#they are the barbour of the goldfinch by donna tartt

[katakosmos]

drop the alexandre and beatrice lore like rn pretty please

(i'm referring to this post, for people who haven't seen it)

they had a white nights first meeting. a month after alexandre, druella and amélie moved to london, when he could barely speak english and he always carried with him a pocket dictionary.

beatrice had already seen him a couple of times, he had caught her attention: he sat in pubs and listened to the conversations of the nearby tables, writing some words and expressions in his little notebook. and he was a wizard, she understood it right away, because when he walked down the street he kept touching the top of his coat, making sure he hadn't lost what the muggles thought was a wallet, but was actually a wand.

beatrice liked to mingle with muggles, pretending to be one of them and wearing their strange clothes. so, when alexandre found her alone in a dark, deserted street, she continued to act. she curled her red lips into a smile, fixed her hair and straightened his crumpled beret. alexandre was hypnotized.

he offered to walk her home, using gestures more than words. and beatrice, laughing, took him to a park instead, where they sat on a bench under a street lamp.

"where are you from?" she asked.

he didn't know the english word for hellas, so he said it in french, showing her a postcard of athens that he kept in his notebook.

luckily, she understood. "oh, greece!"

"and france."

"france! i studied french when i was little, but i can only say a few things: je m'appelle beatrice et tu es très beau."

when the night ended, they didn't know if they'd see each other again. they were both pureblood wizards, they knew what their duty was, they knew that their future was not in their hands. so imagine alexandre's happiness when, at the party introducing the rosiers to english society (all the most powerful families of wizards had been invited), he saw beatrice. of course she already knew who he is.

they agreed to get married only on the condition that beatrice would take care of the house and alexandre of the children. beatrice was the one who officially took care of upholding the family name, she was invited to meetings and private parties, she had contact with the high members of the magical society. alexandre instead preferred to spend his time at home, he raised and educated the twins (who were unmanageable). in his free time he read or built model boats. and he was usually a kind and funny person, if he wasn't disturbed: the cause of his bad mood was often the rudeness of his children, and his punishments were severe.

they weren't affectionate parents, they never said "i love you", they never kissed, and the only moments they spent together were breakfast and dinner, when beatrice came home exhausted, she fell on the sofa clutching her temples, and rolled her eyes every time alexandre saw her and made one of his usual stupid jokes.

but, in the summer, they often went out for dinner, leaving the twins alone with their aunt, their cousin, and the house elves. and, on their wedding anniversary, they always walked to that park, and sat on the bench for a while, looking at the moon.

[bandaiddd]

The way Donna Tartt writes women both hurts me and makes me fascinated because on one hand, it’s incredibly realistic, but also feeds into stereotypes as she writes from a male narrative.

We often ignore this, that Tartt focuses primarily on men in her novels, she has her own idea of what men are like and how they behave. In The Goldfinch, all the men are destructive, they aren’t moral or kind while the women, such as Kitsey and Pippa, are idealised into this idea of true love or “wife material” and are rarely viewed beyond this - so when they do something outside a moral boundary, such as Kitsey cheating, it’s demonised almost, as if Theo wasn’t incredibly distant and using drugs/cheating behind her back.

In The Secret History, Camilla is someone to be protected, she is hurt and fragile (within the male perspective) and rarely has her own plot outside of being a victim or love interest unlike the other characters. She is destined to care for others and be hurt in return.

So while it’s fun to focus on this unreliable narrative, I find it even more interesting how androcentric her novels are.

[diivinesmite]

only my favorite girl in the world

[estranhossonhos]

Just finished watching «The Goldfinch» and...

... It's been a while since a movie impacted me this much. Beautifully shot, it has this nostalgic feeling that I can't describe but it gripes you; an amazing cast (TW: still disappointed at Ansel, for his 2020 SA allegations This movie was released before the allegations came out, but I've seen he is still acting, so I need to google how that ended), and the OST?! UGH!

You can hear in the background Beethoven, Bessie Smith, The National, Radiohead and New Order (amongst others I didn't recognize but will certainly try to find out, and binge listen to them, this weekend - at least!). Simply perfect!

[fruitybookworm]

i can't believe andy barbour died doing something he absolutely fucking loathed.. dying young is already horribly sad, but he drowned because the boat he dreaded getting on every year capsized ?? fuck that. i'm so upset now

[theotherwoman69]

Didn't Tom Cable like bully Andy? And doesn't it make Kitsey even a bigger asshole?

[aswiumn]

I've been saying lately that Boris isn't in love with Theo, but I need to get other people's opinions. If those who read the book think that Boris is in love, please write why they think so. Those who watched the movie and came here, please do not write in vain, because in the movie Boris looks like he is in love, what is important is the book.

[therealdostoevsky]

date idea: going to Boris and Theo's wedding together

[sparklygraves]

if you could save one person in The Goldfinch from an untimely demise, who would you choose?

Theo’s mom, dad, Welty, Andy, Mr. Barbour…..?

[thegoldfinchh]

taking a moment to remind you all of the goldfinch subreddit on Reddit! Sub’s been a bit quiet recently, so come hang out with us on r/the_goldfinch!

[undescribed1mage]

Kitsey 'Add em all up and you still get zero, what you really need is a futher-mucking hero!' Barbour

[aswiumn]

I'm still traumatized by this word from Boris. Although there are articles proving that Boris is in love with Theo, no one can answer this.

can we talk about “i think maybe you thought it was something else”??????? talk about THE most heartbreaking line EVER????? everything theo thought of their relationship when they were teens— re-contextualized??? fucking shattering.

