Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I need more stars

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

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Trigger Warning for abuse, violence, depression, suicidal thoughts, drug abuse, addiction I’ve had a copy of this book for years, knowing from its blurb and from what I’ve read about it that I would probably love it, but at 960 pages, it’s a brick and a bit intimidating to start. I finally decided to tackle it, and I finished it in less than a week. I would have finished within days if not for the pesky need for sleep and doing laundry and the like. […]

Ms. Tartt, you did well with the latitude you were given.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

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Y’ALL. I DID IT. I FINALLY DID IT. I READ, IN IT’S ENTIRELY, DONNA TARTT’S GOLDFINCH. ALL 784 PAGES. For the most part, Cannonball Read is a great thing for me. It’s introduced me to a network of cool people, I better remember the things I’ve read (having reviewed them), and keeps me accountable to a goal. But, the goal bit is a tricky business. With an eye on the prize of a full cannonball it can seem a bit foolhardy to tackle a loooong […]

THIS is how you win a Pulitzer Prize…

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

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When I picked up this book, after randomly seeing it in photos of favourite books over the past couple years, I was intrigued by the seal indicating its award winning status. I’ve never been a person who is super intentional about the prestige of literary awards, and as I cracked this hefty book open, I remember wondering if I would be able to actually read a difference… if I would notice something in the style of writing that sets this apart from others (something other […]

Fly, you fools!

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  Theo Decker is a thirteen-year old boy who lives in New York with his mother. He adores her and she adores him, but he gets very nervous when she, one day, has to stay home from work in order to meet with his school – for what reason, he doesn’t know. He can only suspect why he’s in trouble. Before they head to school, they go to the museum for a quick visit, because Theo’s mother loves art. That’s when Theo’s life changes forever. […]

Read the first half, put the second half off until you can’t sleep

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Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch follows Theo Decker, a 13‑year‑old boy living in New York who survives a terrorist attack at the Met that kills his mother. When Theo awakes from the attack, he provides companionship to a dying man, who gives him cryptic instructions, and, when leaving the scene of the attack, Theo steals the beautiful painting The Goldfinch. The novel follows Theo as he is taken in by a wealthy friend, then sent to the Las Vegas suburbs to live with his good‑for‑nothing father, […]

If You Love Something, Set It Free. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

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What does it mean to love something? Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch is mostly about love and what we will do to have it, in all it’s many manifestations. This story is not about right or wrong, good choices or bad, at it’s heart, The Goldfinch is about what we will do to hold near the things we love. The Goldfinch is a wild (though sometimes overlong) ride through a life of frivolous delinquency, unintentional criminality, lapses in honesty, breaches of ethics, and misunderstood attractions. For Theo Decker, there is no thing so […]



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