Need to read whatever this woman has written because Secret History is great.

Review

I went into the Goldfinch having heard that it was a modern classic. A high bar. But not unfounded. I had an odd feeling while reading. Almost nostalgic for what I was reading right in front of me. It definitely called to mind other classics I've read. The closest comparison I have is Great Expectations. I had a strong sense of familiarity while reading. To the point that I wonder if Tartt was intentionally making some allusions. The general structure of the novel being a bildungsroman, similar plot of with respect to an orphan coming into money and seeing how they grow up and come into themselves and all that.

In either case, I loved it. One of the standout things that Tartt does well are the "disassociating" sequences. Happened in Secret History as well, particularly during the winter sequence (my favorite part of that book). Her characters have a habit of disassociating from themselves, they begin drifting along. Thoughts becoming more fluid, observing events and sensations around them with an increasingly distanced meter. Reminds me a lot of the Shivers skill from Disco Elysium. I really enjoy when we start slipping into that mode of narration. Then suddenly getting jarred out of it as the real world comes calling.

Theo is a really interesting character to inhabit. You get such a sense for how dramatically the day at the museum affects him. There's a fatalism certainly. Not in a bad way, just like much of what happens in the novel was written in stone. Things sometimes feel like a series of dominoes falling. You want things to go differently, but there's just nothing to be done. I will say, I like that we don't end on a completely dour note. Theo's fever dream and encounter with his mother is a particular highlight of the ending. I do think we go on a little long with the lesson and takeaways. I don't disagree with any of it per se, I just think it prattles on a little bit. The monologues from Boris, Hobie, and then Theo's own narration one after the other is a bit too much. Any of them alone are totally fine, but one after the other made me feel like skimming a little.