Book Review: The Goldfinch

[osprey_archer]

Unlike The Secret History, which grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go until I galloped to the end, Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch is an unevenly paced book. In the first two hundred pages, there’s a terrorist attack on the Metropolitan Museum of Art which leaves our protagonist Theo trapped in a gallery, where he steals a small but exquisite painting, The Goldfinch, which really ought to be exciting but in fact did not grab me with any urgency.

The explosion also kills Theo’s mother, leaving Theo essentially orphaned, as no one knows how to find his deadbeat dad - and it’s only when said deadbeat dad shows up and drags Theo off to live in Las Vegas that the book really grabbed me.

It’s not because of the dad himself, mind, but because the move introduces Theo to Boris Pavlikovsky.



Boris Pavlikovsky is a sweetheart, which seems like a weird thing to say about a fifteen-year-old drug addict who introduced our hero to shoplifting and sniffing glue, but it’s true. Theo is adrift in the desert and also despair, but he comes to life again when he meets Boris, who calls Theo “Potter” (for Harry Potter, because of Theo’s glasses). Almost instantly they are inseparable companions, talking about nothing and everything and watching old movies and looking after each other, because neither of them have any responsible adults to do things like “stock food in the fridge” or “give them a curfew” or even notice on any kind of regular basis whether they’re still alive.

They also sleep together, both in the literal sense (the exchange that launched a thousand fics: “Shh, Potter. Is only me,” which Boris says to Theo one night when they wake up all snuggled together and Theo tries to slip inconspicuously away, because this is maybe… kind of gay??? But half-asleep Boris is just like, more snuggling) but also in the figurative sense that they definitely screw around when they’re drunk and high on all the various substances that they can get their hands on.

Also Theo is SO in love with Boris, there is an entire section which is about the time that Boris got a girlfriend and Theo is explaining in great detail why this bothered him without ever actually saying I WAS SO JEALOUS THAT IT NEARLY CHOKED ME, although the lengthy explanations that he does offer make it absolutely clear that he was, in fact, nearly suffocated by his own jealousy.

The thing about Theo is that he is wildly! intensely! horrendously! uncomfortable with his own sexuality. My personal read is that he’s bi, but deeply in denial and trying so so hard to repress his attraction to men, but you could also make an argument that he’s gay and his relationships with women are just an attempt to convince himself otherwise. His relationship with Pippa definitely fits that pattern - he loves her in part because of her unattainability, because he can love her without ever having to actually physically be with her.

But he does enjoy having sex with his fiance Kitsey, which is why I lean toward the theory that Theo is bi, but really really uncomfortable with his attraction to men, and also deeply uncomfortable with having to actually express feelings or needs or actually get to know the person that he’s with, which is why he’s so hung up on Boris despite said aforementioned discomfort, because Boris gets him without Theo having to do any of the damn work.

Except! What kills me! Eventually Theo leaves Vegas, and also Boris, and they’re separated for a bunch of chapters, and then they meet again as adults - and Boris actually mentions their previous sexual escapades, and he’s all, this is just a thing that happens with teenagers sometimes when they’re horny and high, it doesn’t mean much, except maybe I think it meant more to you?

And with most characters! I could fanwank my way around this! “He said that because he was repressing the strength of his feelings because of internalized homophobia,” I would say, and ship merrily on.

Unfortunately Boris is the LEAST repressed character EVER and if he wanted to bang Theo, you just know that he would have come breezing back into Theo’s life all “Potter! Let’s bang!”

Or perhaps not quite that directly, given that Boris stole Theo’s stolen painting and believes that Theo knows and is angry about it (Theo has in fact not removed the object he believes is the painting from its wrappings in years, and doesn’t know about the theft). Maybe Boris would want to butter Theo up first and then broach the subject of “Hey! Let’s bang!”

But Boris is such a straightforward person that I’m struggling to think of a reason why he would straight up tell Theo that he’s not sexually interested in men if that were not, in fact, the truth. Except! I don’t want it to be the truth! Because if Boris is straight, that means that Theo’s enormous crush is doomed to remain forever unrequited, and that prospect is crushing my soul!

There are pairings in this world where I love the angst of unrequited love, but this is not one of them. Theo has been through so much already that all I want is for him to be able to sleep in Boris’s arms forever for the rest of his life.

