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Just saw a book club at the local library in Boise arguing over whether the main character in 'The Goldfinch' was sympathetic or just a mess.
One person said they felt for him after losing his mom, but another called him a selfish disaster who ruined every life he touched, and now I'm rethinking my whole take on the book.
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cole_walker2614d ago
Man, that's a tough one. I remember putting the book down feeling totally drained by Theo's choices, like the whole Vegas section. But then you remember he's just a traumatized kid acting out. Do you think the people calling him a selfish disaster are maybe ignoring how grief can totally break a person's moral compass?
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wren21713d ago
Yeah, "selfish disaster" is a pretty harsh label for a kid whose whole world blew up. It's like judging a car crash victim for not having perfect posture in the ambulance. Trauma doesn't exactly come with an instruction manual for good behavior.
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