The best thing about the book The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt is the voice that she shows. I really love how she manages to connect with the reader. She talks like she lives in New York as a thirteen year old. Many times, she connects with the reader by using casual diction. She uses the vernacular of the area she is in. She also explores issues that the main character would face as if she herself were facing them. This allows the reader to think about these issues in a deeper way.
In other passages she decides to use upper level/ elevated diction to convey an idea in the text. She says "That life - whatever else it is - is short. That fate is cruel but maybe not random. That Nature (meaning Death) always wins but that doesn’t mean we have to bow and grovel to it. That maybe even if we’re not always so glad to be here, it’s our task to immerse ourselves anyway: wade straight through it, right through the cesspool, while keeping eyes and hearts open. And in the midst of our dying, as we rise from the organic and sink back ignominiously into the organic, it is a glory and a privilege to love what Death doesn’t touch.". This diction makes the passage much more meaningful. The use of words such as grovel, immerse, cesspool, midst, and ignominously let the message of the passage sink in and resonate with the reader.
The Goldfinch recently won a Pulitzer Prize! Read the Story here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/donna-tartt
This sounds like an interesting book! The fact that the author is so relatable and easy to connect with makes me want to read this book. Your post was very informing and I like the quote you used.
ReplyDeleteI like that the author connects to the reader by using casual diction.
ReplyDeleteI really like books where you can actually relate to the author because they use low/informal diction. I think this sounds like a good book
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