I have dipped my toes into the waters of fanfic and so far people seem to be just kind of ignoring this exchange (possibly the recent movie didn’t include it, anyway? A lot of the fic seems to be drawing on the movie) in favor of “Shh, Potter,” and also the scene where Boris crashes Theo’s engagement party. But if anyone has a good solid in-universe explanation that still leaves open the possibility of Boris someday returning Theo’s feelings, please let me know.

Comments

[osprey_archer]

Ultimately the vibe I got with Theo is that he is bisexual, BUT so obsessed with convincing himself that he's DEFINITELY NOT GAY EVEN SLIGHTLY that it gives his relationships with women (Kitsey, particularly) a performative vibe, even though there's also a genuine element to them. He's performing his straightness to himself and the rest of the world.

But his crush on Pippa is semi-secret (although clearly Pippa and Hobie know about it, at least somewhat), so that quality is much less pronounced. (OMG, though, that scene where he takes Pippa to see the documentary about Glenn Gould? And it ends up hitting on practically every single one of Pippa's most painful spots? In a way that he maybe could have predicted if he thought about it more, but you can also see why he didn't see it till they actually went? CRUSHING.)

Yes, I can see that take on Boris - definitely more sexually into women than Theo is, probably more sexually into women just in general (if Theo's like a four on the Kinsey scale, Boris is probably a two). Could probably be convinced to have sex with Theo again! And by convinced I mean Theo would just have to ask and Boris might be there with bells on.

Possibly not willing to have an exclusive monogamous relationship with Theo, though? Would Boris give up women? I could see them having a sort of on-again, off-again thing where sometimes Boris jets into town and they get wasted and have sex for three days, and then Boris is gone for six months doing God knows what with God knows who.

On the other hand, I am not convinced that Theo could cope with this arrangement. He might spontaneously combust from sheer jealousy, particularly if he ever met one of Boris's other lovers.

[rachelmanija]

It's hard to imagine them having a relationship as utterly exclusive and wrapped up in each other as they did when they were kids, because though I think that's exactly what Theo wants in his heart of hearts, it's not what Boris wants. Boris only did that for a while because his life was so isolated; when he has opportunities for a larger life, he takes them.

I could see them having a "don't ask/don't tell" relationship like you describe though. It would be very intense and exclusive in short bursts, and then Boris would vanish for a while and do other things but always come back. I think Theo's denial could cope with that so long as Boris makes sure anyone else he fucks around with is never in Theo's vicinity.

[osprey_archer]

Yes, absolutely, if a good fairy came down and offered Theo the chance to have that Las Vegas relationship with Boris (pre-Kotku) continue forever and ever, Theo would probably take it in a heartbeat. Denial and all! "We have sex sometimes, but it doesn't mean anything!" Perfect. Exactly what he wants. They never have to talk about their feelings ever and it's great.

Boris, meanwhile, clearly wants a bigger life than that, although I bet he would love being able to come to New York occasionally for those intensive and exclusive short bursts of relationship time with Theo. Then he goes off and does his thing and Theo stays in New York and embraces denial (both of the fact that Boris is definitely out there doing it with other people, and the fact that maybe this relationship where they have sex sometimes is kind of gay), which we already know he's super good at. In a weird way it could be quite a stable relationship: they're both getting exactly what they want out of it.

[rachelmanija]

Yes! I could totally see this. And now I want fic.

I wonder if Theo could ever admit to himself, in that context, that Boris is the love of his life? I think it would be very difficult for him, especially if Boris isn't there all the time, because for Theo "I love you" means "You will be killed in a museum explosion."

Pippa is safe not just because she's unavailable, but because she already survived the explosion and so is the one person for whom it's in the past rather than looming in the future.

But! Theo literally did save Boris's life! Maybe he could take that as the disaster that, this time, was finally averted.

I just want those two crazy traumatized addict kids to be happy together, goddammit.

[osprey_archer]

Maybe occasionally when he's really drunk he admits to himself that Boris is the love of his life, or possibly even tells Boris that (but only when he's so drunk he probably won't remember tomorrow), but on a day to day basis he would probably tie himself into pretzels to avoid admitting it. I can just see Hobie being like "So will Boris be around for Christmas this year?" and Theo's all "HOW SHOULD I KNOW, it's not like he's the most important person in my life and I think about him constantly when he's not here, he's probably got Christmas plans with someone else and I'm TOTALLY FINE WITH IT."

Boris shows up for Christmas anyway, though, because he knows it's important to Theo even though Theo might literally rather die than admit it.

Do we ever see Pippa and Boris interact? It would be really interesting to see what relationship they develop over time.

