“Caring too much for objects can destroy you. “I had the epiphany that laughter was light, and light was laughter, and that this was the secret of the universe.” - The Goldfinch, Chapter 6 – “Wind, Sand and Stars,” Section xv: page 335 Part of a book group? You can use these quotes as discussion questions for The Goldfinch. I’ve included page numbers that correspond to the first hardcover edition. Each one of these The Goldfinch quotes showcases Donna Tartt’s masterpiece, written in lush literary style that is confessional and intimate as our hero and narrator, Theo Decker, speaks from his heart. In this post, I’m going to share some of the best quotes from The Goldfinch. In any case, my love for Tartt’s novel has not let up since reading the book five years ago, and I even wrote a post on this blog with book recommendations for fans of The Goldfinch, which I updated this year with even more great books to read if you loved The Goldfinch. I can’t say for sure if I’m on that path…hopefully I am I first went to library science graduate school thinking I’d want to help connect people with books like that, but later I realized I wanted to learn how to write books like The Goldfinch. At the same time, the reading experience caused an awakening in me I started to unpack the craft mastery needed to write a story like that, one that is intricately plotted, emotionally engaging, and profoundly affecting.Īfter reading The Goldfinch, I decided I needed to leave my administrative assistant job and embark on a career dedicated to recommending and, maybe someday, if I could do it, writing stories like that.

By that I mean I became cognizant of the effect a story like that could have on me. In the most perfect way, the novel made me acutely aware of the possibilities of literature. The connection I felt when I read The Goldfinch in 2014 radically changed my life. I often tell people that Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Goldfinch (2013) is my favorite book-and it’s true.

The goldfinch donna