Let art speak to you. {The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt}

Let art speak to you.

About The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt*: It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-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 combines vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. It is an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate.

My two cents

Theo and his mother love living in New York. Thank goodness his good for nothing father is out of the picture. The humdrum life all changes in a flash. On this day, Theo and his mother take a side trip to the museum - a distraction from a parent teacher meeting that could only mean more trouble for Theo. This is a coming of age story that shows life's contradictory nature, bringing out the beautiful and darkest sides of people, set against the contrasts of the beauty and corruption of the art world.

Ever since I read The Secret History (my review), I knew that I was bound to pick up another book by Donna Tartt. And so it came to be.

***

Fresh from a trip from New York, I reveled in The Goldfinch because I had walked the halls of the Metropolitan Art Gallery, wandered the streets of the Upper East Side of Manhattan (and beyond) and took the subway many a time. This is Theo's world and it became tangible to me when I was reading it.

The Goldfinch is a book that I sorely needed to remind me why I read and why I love to blog about books: it's a story like this that reminds me that books contain life's truths. I've become absorbed in desire to book blog like a madwoman, I've done so many book tours, done all the bloggy and bookish memes. I've burnt out. I've returned. And now, I reiterate to myself: make peace with my book blogging lull and simply go for the ride.

Why I loved The Goldfinch

This forced me to slow down. This is a classic case of a book finding me when I needed it most. I needed to read it, and more importantly, to feel it. The first hundred pages or so begs for attention. Tartt's prose is incredibly immersive: you're there in the museum. You feel Theo's pain. You feel the angst, the hunger for sympathy and kindness. I dare you to want to be absorbed in this story.

It's highly relatable. I have very little in common with Theo. But I do have a lot in common with his foray of emotions and the mental state he is in through various incidents, often traumatic. I absorbed his tribulations, maybe a bit too much.

The painting "The Goldfinch"
From Wikipedia

The art, the art. I have a soft spot for anything involving art and the fact that this story delves into this world was a special treat.

The story revolves around the painting The Goldfinch (in Dutch: Het puttertje) by Carel Fabritius (1654). This piece seemingly begged to be saved by a dying man, and it called out to Theo as well. To me, the metaphor of art "speaking" to someone in a profound, sometimes even mystical way, is a testament to the power of art in general.

It polarizing. I love the fact that this book gets lovers and haters and thus makes for great discussion. If you love reading blogger's opinions, you'll get both swings of pendulum on this one. I was starting this and posted on Instagram. I got mixed reactions from "oh this is so good, you're going to love it" to "I couldn't get into it."

Don't read this ... If you're looking for action and a fast pace, put this down. If you hate chunksters, put this down. If you listen to other book bloggers negative reviews and are easily swayed, then don't read this.

Verdict

One of the most moving stories I've read in a very long time, this coming of age story set against the art world of New York forced me to slow down and immerse myself. My review is highly based on emotion, and I am not ashamed to say that sometimes some books hit me at a very raw level - similar to how art speaks to our souls. In short, The Goldfinch spoke to me. Will you allow it to speak to you?

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A Work in Progress by Brad Cotton

You'll be just fine, Danny boy.

Synopsis of A Work in Progress by Brad Cotton: Writer Danny Bayle’s life is in shambles. His true love has left him and his grandfather — the last and most important influence in his life—has just passed away. Danny has spent the last few months languishing, unable to write a single word, but at the urging of a friend ventures out into the world in an attempt to jumpstart a new life, befriending in the process an interesting assortment of characters including an author, a musician, an artist, and an elderly retired nurse. Garnering the attention of more than one woman, Danny sees his new friends unwittingly begin to shape what could just be the story of his life. But will he ever let go of the girl that got away?

My two cents 

I seem to be getting quite a few books written by male authors, featuring male authors and their writing -- usually anguished, angsty, writing (like this and this). And so I have stumbled upon another ...

But hey, Danny Bayle is ordinary and bland. In fact nothing really sticks in my mind about him. He's written one book which doesn't sell very well (very self-deprecating about it) and of course he continues to write. He is wallowing in his recent break up with his girlfriend Carah. He's recently lost his grandfather. He plods along, sort of aimlessly, with no real care in the world.

But maybe because I'm naturally nosy, I kept reading about the humdrum life of Danny Bayle. I didn't really see what was the point of this rather unmemorable character. A 28-year-old who was acting like a total teenager? But as I got to know him, he started to grow on me -- like someone you hang around a lot, and you end up picking up on their small nuances, their little quirks, and you just start to like them.

Danny starts to come out of his shell; he tries to move on. He tries karate (not for him), drumming lessons (a little more luck), falls into group therapy, takes on an unlikely lover, and makes some even more unlikely friends along the way. Danny Bayle is a "work in progress" in this unlikely coming-of-age story.

