THE GOLDFINCH (Donna Tartt) - May 17/21

 Wow, this took a while. (Just over a year and 61 returns/checkouts from the library.) Anyway, it's obviously extremely well written but boy oh boy does the narrative drag sometimes. There's a long stretch near the end where Theo is recovering and Tartt spends page after page dwelling on his dreams and thoughts. It's not great. But there are also some really profound portions that I actually found really moving, especially the final 50 pages or so. I'm glad I read this, ultimately, but I wish it had been shorter. *** out of ****