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MARY ANN MOSS

the goldfinch

Goldfinch

i started out riveted to the storyline in goldfinch, but round about the 400th page i started to feel like i had boarded a bus to nowhere.  it just went on and on and on.  i'm committed to finishing it, but i might be in a bad mood by then.  i can't help but think if the editor had trimmed off a couple hundred pages of meandering storyline something more cohesive might have been the result.  pulitzer prize winner?   bewildering.

THIS was an excellent article about the novel.  like the book it is long, but unlike the book i wasn't nodding off midway through.

about that upcoming bad mood.  you can help.  if you have recently read something that was unputdownable, i'm counting on you to tell me.

 just one book that you loved, not a list of favorites please.  

i don't care what the critics or reviewers have to say and i'd prefer something not on a bestseller list.  

i'm going fishing people!  throw down your best bait!

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Comments

  2. Sorry – forgot THE JINNI AND THE GOLEM by Helene Wecker – over 500 glorious pages and didn’t want it to end – amazingly wonderful

  3. the one book I’ve read more than once and given away so much I should buy it in bulk is THE WOMAN IN WHITE by Wilkie Collins contemporary of Dickens and considered the father of the detective story – think it’s time to read it again

  4. I LOVED The Goldfinch. We are all different, aren’t we??! Ah a book I couldn’t put down was A Heartbreaking work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.. It’s older… I still love it.

  5. My number one recommendation is A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, It made me laugh and cry. Sometimes on the same page! Everyone I have recommended it to has given it 5 stars. It is apparently an international bestseller (originally published in Sweden), but hasn’t caught on much here.
    I second the Rosie Project. It just made me laugh and I keep re-reading parts of it. Also All the Light you cannot see, but I would NOT read it right after the Goldfinch, as it is also very long. Liane Moriarity is also a good bet (but on the bestseller lists). I have read the Husband’s Secret and Big Little Lies.

  9. Even though they are not recent, I allow myself to recommend 2 books I read a million times each: Master and Margerita by Bulgakov and Trip of dilettantes by Bulat Okudzhava. I m not sure what translations are worth since I read both in Russian and especially Okudzhava, being a poet and song-writer must be really difficult to remain true to, but if I had to keep only 2 books till the end of times, that would be these two. Love your Blog!

  10. You’ve got to read “The Nesting Place: It Doesn’t Have to be Perfect to be Beautiful,” by Myquillin Smith. It’s about decorating, but so much more. It’s engaging, humorous and totally honest. I got it because I thought there’d be pretty pictures with boring writing. (I’m a sucker for pretty pictures, so figured I’d just ignore the writing.). But it’s the writing that kept me turning pages.

  11. Mrs Poe by Lynne Cullen. It’s still with me a few months later. Excellent!
    Thanks for timely post, am recovering from 3rd shoulder surgery & the distraction for an excellent read will be time delightfully spent while waiting to use my “art arm” again. 🙂
    Sheila, formerly from Oregon now from Denver which is home. Hugs!

  13. I don’t know if you read any Young Adult novels but I just read I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN and it’s absolutely amazing. Also loved The Language of Flowers.

  14. I second, third, fourth, Prince of Tides, East of Eden, Lonesome Dove (book & DVD series) These are on my all time favorite list of 5 best books I’ve ever read.
    If you like crime/drama: Jo Nesbo’s The Snowman. Chilling, unputdownable, slap shot ending! Yikes. This is one of his Harry Hole series, the down and out, flawed detective who is lured out of retirement because of his expert sleuthing ability. Swedish author.
    I’m also looking for a book to cleanse the palate after Gone Girl…I want one that makes me sorry it ended and stays with me for weeks after reading it.
    Some great selections here to check out from your followers…thanks all! No to search for three or four to bring home from the library.

  15. Life Drawing by Robin Black. I couldn’t put it down. Now I am trying to find another great read. Not always easy!

  18. I second Major Pettigrew! Also a fascinating non-fiction is Simon Winchester’s The Atlantic. Bill Bryson’s At Home is illuminating to anyone who lives in an older house.

