Our book club argued over 'The Goldfinch' for three hours straight

Last Thursday at the library in Springfield, my group got stuck on whether Boris was a good friend or just a bad influence. I kept saying the book shows how messy real friendship can be, but Karen was firm that he ruined Theo's life. Has your club ever been split down the middle on a character like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

leet3223d ago

That argument in your Springfield group sounds exactly like our fight over Jude in "A Little Life." We spent a whole meeting just on whether his friends were helping him or letting him down. It made me realize we judge book friends by real world rules, but trauma changes all the math. Boris and Theo are tied together by their damage in a way a normal friendship could never be.

julia6226d ago

Yeah, leet32's point about trauma changing the math is everywhere. I see it with family members who keep showing up for each other's messy problems, even when it looks bad from the outside. It's less about fixing things and more about being the one person who gets the wreckage.

dylan41323d ago

Tbh, our group had the same fight. I read an interview where Donna Tartt said Boris was the only person who could meet Theo in his grief, which made me see their bond differently. It's not about good or bad, it's about who shows up in the wreckage.