Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Around 20 years ago I came across Donna Tartt's first novel, The Secret History, in a hostel in Tokyo, on a bookshelf where guests leave behind books for others to read. I fell in love with that book, have read it twice more since then (very unusual for someone like me who rarely rereads books), and recommend it first to anyone who asks me for a good book to read. While I really enjoyed Tartt's second novel, The Little Friend, for me it's The Goldfinch that comes close to evoking the level of passion I felt for her first work. Like the objects that Tartt writes about in the novel, this book is one that I will treasure. The book has characters that I feel have become friends, and relates a journey through life that puts my own in perspective. But I also appreciate how the novel reminds us how our individual encounters with art (and literature) can connect us with a sublime beauty underneath and beyond surface features, historical significance, or communal interpretation. It reminds us how a personal connection with things invests meaning in life. I think often about whether I'm making the best use of the time I have remaining. Tartt's book reassured me of the importance of art and literature in my life, and I'm glad I found a new treasure in The Goldfinch. I'm looking forward next to returning to The Secret History one more time.