Book Review of "The Goldfinch" By Donna Tartt

Book Synopsis (amazon.com)

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. 

Honest Impressions

I really liked this book. It kind of reminded me of some books I had read in high school. I kept going back in my mind to some of the characters I had read back then like Willie Loman (Death of a Salesman) and Holden Claufield (Catcher in the Rye). That's kind of the feel of this book. It is a bildungsroman, but it's a little more than just that. It is as if Donna Tartt has combined the fiction of Charles Dickens with the writing of J.D. Salinger.

(By the way Dickens was a big influence on Tartt)

Anyway, the book kept up a good pace throughout. The characters were interesting. I think though, that the most important "character" was the painting itself. It sounds strange to say that a painting could be a character, but it really was.

The painting was almost destroyed back in the 1600's when the artist was killed in an explosion. In the same way Theo Decker (the main protagonist) was almost killed by an explosion in an art museum. The painting has fallen into the hands of many people down through the centuries. Theo also is sent from place to place. The painting is placed in a museum. Theo is also protected by adults as if he were in a museum.

Theo has unresolved feelings towards his mother. The same could be said of his father. He loses both parents - it is a loss he never really recovers from. He is exploding on the inside, and the only thing he can really cling to is that painting. He can no longer define himself by his mother or father. He must substitute the painting for the role that they once had. No other relationship is as important as his relationship to the painting.

The thing is that at the end of the book, we find out the why behind the Goldfinch. It's purpose is that art exists for art's sake. It has some kind of life in itself. It endures; it transcends the crazy, meaningless life we all must endure. (That's another thing...the book is really philosophical). Theo endures his crappy life because the painting tells him to.

We can go deeper. The goldfinch in the painting is chained to a bar. Theo is also chained. We are all chained. Our life is like that bird's life. We are limited and frustrated and wonder why we are here. The artist gives the goldfinch its meaning. The artist is saying, "You are chained little bird, but I can set you free by painting you. I can give you eternity by capturing who you are in this little painting." Art transcends life.

Worldview

So what is the worldview presented in this book? I think it is essentially existentialist (note 1). What we are is defined by what we do. The artist who painted the goldfinch gets his meaning from his art. Theo gets his meaning from the painting.

Postmodernism

So the book is a commentary on our modern life. It asks the big questions we all ask at some point. The conclusion is that we must reject certainty and replace it with uncertainty. We must not claim to have any answers, but must instead create some kind of meaning  for ourselves. Art exists for art's sake. It's really the best humanity can do in light of the cruelty and uncertainty of life.

Recommendation

I would certainly recommend this book. It is a work of art: well-crafted, thoughtful, philosophical, and aesthetically pleasing. While I cannot agree with the philosophy espoused in the book, I can appreciate it for what it is: a realistic assessment of what life is like if we are alone in the universe. Personally, I don't accept that. I take seriously the idea that we are created in the image and likeness of God. Our purpose comes from Him. 

Art exists not for its own sake, but to glorify our Creator. As God is artistic, so man is artistic. God creates and man creates. Yes, the world is in decay, but one day God will renew all things. There is a future hope.

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Notes

1. The proposition that existence precedes essence (French: l'existence précède l'essence) is a central claim of existentialism, which reverses the traditional philosophical view that the essence or nature of a thing is more fundamental and immutable than its existence. To existentialists, human beings—through their consciousness—create their own values and determine a meaning for their life because, in the beginning, the human being does not possess any inherent identity or value. By posing the acts that constitute him or her, he or she makes his or her existence more significant.