelled by escalating cosmic angst and thriller action, Tartt's trenchant, defiant, engrossing, and rocketing novel conducts a grand inquiry into the mystery and sorrow of survival, beauty and obsession, and the promise of art."[5]

Stephen King praised the novel and called Tartt "an amazingly good writer".[6] In The New York Times, Michiko Kakutani pointed out what she saw as the novel's Dickensian elements, writing, "Ms. Tartt has made Fabritius's bird the MacGuffin at the center of her glorious, Dickensian novel, a novel that pulls together all her remarkable storytelling talents into a rapturous, symphonic whole and reminds the reader of the immersive, stay-up-all-night pleasures of reading."[7] Woody Brown, writing in Art Voice, described The Goldfinch as a "marvelous, epic tale, one whose 773 beautiful pages say, in short: 'How can we? And yet, we do.'"[8]

In mid-2014, Vanity Fair reported that the book had "some of the severest pans in memory from the country's most important critics and sparked a full-on debate in which the naysayers believe that nothing less is at stake than the future of reading itself." Both The New Yorker's James Wood and the London Review of Books claimed the book was juvenile in nature, the former arguing that the novel's "tone, language, and story belong in children's literature" while the latter called The Goldfinch a "children's book" for adults. The Sunday Times of London said that "no amount of straining for high-flown uplift can disguise the fact that The Goldfinch is a turkey", and The Paris Review stated, "A book like The Goldfinch doesn't undo any clichés—it deals in them."[3]

The novel was 15th in the decade-end list of Paste, with Josh Jackson writing, "'Literary fiction' can sometimes be code for 'lightly plotted,' but every so often a book comes around that is as engagingly told as it is beautifully written. Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch is such a novel."[9] Ema O'Connor strongly criticized the portion in which Theo is outside of New York, but lauded the first hundred pages highly and chose the book as one of the decade's 24 best: "It's a crime novel, an art history thesis, an LGBTQ coming-of-age story, and a meditation on toxic masculinity all wrapped up in 976 pages."[10] Patrick Rapa of The Philadelphia Inquirer listed it as one of the decade's 20 best.[11] Kakutani listed the book as one of the greatest of the 21st century as part of a poll by Vulture, arguing, "In the hands of a lesser novelist, [its] developments might feel contrived, but Tartt writes with such authority and verve and understanding of character that her story becomes just as persuasive as it is suspenseful."[12]

European reception

The Goldfinch was described as "a great bewitching novel" by Le Monde[13] and "masterful" by Télérama.[14] Belgian weekly magazine HUMO called it the "book of the year,"[15] while Le Point enthused that "[c]omic and tragic, cruel and tender, intimate and vast, Le Chardonneret is one of those rare novels that require cancelling any social obligation."[16] Tartt herself was praised as "a novelist at the top of her art" by Le Journal du Dimanche[17] and as a "writing magician who is generous with detours, reflections and characters" by the news website NU.nl.[18]

The Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant printed a five-star review and called it "a Bildungsroman written in a beautiful and often scintillating style. ... A rich novel and an impressive reflection on sadness and solace. And about the crucial, timeless role of art therein".[19] De Limburger[20] Cutting Edge[21] also gave it a five-star review and suggested that Tartt had "written the best novel of 2013. It will completely blow you away."[20] Their sentiment was echoed in De Telegraaf, which argues that The Goldfinch is a "rich, very readable novel",[22] as well as in Financiele Dagblad's assessment that "Donna Tartt is an extraordinary writer and Het puttertje is a beautiful and rich novel."[23] Another Dutch newspaper, Het Parool, sums it up as a "beautiful, exciting novel, filled with fascinating characters."[24]

Other Dutch reviews were more mixed in their reception. NRC Handelsblad rated the book two out of five stars,[25] writing that it was "like reading a twenty-first-century variant on Dickens", with the characters being "cliché" and not fleshed out.[26] Vrij Nederland and De Groene Amsterdammer were also critical, arguing that the book was too drawn out.[27]


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