Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

33 reviews

ewwniamh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

it took me almost a year to finish this book and although i have some problems with it, i do really have a strong attachment to it and it's characters. 
whether that be because of how long it took me to read it or because i actually enjoyed it as much as the secret history, I'm not sure but that last chapter was absolutely incredible so donna tart has got me in a chokehold again for a second time I guess

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booksandboba's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I can’t give a star/numerical rating to this book because I really don’t know how to describe my feelings.

When I first read it, I loved it, loved the writing style and character development (it was my first or one of my first encounters with writing like this), really related to descriptions of anxiety and depression, considered it my favorite book. Read it a second time and started forming doubts, particularly with noticing issues of classism and racism. Read it a third time, this time annotating heavily for themes present throughout the book (question of fate vs free will, good vs bad and moral responsibility, depression and grief vs hope, art and its beauty and importance, friendship and love, impermanence vs permanence, time, life and death) and enjoyed doing that, but in doing so realized that the book really could have been edited better. I found the ending to be sloppy and not satisfying. And the way that blatant racism is used in the book (equating East Asian and especially Chinese culture and objects with cheapness) is just appalling.

And apparently it took 10 years or more to write this book, which either means that those choices were deliberate and well-thought out, choosing to only have people of color represented in minor roles mostly as working class serving the white upper class, choosing to use racist notions to make character points, or she somehow in all that time failed to consider these choices — why she might be making them, what they mean, what sort of impact they would have — despite the clear time and attention to detail given to making this book. 

Maybe you can claim that Theo, as a character, is racist, and that it just adds to the long list of character flaws and why we can’t trust him as a reliable narrator etc., but we already have so many examples so why would this be necessary? The racism does not directly connect to a point that needs to made either for plot or theme as far as I can see, and even if Theo as a character is just racist, that still doesn’t explain why the only people of color we encounter are in working class positions, save maybe the two social workers. (And he can’t even remember the Korean woman’s name, and just has to mention that her breath smells like garlic?)

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tahinisaltsummer's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

the way non-white characters are described is horrid. The language is wonderful (the poetry of the words is unmatched. Never knew English could be such a beautiful language.), if it wasn't for the racism I would have enjoyed this book, I guess. 

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akvolcano's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

If you’d like to get completely immersed into a characters life, read this book. I can not wait to discuss this book in-depth with someone!!!

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finleigh's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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k3volutionenergy's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

As you can probably tell by me giving this book the lowest rating position, I really didn't like this book, the only reason I didn't DNF it was because I blindly chose it for my English Literature course work. 

Some of the main reasons as to why I didn't like it: 

-It felt as though POC characters were used as a plot device rather than being seen as really people. The majority of these characters didn't have names, instead being referred to as 'The [ethnicity or race] man/woman', not to mention that the only role they seemed to serve was forwarding the lives of the all white main cast. As for the POC characters who were named, they were so incredibly stereotyped - The Latino doormen are the biggest examples of this 

-It felt like an excuse for Tartt (a white women) to says slurs, particularly the n-word. Boris, a character who's first language is Ukrainian, starts to say the n-word as he likes rap (not kidding, Tartt wrote that). I think this was in an attempt of Tartt to show that Boris isn't allinged with what she deams as more western ideals of what is acceptable and that he isn't American however, Tartt can't mention Boris without mentioning that a) he is Ukrainian/is not American (eg. Pointing out the way he pronounces English words incorrectly) or that b) his morals are deemed unacceptable in her American lense. Either way, Tartt using the n-word as a white women is unacceptable, no question, but it just feels worse when it's just thrown in there for literally no reason (eg. Portraying racism (though, still no excuse)) 

-There is so many mentions of underaged boys wanting to sleep with/actually sleeping with fully grown women - there is more mentions of this that mentions of sex that is legal. I'm not accusing Tartt of anything but it definitely feels like some fixation with how much it's mentioned. I want to add, there is never sex between two consenting adults mentioned, at least not as explicitly as sex between two underaged boys or between underaged boys and adult women.

-Tartt seems to use queerness as a lazy plot device and nothing more. Boris and Theo's relationship in a romantic and sexual sense is only seen a few times when they are teenagers, more times vaguely with one time to my memory being outward (their kiss before Theo leaves Vegas). It mentioned offhand in their adulthood with Boris mentioning Theo is the only man he has ever slept with. This book seems to be pushed as a queer book and though the main characters may be queer despite their preferences to women, I definitely feel like the queer aspects of the book are a lazy plot above anything else - queerbating, really.

-This gripe is definitely very small compared to my others but I would still like to mention it - She mixed up the languages of two different countries. She writes of a Welsh side character named 'Kellin' when that's the Irish spelling of the name, the Welsh being 'Celyn'. Again, small gripe, but still something that stood out to me as a Welsh person. 

I really wouldn't recommend reading this book, it's personally put me off Tartt's writing completely despite how acclaimed some of her other works are.

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kristinisntokay's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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kingcrookback's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Theo's story is permeated with a sense of displacement, of being out of place--grief, the passage of time, antiques, old art, physical distance, memory, estrangement, the gap between imagination/ideal and reality. For the most part, I enjoyed Tartt's writing style, especially how she captures emotions and headspaces that are typically very fleeting, ephemeral. This book is also very Dickensian, especially in its exploration of class, crime, and abuse.

However, as nice as the language was at times, it's slow-paced enough that I had to actively work (as in make sure I read a certain number of pages per day) so that my progress didn't peter out and eventually result in a DNF. The last arc of Theo's story is also rather incongruous with the rest of it, which threw me a bit. Tartt also seems to have a problem with leaving her female characters underdeveloped, which I suppose could be chalked up to the way Theo engages with women as a result of his grief, but it's still a bit annoying.

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whimsicalish's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I have read long, slow books with a focus on characters but this didn't work for me. The further I read, the less I liked the protagonist. It's ok to have morally gray or struggling characters but Theo was unlikable.

I liked following Theo through different periods in his life. The writing is strong and generally easy to follow, until the author goes through paragraphs of heavily descriptive atmosphere by name dropping places or brands I'm not familiar with. Not to even start on the casual racism. No, it doesn't "call out" racism. The author just wanted to write slurs.

Some content would have been fine to leave less. The long chapters describing his Vegas days are repetitive and boring that added very little to the story or experience.

Perhaps what bothered me the most was toward the end.
The only reason Theo changes his personal and professional behavior was because Hobie found out his deceit. Theo is finally called out on his constant lies, inappropriate ownership towards Pippa, and criminal activity that put Hobie's business in possible legal trouble. But he had to get called out. He didn't change because it was the right thing to do.


Theo's garbage but everything works out in his favor! He's even rewarded. Same with Boris. Then the characters have the audacity to say what they did was okay because sometimes bad things can make good things happen. Really? That's the lesson?

Finally the book continues to spend the last chapter spelling out the symbolism of the painting, The Goldfinch, towards the story. So effing pretentious.

I'm glad to be finished. I will not pick up another book by Tartt.

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maria_2304's review against another edition

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0.25


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