The Goldfinch

Are any of you on Facebook?  I know, I know…it's not so cool anymore with the younger generation.  I, however, am on Facebook and there's been a post going around asking people who are tagged to make a post of the ten books that have changed their life.  Mrs. Kinross, MHS 10th grade teacher, tagged me in this post.  And to be honest, I replied to her with some book suggestions but wasn't quite ready to make my list.  I still am not sure I am ready.  Only ten books?  The pressure is too much.

But I recently finished a novel that I feel confident I would place on that list of top ten.  It is called The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.  The only reason I requested it from the library was because I had seen so many of my Goodreads friends suggesting it, as well as bestseller lists.  I thought it was amazing.  I will also tell you that it was LONG.  771 pages long.

Okay, so here's the abbreviated version of those 771 pages.  It begins when Theo is a thirteen year old. He and his mom stop at a museum in New York City briefly to examine some paintings.  While they are there, a bomb goes off (well, two actually) and his mother dies.  Theo meets a man named Welty after the bombing but before he escapes.  Welty gives him a ring and tells him to save this famous painting of a goldfinch.  Theo obliges and runs home with the painting and ring, never telling authorities about it.  The painting follows him from place to place….to Vegas to live with his father and his girlfriend, back to New York City to live with a friend and confidante, Hobie, who later becomes his business partner.

There are so many things I loved about this book.  It is hard to keep my attention for 771 pages, but Donna Tartt was able to do just that.  Her characterization was well developed, and not just for the main character, Theo.  I felt like his good friend Boris could just walk off the page and introduce himself to me.  My heart tugged for Mrs. Barbour towards the end of the book when two people very close to her died.  When you feel like you know a character, like you could meet them in real life, like you see a person on the street and think, "That's Boris!" then that is plain 'ol good writing.

I also loved the imagination the author must have to spin such a creative, imaginative plot.  Every twist in Theo's life was unexpected to me and I loved that.  I also appreciated that Theo's character was not perfect.   Far from it actually.  Theo did a lot of bad, bad things over the course of the book, but was still able to learn things from his experiences.

And since a post would not be complete without some quotes from the text, I'll leave you with a few of my favorites.  "Isn't everything worthwhile a gamble?  Can't good come around sometimes through some strange back doors?" (Tartt 758).  This line addresses that earlier notion of Theo not always making the best choices or causing the best actions, but sometimes things still ended up okay.  Sometimes even better than okay and he was able to grow from his experiences.

The other line that really spoke to me reads, "A great sorrow, and one that I am only beginning to understand: we don't get to choose our own hearts.  We can't make ourselves want what's good for us or what's good for other people.  We don't get to choose the people we are" (Tartt 761).  This line comes near the end of the book when Theo is reflecting on his experiences through his journey.  So universal and it spoke to me as both a parent and a teacher.  My children are not exactly like me.  Neither are my students.  And that's okay.  They are who they are.  Something for me to embrace and appreciate.

Golden Lines

You know those lines that you read that you feel like everyone should read?  That almost feel like thematic statements themselves?  That make you wish you had written them yourself?  That's what todays' post is going to be about.  I've actually read about five books since my last post, so these lines are going to be from a hodgepodge of different authors.

This first is from Left to Tell, which I blogged about last week.  Here is the line: "Mr. Mehu introduced me to his secretary, Jeane, and she spent the day showing me how to use the computer and write memos, along with the ins and outs of their filing system.  I memorized every function of every button on the computer, and then I drew an exact replica of the keyboard on a piece of cardboard.  I spent three days working on the computer, and stayed up three entire nights practicing, typing on my own hand drawn keyboard" (Ilibagiza 189).  I love what this says about hard work. Can't you just imagine the amazing thematic statement that could come from this: If one works hard, any goal can be achieved.  I too often today people just expecting something, a new car, to be the best in a sport or subject, etc. without putting in any hard work. Unfortunately, I see this with my own children at times already.  And the older two are only four and six!  My four year old plays soccer.  He never wants to practice with me at home, but then wonders why he hasn't scored a goal yet.  He is not understanding (at least not yet) the importance of hard work.  I see it with students at the end of a grading period (in former years of course) who will rush in the last week, requesting extra credit and all of a sudden wondering how they can bring their grade up from a D.  Well, the answer my friends, is hard work and putting in the effort.  Just like Immaculee did in Left to Tell.

Another book I read at home was called The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty.  Another book full of golden lines.  So many, I had to pick two: 

"This was the problem with being friends with someone who knew you when you were a teenager.  They never quite take you seriously because they always see you as your stupid teenage self" (Moriarty 43).

"Over the last few months she'd learned that anything she thought she knew to be true could shift and change in an instant.  Nothing was permanent: The Buddhists knew what they were talking about" (Moriarty 391).

I like both these lines.  The first, just because the advice is simple, but I know the audience of this blog is teenagers, so I picked a line that could possibly speak to you.  That being said, some of my best friends in this world are from high school.  We still meet for monthly dinners, birthday parties, and our soirees have grown to include our husbands and children.  So even though I love the line, I don't think it applies to me all that much.  I could definitely see how it could though…

The second line appeals to those moments that are life-changing.  You can think everything is going hunky-dory perfect in your life.  Until there is a life-changing medical diagnosis.  Or a death of  a loved one.  Or a move.  Or the loss of a pet.  These moments that you remember forever.  And that seem to change everything that instant.  

I have more lines ready, but unfortunately it is 6:15 on a Sunday morning and my children are starting to wake up, which means it is time for me to make pancakes.  Yum!  

I will leave you with the next quote I was going to talk about instead.  This comes from The Goldfinch, a novel I started last week but has quickly consumed me.  It is FANTASTIC!

"Every new event--everything I did for the rest of my life--would only separate us more and more: days she was no longer a part of, an ever-growing distance between us.  Every single day for the rest of my life, she would only be further away" (Tartt 89).

Please respond in the comments: What does this line mean to you?  What do you think is happening to these characters?  Can you make any predictions just from this one line?