Delve deeper into the books making the charts, and get tips for keeping your reading group engaged. The goldfinch is a mesmerizing, stayupallnight and tellallyourfriends triumph, an oldfashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and selfinvention. Find resources for your book club, whether it meets in your living room or across cyberspace. The goldfinch by donna tartt meet your next favorite book. The goldfinch october 1, 2015 by kathy porter thirteenyearold theo decker and his mother are visiting the metropolitan museum of art in manhattan when a terrorists bomb explodes killing and injuring scores of people, including theos mother. Donna tartt is very descriptive and goes into depth. Frankly i am not sure i would have continued on had the goldfinch not been a donna tartt book, knowing shed spring a sudden surprise on me toward the end. So, when little brown asked us to read the 770 page pulitzer prize winning book the goldfinch we all immediately said yes. The goldfinch has been on my reading list for quite a while. Its beautiful prose is densely layered and overflowing with richly developed characters. Refinery29 leads a book club discussion on the goldfinch by donna tartt, this is the second installment.
A comprehensive guide to this contemporary classic, this book includes useful literary context. Aug 06, 2019 perfect for book club discussion prompts. From the streets of new york to the dark corners of the art underworld, this soaring masterpiece examines the devastating impact of grief and the ruthless machinations of fate ron charles, washington post. The protagonist, yearold theodore decker, survives a terrorist bombing at an art museum where his mother is killed. The nineteenthcentury effect is somewhat exacerbated by elements of dialogue that are actually just bizarre. Many comparisons have been made between this book and great expectations and other dickens books do you see the similarities. This study guide consists of approximately 68 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the goldfinch. Sep, 2019 the goldfinch has been on my reading list for quite a while. If you loved the goldfinch, check out these six books. How to find your local book club in the uk, because sometimes you need to discuss that ending.
And now, in the era of donald trump, its important to consider whether or not the books you read are working to dismantle structures of inequalit. General book club questions for study and discussion. Should you opt for the true story of a valiant trek across the pacific northwest, or the underrated, lesserknown classic. A dramatic event happens about twothirds of the way in that upends the very foundations that the story is built on. May 31, 2014 abm thanks for starting the book club.
Theos mother was obsessed with the goldfinch painting. Did you enjoy the goldfinch and would you recommend this book to your friends. It is an oldfashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and selfinvention, and the ruthless machinations of fate. One way to include all members is to write questions on an index card for e. Whator what alldoes the painting represent in the novel. She goes down into her mothers old studio, and finds professor inui and his family hiding outside on the platform by the river. Book club discussion questions for the goldfinch by donna. After our engaging book discussion ended, brooke handed each member their own little brown paper bag with a morphine lollipop inside just like pippas. Stephen king called the goldfinch a smartly written literary novel. Book club discussion questions for the goldfinch by donna tartt 1.
Please put your thoughts on the goldfinch book club questions in the comments area below. The goldfinch was described as a great bewitching novel by le monde and masterful by telerama. Walden, the idiot, silas marner, spiegel im spiegel, the magnificent seven, and, obviously, the goldfinch, to name a few. Did you enjoy the goldfinch and would you recommend this book to your friends 2. Talk about the fantastic personalities depicted in the pages detailed in theos journey. The goldfinch book club discussion questions arlenes book club.
In a 771page novel set in contemporary new york, las vegas and amsterdam, almost all the characters of. It seems readers, as well as critics, fall into two. I read the goldfinch before, not as part of this abm book club, but. Theo decker, a thirteenyearold new yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Questions about themes in your opinion, what are the main themes of the goldfinch. Follow along with refinery29s book club as we read and discuss the goldfinch by donna tartt. The goldfinch book club discussion questions arlenes. If youre just joining us, weve tackled the first 200orso pages of donna tartts the goldfinch, an epic tale of loss, love, and the power of art. Does this statement, by theos mother speak to this. As a member or leader of a book club, you are likely to be reading books on a wide variety o.
