The Goldfinch - is it worth persevering with?

[shoppingbagsundereyes]

Jeez she does go on. As a rule I ditch books where sentences last entire paragraphs and nothing happens for pages on end. I've read for about an hour so far and am still only on 5% so I'm guessing it's a big old book ( one thing I really don't like about Kindle reading is never knowing how long a book is).

Just read the other thread and everyone's raving about it. Perhaps I just need to crack on.

I didn't persevere life is too short to read long monotonous boring books!

I liked it. It took me three goes to get into but once in I really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed it....

I did finish it but only through sheer determination. It goes on and on an on and on. Did not really enjoy it at all! Felt nothing for any of the characters and just wanted to get to the bloody end! Also read it on Kindle so couldn't really know how long it was. If I'd seen the actual book I think I would have given up (and I rarely do that).

I haven't read but do have it downloaded to read. There was a thread about reading 50 books this year and it appears on there a lot and people seem to like it so I'm definitely going to give it a go.

I have a kindle which I use the most but I also have the kindle app on my phone as this allows me to check how many pages a book is and how long reading time is left (best on my average reading speed). Just checked it out and it is 771 pages.

I really enjoyed it. It is long, but it's very readable and well written.

I was bitterly disappointed - loved the beginning and prob the first 1/3 of the book, started to get worn down by the 2nd 3rd, final 3rd I slogged through just through sheer determination to finish it.

There are some beautifully written moments in it but could have done with a heavy handed editor. In all honesty, if you're finding it a slog now, you will most likely hate the rest of it! The beginning few chapters are the best bit...

I loved it, it's fabulous. I like to get lost in a book, rather than page turn to rush to the end.

I've read it and was a bit "meh"

I can't say I hated it but it didn't really grab me the the way Secret History did. Agree with Americas, the first third is pretty good but then it goes off at a tangent which I didn't really enjoy.

I gave up,I also gave up on The Secret boringHistory. I have now given up on her completely

Loved The Secret History but I can't get on with the Goldfinch at all.

The Secret History was good but a bit trashy. I loved The Little Friend but this so needed a good editor and a third taken off it.

I loved Secret History and Little Friend too so maybe my expectations were very high for Goldfinch....Can't believe she won the Pulitzer for it

I got the Audible version and listened to it in the way to work, when I was cooking, cleaning up etc. I think with a kindle or print version I would have found something quicker to read. Parts of the book do seem to go on and on and on. However certain scenes are excellent and overall I am glad I persisted with it.

No, it is not.
HTH
:o

I really liked it, I had to find out what happened and I wasn't disappointed at all. Persevere! It all comes round ish in the end.

It's ok. I sort of enjoyed it.

I'm enjoying it. It's easy to dip in and out of. I'm at about 85% on my Kindle now but been reading it for weeeeks!! Haven't engaged with it to the extent I have with other books but not been tempted to abandon it.

....Although reading my comment back I appear to be damning it with faint praise

I loved it, I read it on my kindle alongside other books. But I think if you're not enjoying it you should stop. I've given up on books that everyone seems to love before (perks of being a wallflower for one) life's too short!

I loved it too. I liked the druggy bit in the middle, bit of voyeurism now I'm clearly too old to do anything do exciting, but still a bit tragic. The ending did seem to go on a bit, and to be honest the whole premise is a bit . I spent most of the time shouting- just fucking tell someone! I was going to bed early to get it read.

Now the luminaries, that I am finding a slog. So I'm on mn instead of proper reading.

I agree that if you're finding it a slog, then you should give up.

I'm waiting for it to come out in paperback as I don't do brick-sized hardbacks.

Good start, okayish middle bit, terrible last third. The actual end was ok.

I really came to dislike the main charcter.

Started so well, middle part was a drag and ending too complicated. I only finished it because I was reading it for a book club.

Couldn't get on with it at all and I loved both her last novels. Persevered for a couple of hundred pages then gave up as I was really not looking forward to picking it up and battling my way through it. Didn't like or care about any of the characters.

There are enough books on my unread pile that I really want to read - life is definitely too short to slog through something that you feel you ought to like but really don't...