  19. I’m a huge fan of Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series. Just inhaled the latest installment, The Long Way Home. Now reading and enjoying The Signature of All Things. If a book doesn’t ‘grab’ me after the first 70 or so pages, I put it down. Life is too short to make myself read something that doesn’t speak to me. Unless it’s a must read textbook…and I don’t see many of those in my near future.

  20. I had a similar experience with the Goldfinch – just got bored with it at about 70% and did not finish. I have read a couple of excellent novels recently:
    Emily St. John Mandel’s novel ‘Station Eleven’ – almost finished, cannot put it down. engaging plot, characters, and an interesting modern topic.
    Rabih Alameddine’s novel ‘An Unnecessary Woman’ – an older woman living in Beruit who loves books. Interesting thoughts about aging, war, loneliness, family, etc
    I am working my way thru the National Book Award short list, here’s a link:
    http://www.nationalbook.org

  21. Did you read the book the series was made from: The Time In Between, by Maria Duenas? I watched the trailer for the series because of your mention. I could not put the book down. Also: the Harry Potter entire series. Also: The Number One Ladie’s Detective Agency series.Oh: Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand-loved it!

  22. I agree with all of the previous comments about ” The Goldfinch”. Ugh. Too long!
    But I have enjoyed The Signature of All Things recently.
    Thanks for bringing up the subject and helping us create a good reading list. I think life is too short to read bad books.

  23. I put down and picked back up “The Goldfinch” at least 3-4 times, vowing to not pick it up again. The last 100 pages really seemed like a waste. Not sure what was intended by the author with those pages. But in the end I did finish reading it. Off to see about some of the other books suggested. I am always looking for a good read. Currently I am reading “How We Got To Now.” Last book was “Dragonfly In Amber” preceded by “Outlander”, which is another series I will not pursue. Too much same old, same old. And I don’t care for time travel books.
    Aloha, Kate

  24. I thought of another one that I gulped down in a few days times. Where The Heart Is by Billie Letts. This goes back a few years and I read the book before it became a movie which I never saw but I adored the book and the characters very much…it’s not hard hitting, won’t keep you up nights wondering, but is charming none the less.

  25. I recommend 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. It is long, but it is unputdownable! and second The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey.
    Hope you enjoy!

  26. All The LIght We Cannot See
    East of Eden
    Night Circus
    I still think about the last two, and I read them several years ago.

  27. The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. I loved all her other books too but the Secret Keeper was just amazing and kept me guessing until the very end.

  29. Invention of Wings Loved this book, frustrating at times due to the content…heart breaking and uplifting at the same time. It kept me glued until the final page.

  31. I’m back with the perfect suggestion for you, Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros. I loved this book. It is a modern Mexican-American fairy tale-ish book. The writing is very good. The memory pictures the author paints are vivid and memorable.

  33. I recently re-read A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson that is interesting and funny, too. It is his tale about his efforts to walk the Appalachian Trail. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have recommended it many times to others.
    After I read that I remembered his memoir about growing up in Iowa in the 1950s, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid — so I re-read that one last week. I literally laughed out loud at his hilarious recounting of the adventures he experienced as a baby boomer kid. He really captures the way things were (he was born in 1951) and includes a lot of interesting information about those times, as well. And all with a large dose of humor and very skillful use of language to describe his life and family. I highly recommend this one if you need some light hearted fun and escape. Maybe even trigger a few memories of your own.
    One more that I read several years ago and I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN was The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. The beautiful writing, compelling story line will draw you in. I cannot remember a book that made me read until I could not keep my eyes open —- like I did as a teenager!! 🙂

  34. Great suggestions folks! I’m grabbing a few of them for myself.
    I need to add Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver- in my opinion one of her best, and if you get it on audio she is the reader- yummy
    Also, Where’d You Go Bernadette, Maria Simple
    Oh yeah, and second The Invention of Wings again the audio version is a real treat with different voices reading for different characters.
    Now I need to go “shopping”

  35. I third the Mitford Series by Jan Karon and I second The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

  37. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown about the 1936 Olympic crew team. Gave me an appreciation for the sport of crew and the challenges these athletes faced.

  38. wow, I am going to save all this info. Completely agree about Goldfinch as did two book groups I am in. Someone above mentions Anthony Doerr. If you haven’t read All the Light we Cannot See, please do not wait a moment before starting this book. It is the best novel I have read in 5 years. Before that, it was Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie series (and the PBS mysteries that went with it, starring the magnificent Jason Isaac.

