Tom's Two Cents: "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt

Mississippi writer Donna Tartt's third novel, "The Goldfinch," is in many ways a tour de force--one has the feeling that she possesses the writing razzle-dazzle to pull off almost anything on the printed page, and frequently she does, skillfully moving this work from New York to Las Vegas, back to New York, then Amsterdam, then back again to New York over a period of some fourteen years in a boy's life, from the age of thirteen to twenty- seven, from the cusp of adolescence to young manhood. In literary parlance this type of novel is called a "Bildungsroman," a "coming of age" story that has many precedents in literature, the most well-known probably being the novels of Charles Dickens, such as "Oliver Twist," "David Copperfield" and "Great Expectations."  Superimposed upon this work is a sensational plot, involving terrorism, gambling, the underworld, drug use, art theft and even murder.  It's almost as if Tartt said to herself, "I can't write just another coming of age story,   I have to make it relevant to our times."  And so she does, perhaps going overboard in the process, but that's my judgment--I happen to like subtlety, and we do not live in an age of understatement, nor does Donna Tartt-- if anything, she overstates and overwrites in all but a few of this novel's 775 pages.

This is an old fashioned, plot/character driven work that moves propulsively forward with elements of mystery and suspense.  Setting too plays an important part and is vividly realized, especially in the New York and Las Vegas portions of the novel.  Much of the tone of the work seems overwrought, but then so are the events and the protagonist, Theo Decker, who, in the opening section of the novel, experiences injury and the death of others in a horrific explosion in, of all places, an exhibition of Dutch Masters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Theo's escape, along with a masterpiece of Dutch painting, Carel Fabritius' "The Goldfinch," forms the backbone of the story, and it is ultimately the enduring power of art to bring about redemption and reconciliation that gives the novel its most powerful thematic element.  If this is too blatantly stated in the last chapter of the book, it is nonetheless necessary, to give this work a sense of hope--otherwise we are left with a wreck of a human being who has desperately failed to put his life back together after the deaths of both his mother and father.

 

Though all the old fashioned elements are present, there is nothing in the least old fashioned about the way Ms. Tartt tells her story.  It has all the gritty and at times ugly naturalistic detail of a contemporary novel, but it also has moments of sheer beauty and sensitivity, especially when it deals with the creative and restorative processes in life that make it worth living.  The older antique dealer Hobie and the tough young Boris stand at opposite poles in Theo's life, the Apollo and Dionysus of his existence.  These two characters are drawn so well that they almost leave young Theo in the shade, a sympathetic but at times rather pale protagonist in contrast to these two, one of whom regrettably is swallowed up by the end of the novel.  Perhaps it is so with life, as the author hints, paying her highest tribute to a work of art like "The Goldfinch," a creation that not only escapes destruction but gives meaning to life after death.

Tech Zoo

Did you get new technology for Christmas?  An ipad, Kindle, or laptop?  Any kind of tablet?  Confused about what your device can do?  We can help!!!

Tech Zoo

 

Monday, January 6, 2014 - all day

 

or

 

Thursday, January 9, 2014 - 5:30 p.m.

Just bring in your device and let us help you get started.  We can trouble shoot any problems you're having, or just help you learn what the device will do and how to use the features.  We can also set up Overdrive so that you can check out e-books from Franklin County Library.

Christmas Schedule

New Books!!!

 

Christmas Treats!

Do you need something quick and easy to make for your Christmas guests?  Maybe one of these recipes from library staff will be what you need!

Small Cheesecake Balls

by Debbie

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, cold
1 jar maraschino cherries
graham cracker crumbs

Make small balls with the cold cream cheese.  Using your finger, make an indention in the top of the ball and insert a maraschino cherry.  Close the cream cheese over the cherry.  Roll the ball in graham cracker crumbs.

Texas Caviar

by Lisa

2 medium chopped tomatoes
1 can black-eyed peas
1 medium chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup snipped cilantro
1 can shoepeg corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 small bottle Italian Dressing

Mix all ingredients together, chill for 1 hour.  Serve with crackers.

 

Texas Trash

by Lisa

 

Dry ingredients:

1 box Rice Chex

1 box Wheat Chex

1 box Corn Chex

1 box pretzels  

1 lb. mixed nuts

3 cups Cheerios

1 lg. can shoe string potatoes

 

Sauce:

1 Tbs. Tobasco sauce

1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. accent salt

1 stick butter

1 cup bacon grease

 

Simmer sauce ingredients for 10 minutes.  Mix dry ingredients together. Pour sauce over dry mixture and bake at 225° for 1 hour stirring every 10 to 15 minutes.



