_The Goldfinch_ by Donna Tartt

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Sep 302015
 

Yikes! I started this post almost a year ago and didn’t realize that I never really finished it. When I was reading my friend’s blog the other day, it made me wonder if I had ever written about my brief version or not…. Apparently ‘not’ is the answer. So, here it is:

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Back in my brief stint of writing briefs of books, I was given the ask of writing _The Goldfinch_ by Donna Tartt. I had not heard of her before this, for good reason. Tartt only wrote two other novels. She’s won awards for two of them including this latest.

It was a daunting task to write a brief of this novel, since it is what I consider a modern-day classic written with such talent that there was no way that I could do it justice even if I had more than 1/3 of the novel to reproduce.

Tartt’s writing took me back to what I’ve enjoyed in the Russian authors of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Although there is a lot of detail in the novel, it all comes together for purpose the more you work your way through the tale. The words are put together beautifully and the story unfolds in such a way that one is dazed and confused, but in a surreal satisfactory way.

Of course, it’s not for everyone, and even the brief may be too much to read,         goldfinchbrief  but I’m glad that I did read it and do recommend it as something more challenging to read than a James Patterson novel. 😀

_The Goldfinch_ by Donna Tartt

 Literary Escapes  No Responses »
Feb 032014
 

thegoldfinch

_The Goldfinch_ by Donna Tartt

The third brief I was given to do nearly was the end of me as well as my work freelancing. First, it took me over three weeks to complete. Although I had a week with the holiday included in that time frame, it just did not go as smoothly as the previous two had.

It was about an 800-page book to begin with. Then, unlike the previous book, it was very well-written and dense. The story was complicated enough that trying to brief and read it for the first time simultaneously was not a great idea. So, I found that I was spending hours on it, staying up late, falling asleep while briefing and all for very little monetary gain.

My lesson learned was to not choose books that look overly interesting for this job, but rather those that are easy and quick since I am not getting paid enough to invest so much time into this work.

In any case, the story was reminiscent of J.D. Salinger’s _The Catcher in the Rye_. It was a story of a boy who copes with tragedy and poor choices whilst learning to understand love, loyalty and life. I recommend reading this one in brief (hopefully the editor made it better than when I submitted it to her) as it is a long story and some parts are far too descriptive for anyone’s good.

However, Tartt is a very talented writer. This being only her third book and yet it has drawn a lot of attention. When I read such books I am daunted at the idea of writing my own. Still, it will happen some day. 😉

-T 😀

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