  39. Euphoria by Lily King. About anthropologists around Guinea in the 30’s-a novel. I agree with you about The goldfinch. I thought it was never going to end-but I did finish it.

  40. The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams. It just came out this year. It’s about a modern woman who discovers one of her ancestors was a scientist in the early 20th century. We get both stories. I love books with dual stories at different times. This book is entertaining and enjoyable and has a good plot.

  44. Yes! It’s getting such praise, but I haven’t met anyone that has as LOVED it. It’s heavy.
    I loved The Light Between Oceans and A Trip to the Stars this year. I’m also reading Night Woods right now and am enjoying it.

  46. I second the suggestion of Prodigal Summer! It’ s also especially good as an audio book – read by the author, whose voice perfectly captures the lovely story. One of my top five, all time favorites!

  49. “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children”
    by Ransom Riggs (best pen name award).
    It’s “Young Adult” which might describe my fondness
    for “please-get-me-out-of-here” fantasy.

  51. I felt exactly the same about that book — a lot of hoopla. A Pulitzer Prize? Give me a break. As even the author said in that VF article, there’s been a general dumbing down of literature.
    Good books I’ve read recently: Rust by Julie Mars, and The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black.
    Have a great weekend.

  53. One of my all time favorites is Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton. It is set is South Africa in 1948. It’s a beautiful story of love, forgiveness and redemption which juxtapositions a wealthy white land owner and a poor Zulu minister.
    Lonesome Dove is another favorite for the same reasons as mentioned by Kathleen.
    I also adore Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. It will make you laugh uproariously and cry too.

  55. It took me a month to finish The Goldfinch and the last 100 pages were extremely painful to get through. I highly recommend a book called The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai. It’s a book about a small town children’s librarian who kidnaps and is kidnapped by a 10 year old boy who is obsessed with books! I love reading books about books and this one won’t disappoint, especially if you are fond of reading children’s literature.

  56. I really enjoyed Goldfinch, all 800 pages.
    I also like (a lot) Ozeki’s Tale dor Time Being and McDermott’s Someone…bea

  57. Ms Moss you are not alone.. my motherinlaw raved about the book because of the writing.. i thought it was dark just like the appearance of the writer… sorry my life to short to spend writing dark uninteresting novels.

  58. The Golem and the Jinni. The best I’ve read in a
    long time. The kind of book where you feel sad when you
    see the pages dwindling down because you know that
    soon you will leave this world.

  59. You need a literary cleanse after all that intensive stick-with-it-ness The Goldfinch requires; an essayist or poetess, perhaps? I’d suggest Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature by Kathleen Dean Moore or A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver. Simple, concise, and one sentence of either will stick with you for days… or a lifetime. And, I’d like to second the Gaiman recommendation. He never fails to keep the pages turning in his magical and maniacal bedtime stories.

  60. I’m so glad someone else found Goldfinch to be tiring and feel like they’re having to slog through. Have you gotten to the bit about the fist bump yet? It’s a about a paragraph or so about whether or not to fist bump. Then something occurred to me at the end that really ticked me off but I won’t tell you since you aren’t done yet, but it does have to do with the painting. I STILL don’t understand how it won a Pulitzer.
    Anything by Liane Moriarty. Three Wishes or Big Little Lies. Especially Big Little Lies.

  61. I feel your pain. I stuck with it because your sister recommended it. I’ll never get that time back…. 😉
    Just finished ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ now THAT was unputdownable. Be sure to have your hankie on hand.

  62. Oh, me again– Bloodroot by Amy Greene possibly the best book I have read since Wuthering Heights — I swear it is Excellence in story and in the telling of it. For real this time, The End
    ~Dawn

  63. The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman. short and sweet after that behemoth you are bogged down in. The End
    ~Dawn

  64. I also enjoyed the Midford series, but if you want excitement or suspense, keep looking. A older gentleman sales guy showed them to me when I said I was looking for something wholesome to read before bed that wasn’t overly stimulating. They were the perfect comfort read during a painful season in my life.