Whether you belong to a book club or not, this is a great list of book recommendations and books that are fun to discuss. The poster, which i keep seeing around the train, seemed a good corollary to the novel i had just started. See more ideas about book club menu, goldfinch, book club. The goldfinch donna tartt book club guide refinery29. May 15, 2015 the goldfinch was an event from the start. It takes place on many levels, in many lives and is motivated by many experiences unknown to us. Chatelaine book club interview with donna tartt, author of. Use these book club discussion questions on the thirteenth tale to delve into diane setterfields magical world. Due to unusual circumstances id taken nearly two months to finish the goldfinch.
It is full of characters who are are flawed, but strangely sympathetic nonetheless, and they are woven together in an ingeniously constructed story. The thirteenth tale by diane setterfield is a rich story about secrets, ghosts, winter, books and family. Reading groups for children and parents can bring families closer. The characters in this book are so vividly portrayed it is quite possible you will never forget them. It was the sort of book that people talked about long before it was published, the sort of book people passed around in galleys and advanced reader copies arcs. David copperfield famously says in the first line of dickenss book, whether i shall turn out to be the hero of my. The book also includes excerpts from mcs current novel, about a typist who loses her voice and has to communicate solely by typewriter. I know that sounds like i just lifted that from the book jacket, but honestly its true. The final 5% of the book then beats you over the head with lessons that you should have learned if you were as smart as the author. Books to read if you loved donna tartts the goldfinch. Read the 25 best quotes from the goldfinch, donna tartts pultizerwinning novel, before the film adaptation. Book club discussion questions for the goldfinch by. It combines unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and breathtaking suspense, while plumbing with a philosophers calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. Composed with the skills of a master, the goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through presentday america.
Theos life revolves around physical objects, but is also dictated by the tragedy of chance. Thirteenyearold theodore decker survives a terrorist bombing in a new york art museum, which kills his mother. Heat and cold, fireplace soot, too many cats or hairspraycan you believe it. In the sense that great art is timeless, what clues do you get about the time period in which the story takes place, and do these references bon jovi, ipods make it more or less likely that the book itself will become a classic in a future literary canon. I hadnt heard of this book suggested by ba8alou but i see it won a pulitzer prize and it sounds worth reading. If you are an avid reader, the goldfinch is the kind of book that you only come across a few times that leaves a lasting impression on you. Discussion reflecting on the comparison to dickens was fast and decisive, as most members failed to see the correlation. Tartt was once again on everybodys mind, and expectations for the book were huge. Sep 03, 2020 on september 3, we are planning to have our inperson book club discussion at 6pm at the winery. How do these artistic touchstones inform the novel, especially theo and boriss cultural education in.
Sep 12, 2019 there is nothing out there quite like donna tartts 700page novel the goldfinch, which won the 2014 pulitzer prize for fiction, among many other tributes. Aug 07, 2019 and if youre looking for more about the goldfinch, check out my list of the 25 best quotes from the goldfinch. Selecting a book club book can seem as harrowing as the plot of a pageturner. Nov 09, 20 in this interview, book club author donna tartt shares her inspiration for the goldfinch and why its a fallacy that culture, inevitably, is civilizing. The goldfinch at this time we can are limited to how many people can be inside the winery in the green phase. Why are literary critics dismayed by donna tartts the. David copperfield famously says in the first line of dickenss book. Start a book club discussion and challenge your group to deepen their analysis of the reading material with this set of sample book club questions. But there are several books also themed around the power of art, loss, fate and beauty that we know youll enjoy. Discuss how theos character is reflected by the many personalities in the book.
Apr 07, 2015 the goldfinch is obsessed with intertexts references to other works of literature, music, film and art e. My hope is that anyone reading this post will find some great ideas for their book club and find inspiration in the pages of this fantastic book. Shes working one night when she hears a tapping beneath her. The goldfinch discussion questions and recipe book club bites. Should you ignore your 400page limit for the sake of discussing the goldfinch. Abandoned by his father, theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Shocked, theo goes to the storage unit and unwraps the painting.