[bandaiddd]

My main argument for Theo Decker being queer is that never once, throughout the entire novel, is he ever truly enjoying himself in his straight relationships.

With Pippa, he is always trying to impress her and go overboard and is almost delusional as his mind runs in circles between deep attraction/love and his memories. Pippa is so right when she says they just make one another dysfunctional, Theo would never feel 100% secure with her. Then with Kitsey, he states repeatedly that it’s a marriage of convenience. Then, he speaks of his first sexual experience and its with a woman so much older, I would consider it assault/grooming. It’s also seen through Boris and Kotku, but that would be a separate analysis because of how Boris operates as queer person.

Then we have Boris. Who while is self-destructive and cruel, matches Theo so perfectly. They are both so extreme, either abundantly happy or extremely depressed. It’s like with Pippa, they make each other dysfunctional as teens. But when they rekindle as adults, it’s as if Theo can’t help but enjoy himself and be comfortable completely in Boris’ presence. It’s a ‘right person, wrong time’ situation. People who are everything to one another: brothers, lovers, best friends etc. that it is too overwhelming to comprehend and therefore can’t work. They aren’t forever partners, but more those people you struggle to forget for as long as you live - purely because they were so inspiring in how they loved you.

[willothewispwisteriadawn]

We need to talk about Tartt’s character descriptions

More Donna Tartt praise.

She writes human physical descriptions in the most genuine and true-to-life ways. I didn’t even realize how many books do not go into the actual nuance of human appearances until I read TSH and Goldfinch.

I think most books kind of categorize people as pretty, ugly, or plain then lean into what generally makes people pretty, ugly, or plain plus hair and eye colors. I love how Tartt’s books make characters appear how the majority of people really do: an assortment of specific details. There’s Boris’s bitten nails and how Henry is big and square but does not carry himself as if he is. Bunny is a once-muscled guy (now more chubby) whose naturally good looks are starting to get a little sloppy. His nose is also a bit small/sharp for his face shape. Camilla is pretty, and we hear about her thick ankles and the way her curls rest at her temples. Francis is nice-looking because he carries and styles himself well, but we hear that those things compensate for his kind of beaky nose and boney angles.

Pippa is another great example! Theo describes her looks as tender and precious. She comes across as very cute in a homely way. But we hear that her eyes look “naked” because her lashes are so pale (I can imagine this so well!) and that her nose is long. Her cheeks are thin. Theo notes these things, and thinks she’s pretty anyway; he assumes he must have some personal affinity for her and is given a wake-up call when Everett also finds these traits cute.

OH actually let me squeeze in Mr. Barbour here. Because lol???

His eyes were a queer unstable gray and his hair was pure white, which made him seem older than he was until you noticed that his face was young and pink — boyish, even. His ruddy cheeks and his long, old-fashioned nose, in combination with the prematurely white hair, gave him the amiable look of a lesser founding father, some minor member of the Continental Congress teleported to the twenty-first century.

This is so specific and so easy to see. It stuck out to me when I read it, and my mom mentioned it to me when she read it. She said she was really hit by Andy’s dad’s description and thought it was funny but did a really good job delivering an image.

It’s just so real and gets at how normal people actually are: not always pretty in a “safe” way. Tartt has the guts to give you a description of an actual unique, textured person and say “This is nice.” Or, in Bunny’s case, give someone who is basically handsome but not necessarily pleasant-looking. Theres so much nuance, and it’s honest.

It kind of made me rethink how I write human descriptions. There are “safe” things to point out that become a little insubstantial if you combine too many of them: “The pretty girl has glossy hair and curves and bright blue eyes.” And then there’s going into actual shapes and the way people carry themselves and how some features look against others. It honestly just makes the characters really pop and they’re easy to envision.

[gondolin-but-not-forgottenlin]

Ranking the morality of Donna tartt characters.

I will apologize I have not read the little friend.

From least to most-

Francis Abernathy and Camilla Macaulay do not have a particularly evident moral compass but then on the other end, aren't immoral either. Shown by- Francis feeling bad for killing a man but not bad enough and Camilla going down with Henry to see if bunny was really dead.

Boris pavlikovsky runs a drug cartel/ is a mafia boss. His business involves killing people but then he has never (I think) killed anyone for a personal vengeance. Has a fairly good moral compass.

Richard papen Richard is a character on the sidelines in his own narration. Most of what is done is not done by him but rather told to him. He is not directly responsible for any immoral acts committed not is he a part of them. He is also manipulated the entire book so..

Bunny Corcoran did not commit any immoral acts but then used a murder committed by his friends as a bait to get them to do things for him and did not go to the police but used the upper hand that he could in fact go to the police as incentive for his friends money. Was homophobic and sexist and did not care much about morals.

Theodore decker Theo had, I think, the most morals out of any Donna tartt character. One could argue that his actions after killing a man were due to general melancholy about existence but like. Wouldn't he have killed himself already..? His actions towards pippa are downright stalker..ish? but his affections and views towards pippa are not of a person but rather a thing. He returned the goldfinch when he could have kept it (I think.). Yeah sure he sold fake antiques but compared to other crimes on this list it's pretty lame. Is overall a guy with fairly good morals

Side characters such as Judy poovey, hobie, theos mom, pippa, Mrs barbour among others.

Popchyk

[boywithskull]

Or “he was a planet without an atmosphere.” That line circulates in my head daily

“as thin and pale as a starved poet” donna tartt, i love you.