Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Le Chardonneret by Donna Tartt

36 reviews

kingcrookback's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cursing and Racism

whimsicalish's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide attempt

maria_2304's review against another edition

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexism

bloodredscar832's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

~ 3.75 - 4.00 ~

In the end, I don’t quite know how to describe my experience reading this book and my thoughts afterwords. I enjoyed the book well enough, but I especially liked the writing style - I really need to look into more of Donna Tartt’s works, her writing style is so descriptive and flowy and beautiful; I really like it. The characters were all interesting in their own ways (I particularly liked Hobie, Boris, and the Barbour’s, Mrs. Barbour specifically) and I enjoyed all of Theo’s interactions with each character. I think that this is definitely a story that needed to be told, and one that will stick with readers for a long time - whether good or bad.

For negatives, I believe that the book was much too long. My version had 771 pages, and it was an absolute pain to get through. I thought it was pretty impressive that the author was able to have subplots in the middle and keep the book interesting. As I realized later, the way she wrote the middle and the subplots she included actually made the middle of the book read as being rather plain and I had to drag myself through by sitting down and forcing myself to read. I felt that the last 200 or 300 pages were disconnected from the book - like I was reading a completely separate book. It was especially hard to get through that section for some reason, probably because I didn’t care much for the situation or many of the random side characters. It seemed that I was just getting a bunch of names thrown at me and I didn’t really bother trying to remember who was who. Plus, the last 50 pages were strange compared to the rest of the book and didn’t really add anything, although I did enjoy the writing and the philosophical speech, however, it didn’t really fit with the work in my opinion. Almost like Donna Tartt was getting tired of writing and just threw something on there at the end - the ending to me, simply, felt unsatisfying and the book felt incomplete.

All-in-all, definitely a book I’m glad I read (I mean, the writing style alone was just incredible for me, mwah)! The book drew me in with the interesting plot line and kept me hooked with these side characters that were far more interesting than Theo. I don’t necessarily know if it’s a book I would read again, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The words and characters that I’ve read in this book over the past two months have definitely left a lasting impression, and I think that you should (at-least) give the book a shot!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Ableism, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicide attempt

oyasum1's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Gun violence, Vomit, and Gaslighting

nabila99's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, and Abandonment

cstein's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Some racist humor/undertones that the 2022 reader should question. Tartt's description of the attack and its aftermath are moving and memorable, in contrast to later passages and conversations which feel rushed and underexplained. Interesting use of an unreliable narrator and a combination of several narrative styles. Generally entertaining.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Abandonment

Minor: Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, and Classism

snowypineapples's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

5.0

This book has many racist elements (like all of her books) and as much as I personally loved it I can't in good conscious recommend it without a heavy disclaimer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

ladybergart's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Eating disorder and Murder

morbidanatomy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia and Infidelity

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism