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The Goldfinch

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The Goldfinch

Written by: Donna Tartt
Narrated by: David Pittu
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About this listen

Audie Award Winner, Solo Narration - Male, 2014

Audie Award Winner, Literary Fiction, 2014

The author of the classic best-sellers The Secret History and The Little Friend returns with a brilliant, highly anticipated new novel.

Composed with the skills of a master, The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling force and acuity.

It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.

As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love - and at the center of a narrowing, ever-more-dangerous circle.

The Goldfinch is a novel of shocking narrative energy and power. It combines unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and breathtaking suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. It is a beautiful, stay-up-all-night and tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate.

©2013 Donna Tartt (P)2013 Hachette Audio
Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction Heartfelt Inspiring Classics Substance Abuse Russia

What the critics say

Narrator David Pittu accepts the task of turning this immense volume into an excellent listening experience. Pittu portrays 13-year-old orphan Theo Decker with compassion, portraying his growing maturity in this story of grief and suspense…Pittu adds pathos to his depiction of the troubled Theo as he deals with addiction and finds himself in a dance with gangsters and the art world's darker dealers. ( AudioFile)
"Dazzling....[A] glorious, Dickensian novel, a novel that pulls together all Ms. Tartt's remarkable storytelling talents into a rapturous, symphonic whole and reminds the reader of the immersive, stay-up-all-night pleasures of reading." ( New York Times)
"A long-awaited, elegant meditation on love, memory, and the haunting power of art....Eloquent and assured, with memorable characters....A standout-and well-worth the wait." ( Kirkus, Starred Review)

Featured Article: Inspirational Quotes About Hope

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What listeners say about The Goldfinch

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Amazing and Moving

I loved how rich and immersive the narration is, donna draws you in to love theo and see the world through his eyes. i cried many times reading this because she captures an essential human desire for transcendence and connection. if you love angst and unreliable but endearing narrators then this book is for you

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Brilliant

Contrary to other reviews, the deep descriptive narrative is precisely what is so great about this book. Thoroughly enjoyed!

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Great story but drags on a little.

Love stories that make you think about them continuously after you’ve finished them. This one did that, but I found it moved slowly...really slowly at times.

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Much better than A Secret History

Long and meaty. Characters flawed in ways that made me want to stop reading, but also clever, funny, and loveable enough to hold me: that's great writing. I will always be glad to have met Boris.

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    3 out of 5 stars

More description than you would think to ask for

Narrator tried to do a different voice for every character (there are many), but would occasionally lose the voice in the middle of speaking.

As for the writing... I appreciate the effort to write every detail and thought for every action and every day, but it was a lot, and probably not all necessary. It wasn't stream of consciousness, but very close to. A long summer read, not a book for casual reading. Too long for a class to read and study.

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So long winded

The story was good and the performance was good but the writing was just so worldly and never ending. Way too many monologues about the characters existential musings.

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Mixed feelings

I’m ending the book with really mixed feelings! Donna Tartt is bit of a genius: the way she’s able to describe a very mundane thing is astonishing! And yet I feel that in the Goldfinch it is a talent wasted on prolonged scenes of drug use and dismal reality of life with no direction and no purpose. Theo is an antihero really with no backbone and no will of his own. Very nihilistic picture painted when what is needed in the world today (in my humble opinion) is hope and redemption. If you are looking for a life giving fiction you will not find it here!
I must say the narration is incredible - so that alone saved the day (or I should say many days since it’s quite lengthy and anticlimactic).

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Jaw dropped

This novel is one of the best novels I’ve read i am a huge fan of Donna tart and this is one of her best works to date the end will leave you shocked

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Narrator makes this audio book.

Boris and the old “puffter” are made to come alive by the narrator’s voice. The story is ok but a little dragged out and Theo never seems real. I

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One of my forever favourites

I loved this so much I listened to it twice back to back. The narration is incredible. The story is heart wrenching but wonderful. I had to listen to the very end a couple times to really absorb the depth of what the author was saying. I love this book and it will forever be a favourite.

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1 person found this helpful