Finished: February 11, 2023
Why I read this
First of all apologies for the varied order of these posts, I decided to start this blog in May and wanted to include many of the excellent books I already read this year. For this one, I had received the recommendation that this book was absolutely excellent from my mom years ago, then late last year I had mentioned the book was on my list to my girlfriend and she said that she absolutely loved it as well, making it of course the next on my list once I got the physical book. Then despite the monstrous size of this one I devoured it in just over a month, with how engaging it was I am surprised it even took that long. Now, my girlfriend and I have a reproduction of the title painting on our mantle piece and we love it.
What I learned
Before reading this book I don’t think I ever understood art. I had been to many museums, I had seen many movies, I had even done some learning on my own about art history or theory. None of it brought any real appreciation of art to me beyond “yea that painting is pretty”. The relationship between the goldfinch and our tragic hero Theodore showed how art can take a life of its own and can even become obsessive (not to steal the words from the back cover). The themes of handling tragedy and depression, especially in someone so young also gave me appreciation for the struggles I have seen people around me face in their life and how things can spiral out of control. Finally, the raging war between right and wrong in the book made me think deeply about how gray this world really is.
It was funny to me that before reading this book I didn’t really like art much, then afterwards as a gift for my girlfriend I decided to offer her a reproduction of the piece I spent weeks arguing with the artist that every exact detail needed to be right for the painting. I saw that even the slightest change in the expression of the eyes changed the entire feeling of the piece. It really helped me to see the beauty and the genius of art like this, much like our challenged Decker, and even Boris.
What I didn’t like
It is always hard to critique a Pulitzer Prize winner, but this time it actually was clear for me. I loved the book, I got heavily invested in the characters and was deeply moved by the descriptions of the art and surrounding discussion. However, as the end of the book neared I saw more and more, page by page that the author was going to leave me (or us all) hanging on what happens to the other characters! There was no mention of if Theodore figured out his love life, if he fully repaired his relationship with Hobie or how Pippa ever felt about the gift of the necklace. The profound description of how the art changed Theodore was great, but I really missed some closing of the book (but as always maybe that would have changed it for the worse, who knows? Definitely not me).
Questions I asked
Is Theodore’s dad a bad person in the book? Is anyone?
What makes art so great? Why are some pieces celebrated, and others ignored?
Why do we so often separate the world of people who work with their hands from the educated world? Why are there not more tradesmen and craftsmen like Hobie?
My Favorite Quote
“Caring too much for objects can destroy you. Only – if you care for a thing enough, it takes on a life of its own, doesn’t it? And isn’t the whole point of things – beautiful things – that they connect you to some larger beauty?”
James “Hobie” Hobart
Books I liked like this one
The Coward by Jared McGinnis (for the struggles of the human soul through tragedy)
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (for the sheer absurdity of some situations that just have to make you laugh)
Book Reviews for Mom 