  65. I read the Invention of Wings and KNOW you will love it. I am going to start Jane Smileys new book, because I adored 1000 acres. You wold also like The Poisonwood Bible let us know what you decide.

  69. I second the Mitford series by Jan Karon! Lovable characters that remind you of people you already know…and a quaint town setting that you long to visit. I have the entire set in my bookcase and have read them numerous times.
    Am I the only one that returns to books I love?…Just curious 🙂

  70. Coronation Talkies by Susan Kurosawa. A fabulous novel set in an Indian hill station pre World War 2. I have read this once a year since discovering it several years ago. If I could only own one book, this would be it. An easy read of 487 pages of pure delight!
    ” into this faltering world come two starkly different but memorable women; the larger-than-life Mrs Banerjee, with her armoury of gold bangles and saris in thrilling colours, and Lydia Rushmore, a timid Surrey school teacher hurriedly married off to the town’s disgraced meteorologist. Mrs Banerjee sets off to transform the run down theatre into Coronation Talkies, a thoroughly modern cinema showing Hollywood’s latest love stories. Lydia Rushmore discovers the soothing effects of gin as she tries to fit into hill station society and please her complicated new husband.
    As World War 11 looms in Europe and British colonial power recedes, Chalaili becomes the setting for trickery, seduction and the unveiling of shocking secrets.”
    Get hold of a copy!

  71. Outlander, if you haven’t already read it…Oh heck, it is always fun to read a second or shall I admit a third time 🙂
    Currently reading A Signature of All Things, (Elizabeth Gilbert) and loving it.
    Just finished Joan Didion’s Blue Nights…depressing. Didion also makes me tired.

  72. Eowyn Ivey’s The Snow Child. That is a book I’ve read within the last few years that make me feel…almost homesick for every time I’ve thought about it since. It’s based on a Russian fairy tale of sorts and does dance the line between real and magic (a bit), but, oh, the story is beautiful and the writing is wonderful. It is a book best read beneath your coziest cover with a cup of your favorite tea.

  73. I recently read Emily St. John Mandel’s book Station Eleven, and it was fantastic. The best review I read of it said that it was a mix between a page turner and a poem. It was just beautiful, though if you read the synopsis you might be tempted to think it’s not. I can’t stop thinking about it. In fact, I checked it out from the library but am going to buy it because I just feel like I need the words near me.

  74. Someone just told me about a new book series yesterday and the first book out is called The Fifth Wave. Author is Rick Yancey. I have not had time to look into it yet just thought I would pass it on….since you are asking…..

  75. The Husband’s Secret, Liane Moriarity. Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman.
    One I haven’t read yet is Colm Toibin’s newest, Norah Webster.

  76. I loved The Widower’s Tale by Julia Glass. The main character, a retired librarian, is one of my favorites. Read it!

  77. I felt the exact same way about the goldfinch. loved the painting not the book. if you haven’t already read Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese… wonderful.

  78. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. Lovely writing.
    Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Excellent story.
    Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb, and the rest of that series. Great fantasy.
    All books I love and re-read now and then.

  79. Oh dear, my boss lent me her copy of The Goldfinch and told me how much she loved it, don’t know if I want to start it now! I really want to read Outlander again, after seeing the TV series, couldn’t put it down the first time!

  80. “Lonesome Dove” by L. McMurtry. Unforgettable characters. My ‘deserted-island’ book…..about lifelong friendship and promises kept…….just a good old-fashioned yarn!!! Would love to know if you decide to pick this up!! (“The Goldfinch” sounded perfectly awful when I read the summaries. Glad I gave it a pass!

  81. I finished Goldfinch because I was too far in to stop. It greatly needed an editor with a mean streak. Donna Tartt makes me tired.
    Here’s a terrific book: An Unnecessary Woman, R.Alameddine. Wonderful. And so is anything by Anthony Doerr. Also Colum McCann. And Colm Toibin. But what do I know? I’m currently gulping down the Mitford novels by Jan Karon and loving them. Go figure. (I know you said just one, but I can’t.)

  82. Hi! The Rosie Project – you will finish it in less than two days and grow to love the characters more and more with each page. It can be a palate cleanser for you and then you can get on to your next must read. xo

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