[rachelmanija]

Oh, man, I so want to see Boris spending Christmas with Hobie and Theo and Pippa. He can horrify Hobie by reminiscing about the Vegas Christmas.

Pippa and Boris never interact. I kept hoping they would. In some ways they have a lot in common: trauma, strangers in a strange land, and they both seem very much in touch with themselves and their own needs and desires UNLIKE A CERTAIN SOMEONE.

[osprey_archer]

Boris and Pippa become BFFs and even though it's 100% platonic, Theo is EATEN ALIVE with jealousy. Just look at them over there talking! Probably discussing their needs and desires like grown-ups! UGH HE CAN'T STAND IT and what might they be saying about him?

[rachelmanija]

I want this fic.

[osprey_archer]

Do they actually talk about Theo? Pippa tells Boris how terrifying it is that Theo is so so fixated on her, and she loves him too but she knows that she could never love him with the all-consuming love that Theo wants, and Boris tells Pippa how he adores Theo but Theo just can't fully accept his love and sometimes that makes Boris frantic... and they have very carefully had this conversation somewhere where Theo ought never to have overheard any of it, but because Theo is a human disaster with the worst timing in the world, somehow he eavesdrops at least some of it. And fixates on 'They're TALKING ABOUT ME BEHIND MY BACK" instead of "Gosh, they both love me so so much."

[rachelmanija]

YES, THIS.

[osprey_archer]

Does Theo talk to either of them about it, or does he just eat his heart out for the next month?

[rachelmanija]

Theo intends to silently eat his heart out over it, but now that they've compared notes, they take a guess about what's going on and tackle him.

[osprey_archer]

I'm also imagining Theo deciding that he's going to be grown up about this! and let it go! but because he's Theo this somehow turns into being even less emotionally available than usual to both Boris and Pippa. It reminds Boris of how Theo used to go all stiff and "this definitely doesn't bother me at all" about Kotku, except Boris isn't dating anyone now, so... and then he compares notes with Pippa and they realize they can trace it to the same day as their conversation and oh.

The idea of Boris/Theo/Pippa OT3 just occurred to me and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

[rachelmanija]

I kind of anti-ship Theo/Pippa but now I'm wondering if Boris would balance that out.

[osprey_archer]

Would Theo actually want Pippa once he had her? If they were dating, the realities of Pippa as a person might make it impossible for him to hold onto Pippa the romanticized ideal who symbolizes his lost childhood and innocence.

Maximum angst addition: Boris and Pippa date, and Theo is not romantically involved with either of them.

[rachelmanija]

Oh my god, my heart could not take that.

[osprey_archer]

It may be one of the most brutal fic premises I have ever imagined. Just thinking about it makes me sad. Did they at least try to get Theo involved, and Theo was all "I'M TOO STRAIGHT TO DATE YOU, BORIS"?

[rachelmanija]

PIPPA. I loved her (and Hobie) almost as much as I loved Boris. I really wished we could see more of her and get more of her perspective, though at least we did get that letter. But I wanted to know what she does with her life!

I agree, Pippa was Theo's only non-performative romantic relationship with a woman. But it was also so much about Pippa as symbol rather than Pippa as person. She's his lost mother, his lost childhood, his pain shared by only one other person, his twin. The bit at the end was even more devastating for me than the Glenn Gould movie, where he mentions the "adorable" drag to her walk and speech as the aspects of her that he loved for that link with his idealized "before," but for her, they were the things that had destroyed her future.

At least she had the sense to get together with a nice vegetarian rather than with Theo.

[osprey_archer]

Yes, the nicest thing Pippa ever did for herself was get together with Everett. Not that I'm all that attached to Everett specifically, but his existence helps keep Pippa free from the whirlwind that is Theo; coping with Theo in the longterm rather than in short bursts might crush her, at least as long as they're together.

And YES, Theo loves Pippa-the-symbol at least as much as Pippa-the-person - to the extent of seeing her disabilities as adorable in a way that basically disregards the impact they've had on her life/music, her identity that was so tied into her sense of herself as a musician.

I've seen some criticism of Pippa's characterization on this account - that she's too romanticized, too symbolic - but I think it's very much a result of Theo's perspective, and Tartt knows Pippa's an actual person, and we get enough information about Pippa that we can get at least some understanding of what kind of person she is outside of Theo's gaze - even though Theo is the one relaying all the information to us.

[rachelmanija]

I did feel that way about Pippa - Theo's view was very idealized, but you could see the real person peeking out from beneath the gloss.