Before the First Book: A Roundtable Discussion
With Steven Espada Dawson, Elisa Gonzalez, and Gaia Rajan.
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Posts Tagged: The Goldfinch
A Literary Tasting Menu: My Year Abroad by Chang-rae Lee
Simply put, the novel’s heart is not political but sensual.
...moreThe Neverending Story
Did Harry Potter turn us into serial readers? Alexander Chee suggests J.K. Rowling and Karl Ove Knausgaard aren’t all that different: We are all after that word-lust, the novel that makes us want to read it as quickly as possible, and when we find it, we experience the paradoxical desire to stay inside the world […]
...moreHenry James & The Great YA Debate
Responding to the ongoing debate about whether or not American literature is saturated with young adult fiction (and if adults should read these novels), Christopher Beha, in the New Yorker, addresses A.O. Scott’s recent essay in the New York Times Magazine. While Scott dismisses Henry James and Edith Wharton as “outliers,” Beha refutes this point, […]
...moreBooks Grow Longer
Several recent high profile books, like Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries or Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, are hefty tomes. As it turns out, these outliers are part of a larger trend toward longer books. Jeremy Anderberg, writing at BookRiot, researched popular books over the last 110 years and found that page lengths are increasing—prize-winning books over […]
...moreCritics vs. Readers
Critics don’t seem to like Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, but that hasn’t stopped readers from buying more than a million copies of the novel. Vanity Fair poses the question: but is it art? The New Republic suggests this kind of criticism is infantile. Meanwhile, Flavorwire’s Jason Diamond thinks a bigger problem is the disconnect between critics and readers: […]
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CA Bookstore Day Exclusive: Three Panel Book Review of The Goldfinch
Celebrate Rumpus illustrator Lisa Brown’s new book release, California Bookstore Day, and Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer in a single post.
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HORN! REVIEWS: The Goldfinch
Antiquers and art thieves alike can recognize a fraud…
...moreI am the fictional lead
Adam Dalva found his story in the pages of Donna Tartt’s novel The Goldfinch (reviewed by The Rumpus here). In his essay featured on The Millions, Dalva explores the uncanny similarities between his own life and that of Theo Decker, a fictional character who shares his age, race, sex, and locale. As Dalva puts it, […]
...moreWeekend Rumpus Roundup
Hope your Thanksgiving was bountiful and your travel experience wasn’t too terrible! Here’s what we had going on on the Rumpus this weekend. Lydia Kiesling’s review of Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch has stirred up a little controversy, but it’s thoughtful and engaged, we promise: Donna Tartt is catnip for educated people who want to read entertaining […]
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Saturday Book Review: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Lydia Kiesling reviews Donna Tartt’s THE GOLDFINCH today in The Rumpus Book Reviews.
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