Am I the only one who hated the ending of 'The Goldfinch'?

My book club met last Tuesday at the Coffee Bean on 4th Street, and everyone was raving about how the ending wrapped things up nicely. I sat there feeling like the whole final section where Theo ends up in Amsterdam felt rushed and fake compared to the gritty middle of the book. Has anyone else felt like an author copped out with a happy ending that didn't match the rest of the story?

2 comments

2 Comments

rubybarnes21d ago

Yeah when you said the ending "felt rushed and fake" that hit on exactly what bothered me. The middle of that book had this raw desperate energy to it, the way Theo was just barely holding it together. Then all of a sudden he's in Amsterdam having these neat little conversations that wrap up every loose thread. It was like reading two different books. Did it feel to you like Tartt just got tired of writing and took the easiest way out?

kaiharris21d ago

My dad actually had a copy of The Goldfinch that he'd been carrying around for like three years with a bookmark stuck around page 400. He said he just couldn't bring himself to finish it because he knew the ending was probably going to disappoint him. He's the kind of guy who still complains about the last season of Lost like it happened yesterday. I guess there's something about a story that builds up all that raw energy and then just fizzles out that makes people want to throw the book across the room.