***

Danny Bayle has an endearing quality to him despite his sleeping around, his drinking, his pot smoking, his general bumming around ... he is a "nice guy," an all around "good guy." On the flip side, this is where I got this rather weird vibe about Danny's character, as though all these "dastardly" male acts are more for a show of bravado, like a young boy trying to act like the cool older guy. Yeah, I may be reading too much into his character but he seemed a sanitized version of a male ... or maybe just because he's just emotionally naive?

I had a feeling of High Fidelity about this book, with Danny's fixation on his ex-girlfriend Carah (who I didn't quite like for Danny in the first place). Katherine, a vivacious lovely young painter, who Danny becomes deeply connected with was much more interesting to me. And the fact that there's the woman he just happens to sleep around with (tsk tsk, typical male!) I think overall, the women in this book were such a nice range of different personalities!

The storyline isn't what I was expecting. Because I don't want to spoil it for anyone, I'll simply say that Danny will be fine, just fine. All those strange little details will fall into place and things will make sense. Besides, we all figure it out somehow and come out better people for it, right?

Verdict: Endearing, heartbreaking, tragic yet hopeful. Get to know Danny Bayle and find out why the journey rather then ending is what makes this book.

***

Uh-oh: When I first saw the cover, its minimalism struck me as at odds with the contents. Think greeting card. Its abstractness is understood only if you read the book; it may not attract too many readers as it's just too much work to figure it out at first look.

***

Check out Brad Cotton's guest post where he answers some common questions from readers and writers alike (funny reading!).

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

A Work in Progress by Brad Cotton

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The Car Thief by Theodore Weesner

Stealing cars to fill a void in life.

The book in one sentence: The story of Alex Housman's life of quiet desperation. 

Serious synopsis: Hailed by The Boston Globe as "so poignant and beautifully written, so true and painful, that one can't read it without feeling the knife's cruel blade in the heart," The Car Thief was first published to enormous popularity, and sold over half a million copies. Alex Housman is a kid who at the age of sixteen has had fourteen cars, harbors many hurts, and seems to fade into his environment while raging inside. His father is an alcoholic, losing his grip on life even as he wants the best for his son. The Car Thief explores the love Alex and his father share, in a tremendously poignant story that is filled with unusual triumphs.

My two cents: 

I won't lie. I had a difficult time getting into this one. I probably had three or or four false starts and I was about to give up on it. But I don't generally give up on books ... so I decided to just go back to the beginning and just focus.

Alex comes from a broken family. While loving and hardworking, his father struggles with his alcoholism. His father's heart is in the right place and he wants only the best for Alex ... but his own lack of aimlessness makes him inadequate to help Alex.

The writing feels detached. I could feel myself just feeling ... sad.
I had difficulty connecting with Alex Housman because he seemed so aloof and unfeeling. Alex steals cars so that he can take joyrides in them. Why? He doesn't know. He likes Irene Shaeffer, but what does he do about it? He lands himself in juvenile delinquent home and he does his time ... but then what of it? I couldn't understand his motivations, but then why do adolescents do anything?

But that I think is where the appeal of this book lies. That the story seems rather mundane points to the reality that this is the stuff of real life. There is no histrionics, no dramatic dialogue, no thunderclaps. Alex is a young man still not totally sure what is happening to him and his life and that feeling of being unrooted, restless, and naive is captured so well in the writing. 

Alex eventually comes into his own as he learns life lessons the hard way. He learns the value of hard work. He eventually learns the truths about his family. He comes to terms with who he is, and who he can become.

One of the most heartbreaking moments is when Alex's father earnestly shares some words of wisdom:

"I want you to remember this now. You're still young. You still have your whole life ahead of you You have it, and it's yours to live, no matter if they send you away for a while or not. You try to understand that. I don't know what else I can say, or what advice I can give you, except that. [...]

Alex had not quite seen what his father meant until now. It's funny he thought -- and he did not mean it was funny at all, but that it was so strange, he knew no word for it. [...]
- p. 285 (ARC, page may change), The Car Thief

This book made me feel. I had an overwhelming feeling of sadness with the realization that so many young people struggle and feel their own quiet pain in this world. But at the same time, it left me with the sense that despite any obstacles, there is always hope to rise above it if one so chooses.

Verdict: A quietly written story of a young man trying to make sense of his life. While set in 1959, the truths of Alex Housman's life of quiet desperation and aimlessness ring true today.   

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Life goes on ... to the track of a mix tape. 

The book in one sentence: A 30-something man reflects on life and love ... through mix tapes and his  record collection.

My thoughts:  I did a Friday 56 about this book ages ago. And if you judge it by the quote above, you're probably thinking this isn't my sort of thing (or yours for that matter - I got all manner of ewws in the Friday 56...). I wasn't expecting to like this book because I knew it was blatantly a "guy" book. In fact one of the reviews mentioned it being a "male confessional." But I absolutely loved and laughed throughout this one. It's not only funny but extremely witty and insightful of the male perspective.