Why did nobody tell me about Donna Tartt ?

[AnyFucker]

Have just discovered her...am currently reading The Goldfinch

I have some catching up to do, methinks...

I tend to get rid of average to good books once I've read them.

Fantastic books I keep, but I have narrowed them down over the years.

On my 'keepers' bookshelf are Donna Tartt's first two. Must be due a re read soon. She's such an excellent writer.

I loved the Goldfinch also. Enjoy your wine, books and the sun!

The Goldfinch is tremendous (although it lags towards the end)

The section in Las Vegas is magic, I think. She does character AND plot so well.

I had never heard of Fabritius or his paintings, it gave me a lot of pleasure to find out that all that part of the story was true!

(Tell me I'm not the only one who didn't know.)

WowOoo, can you tell me some of your keepers? I've read through most of my amazon wish list and need some good books to look forward to.

Sorry for hijack AnyFucker.

mmack a lot of my 'keepers' are crime/thrillers. Other than that there are loads of classics and other authors that I think will be classics one day.

I had a quick look and this is what I recall from 5 mins ago: Milan Kundera, George Orwell, Dostoyevsky and lots of other Russian, Japanese, French, Italian and Chinese lit, Arthur Conan Doyle, A.L Kennedy, Susan Sontag and Ian McKewan.

I am distinctly meh about The Goldfinch. I dislike all the characters, especially the tedious Boris.

The Secret History I adored

Little Friend - not read but my Mum says is her masterpiece.

Oooh apple - The Secret History is my favorite "imaginary casting" book (and one of my favourite books in general) and I always imagined Gwynnie as Camilla!

Henry - maybe David Boreanz
Francis - the actor who played Rorschach in thingy.
The protagonist - there isn't really a physical description of him but I imagine Matthew Broderick in the part. Bunny would have been Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Julian - Dickie Attenborough
(the benefit of imaginary casting is that you can make them all the right age in your head).

Didn't like The Little Friend at all, but will give The Goldfinch a go.

huh ?

Ooooooh just bought it in Tesco. Was on a deal and I also got Linwood Barclay who is super speedy to whizz through but very samey. Shall do goldfinch first.

I was given The Goldfinch for Christmas, I think, and STILL haven't read it. I must get my act together - the size just makes it daunting. But The Secret History is brilliant, and I loved the Little Friend as well.

Oh Philip Seymour Hoffman as Bunny - that is inspired.

I see Camilla as a young Helena Bonham Carter.

I finished The Goldfinch a month or so, and I still keep thinking about Theo.

I haven't read her other two and definitely want to, but I think I need to read some fluff before I can commit myself like that again!

I loved the first third of The Goldfinch, loved it but by the end I was really struggling.
Quite liked The Secret History but again failed to see what people raved about.

I buy The Secret History for teens going off to university. I read it at 17, and pretty much every year since. Truly my favourite book.

I have The Goldfinch to read and will cry if it is as dull as The Little Friend.

The Secret History is my favourite book of all time. I've read it so many times and each time find some new angle or something I didn't quite pick up on before.

The Goldfinch is a lovely book, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I also enjoyed The Little Friend. The latter isn't generally as well-liked but I enjoyed its understatement.

Ooohhhh the Secret History and the Goldfinch......

Both marvellous, marvellous books.

The Secret History is extremely marvellous.

The Goldfinch is an exquisite masterpiece.

I tried The Little Friend first and couldn't even get halfway through it, but I thought I'd give The Goldfinch a go. Absolutely loved it! Theo is just such a completely real character, it's so well written. Wonderful!
Read The Secret History a couple of weeks ago, and that is also marvellous, though it didn't have the same emotional pull as The Goldfinch for me.

I've not read any of her books and I'm just about to finish one. Will get both The Secret History and The Goldfinch.

Realised I'd posted a bit of a spoiler so reported me own post , sorry about that! (Wasn't a huge one but it's such a good book I wouldn't like to spoil any of it for anyone)

Oh, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Bunny - perfect

I kept closing The Little Friend and looking at the cover going Really? For about 5 years every time I went into my local wonderful second hand bookshop there was another copy of it on the shelf, and never The Secret History.

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Bunny would have worked about 25 years ago and before he died but iswym!

I always wanted The Secret History to be made into a film but was worried they'd fuck it up.

I too reread the secret history annually!

ahhh, woolly I thought it might have been summat seckshual what your name 'n' that

I keep meaning to try The Secret History. The only one of hers that I've read is The Little Friend and it put me right off her. I couldn't believe the ending, it just stopped dead. I honestly thought that my book was misprinted and the last bit had been left off. A week or so after I had finished it I saw a woman on the tube finish it, and she did exactly what I had done. She made a face and flicked back and forward through the end pages trying to find an ending.