The goldfinch book club questions and recipe if you are new here, welcome. The goldfinch book club questions and recipe book club bites. Theres no better way to introduce yourself and others to new books than through a book club. Oct 22, 20 charles is the deputy editor of book world.
It won the 2014 pulitzer prize for fiction, among other honors. Like most people, i really enjoyed the imagery the vocabulary each sentence is a masterpiece. Dec 31, 2018 the goldfinch combines vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and suspense, while plumbing with a philosophers calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. Always a sucker for a good boyandhismom story, i probably was taken in at first by the cruelly beautiful passages in which yearold theo decker tells of the accident that killed his beloved mother and set his fate. Do you feel more like boris or more like theo in your.
Cant wait to debrief after listening to the latest episode of your favorite audio series. The goldfinch by donna tartt book club discussion questions. Book club discussions are great conversations based on a common book that everyone has read. While i was reading the goldfinch, i looked around the bart train one morning and my eyes lit upon a cryptic poster inviting me to discover the real truth about our greatest domestic catastrophe, courtesy of a group called architects and engineers for 911 truth ae911truth, for short. Our book club is devoting a second meeting to just the last chapter.
Composed with the skills of a master, the goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present day america and a drama of enthralling force and acuity. Oct 17, 20 the story of a boy who loses a mother and gains a painting, donna tartts long. If you loved the first person narrative and retrospection and insight on how a life is constructed try my struggle by karl ove knausgaard 2014. With the endless supply of literature both online and in shops, it comes as no surprise that finding the perfect book can be a big challenge and thats one of the reasons why book clubs are so great. The 25 best quotes from the goldfinch broke by books. For the goldfinch, i provide your book club with a brief summary, a recipe, and discussion questions in that order the goldfinch book club questions and recipe. Openended questions help ignite discussions involving the whole group. Our book club just finished reading and discussing our latest treasure, the goldfinch, by donna tartt.
Ultimately, is he more a product of manufacture or of fate. Read free book excerpt from the goldfinch by donna tartt, page 1 of 15. Jun, 2014 but despite all the discussion, theres an element of the book thats been overlooked. Boris is now very wealthy from associating with an underground network of mysterious individuals. Its hard to articulate just how muchand why the goldfinch held such power for me as a reader. Three things you missed when you read the goldfinch. The novel won a pulitzer prize for fiction in 2014. The goldfinch is a novel by the american author donna tartt. Book club discussion questions for the goldfinch by donna tartt. The goldfinch is equally full of class markers, comical names kitten, kinds of antiques, and names of schools, so that the reader occasionally has the sense of being bludgeoned with a sledgehammer from some very tony shop. Some readers have expressed public dismay about the rather long middle section of the book that takes place in las vegas. Donna tartt is very descriptive and goes into depth over every little nuance and scene, did you find her writing wordy or did. The goldfinch by donna tartt donna tartt is a writer who takes her time shes published just one novel per decade since her debut in 1992.
No book group should be without this companion guide to donna tartts acclaimed bestselling novel, the goldfinch. Apr 07, 2015 the goldfinch is a novel of shocking narrative energy and power. Theo learns that boris stole the goldfinch from theo back in las vegas and has been using it as collateral for his criminal dealings since then. Belgian weekly magazine humo called it the book of the year, 16 while le point enthused that comic and tragic, cruel and tender, intimate and vast, le chardonneret is one of those rare novels that require cancelling any social obligation. Although, i will say the last few ive read have been hard to read and ive taken a step back from the list in recent years. The goldfinch the goldfinch is a 20 novel by american author donna tartt that is seen by many as a modern classic coming of age story.
Dan, hanna, and meghan love donna tartts big, big novel. Please come and be part of the discussion even if you havent finished the book or started it. It was wonderful to find such an insightful summary and group questions. Donna tartt is very descriptive and goes into depth over every little nuance and scene, did. Author tartt has noted that the purposeful destruction of the giant sandstone buddhas of bamiyan valley afghanistan in march of 2001 inspired her to begin her novel with an explosion. Three things you missed when you read the goldfinch barnes. If you want to read it, make sure you will have time, because once you start you wont put it down.
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