Fire Crackers

by Lisa

 

1 box Saltine Crackers - (4 sleeves)

3/4 cup of Canola oil

1 Tbsp Red Pepper Flakes

1 packet dry ranch dressing mix

1 2.5 gallon Ziploc Bag

 

Add all the ingredients except the crackers to the bag.  Close the bag and mix all the ingredients by shaking the bag well.  Add all 4 sleeves of crackers and close the bag.  Turn the bag over several times to coat crackers.  Let the bag rest for a couple of hours, turning the bag every 15 minutes or so.  Air dry crackers on a cookie sheet.

Julie's Journal : What I've Been Reading

A couple of weeks ago, I put out a request on this blog for book recommendations.  I was having a hard time finding something interesting to read. Tom Wilkinson, who writes book reviews for this blog, recommended Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City.

If you have never read Larson, you are in for a treat.  Meticulously researched, his nonfiction reads like a novel; the historical figures portrayed seem to walk off the page.  The Devil in the White City tells the story of two very different men, an architect and a murderer.  It is centered around Daniel Hudson Burnham and Dr. H.H. Holmes and their lives in Chicago in the first half of the 1890's. 

Mr. Burnham was an architect and was responsible for the building of the World's Fair : Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair.  The fair was timed to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of America and it's organizers' main goal was to surpass an exposition that had taken place in Paris in 1889 that had drawn 32 million visitors.  The Paris exposition had had as its main attraction the newly unveiled Eiffel Tower.  The Chicago architects wanted something equally spectacular to draw visitors to their exposition.  After many failed proposals, a design by George Ferris was accepted, and construction on the Ferris Wheel began.  Larson's portrayal of Burnham is of a man fighting against the political machines and red tape of his time to accomplish a spectacular fair in very limited time.  The choice of a location, the design of the buildings, the budget, and creative details all ultimately fell on his shoulders.  The fair would either be his greatest success or his greatest failure.  The details that Larson is able to describe of the process of building the fair, along with his portrayal of Burnham as a man, makes for a very interesting read.

Combined with Daniel Burnham's story is the story of Dr. H.H. Holmes.  A very different man, Dr. Holmes is believed to be responsible for the murders of between 27 and 200 people during the time of the World's Fair.  Dr. Holmes built a hotel not far from the fair grounds, in order to attract fair goers.  His hotel included the normal amenities, along with a few more sinister ones.  His hotel included a vault which could be sealed to become both sound and air proof.  In the vault was a gas valve that he could control from his office.  Also in the hotel was a basement, that included a "kiln", built primarily so that Dr. Holmes could dispose of his victims via cremation.  In a gruesome twist, Dr. Holmes also sold the bodies of some of his victims, for the purpose of making medical skeletons out of them.  The skeletons were then sold to medical schools.  Eventually caught and convicted, Dr. Holmes was hanged on May 7, 1896.

I found Erik Larson's writing style easy to read and very interesting.  I have now started reading another of his books, Isaac's Storm, the story of Isaac Cline, Galveston's resident U.S. Weather Bureau meteorologist during the hurricane of 1900.  The Galveston Hurricane was not predicted by any meteorologist.  I haven't gotten very far into this book, but so far it is as interesting as The Devil in the White City.  Isaac comes to life in it's pages.

As this post has run on long enough, I'll have to tell you about some of the lighter fiction I've also been reading in a later post.

Little Oaks Christian Academy

Today we were pleased to welcome a visit from the Little Oaks Christian Academy. 

They brought 9 students for a story and science experiment.

First, Julie showed them the Magic Milk experiment.

 

Then Lisa read Dewey's Christmas in the Library, a true story about a library cat.

 

 



 

The kids finished up their visit by getting to open up their FIRST Christmas present of the year, a bag of goodies from the library.  We very much enjoyed their visit, and hope all the kids come back to check out books and attend Marvelous Mondays!!

Christmas Wreath Winner!!!

The winner of the Friends of the Library Christmas Wreath Drawing was...

Linda Edmondson

Congratulations!! 

Inclement Weather

Please bear with us during the next few days.  Our schedule will depend on the weather.  We hope you stay warm and safe during any winter weather.  Please don't get out on icy roads unless you absolutely have to.

Also, due to the possibility of icing and extremely cold temperatures, we have decided to postpone the drawing for our wreath until Monday at 12:00.  We will announce the winner here on our blog, on Facebook, Twitter, and in the newspaper.

Happiness....

E-books Available Now!

Franklin County Library is pleased to bring you e-books!

E-books are available for checkout now!!  Come on by so we can get you set up.  Be sure to bring your device with you and we will be glad to help you.  Thousands of e-books are available.