If someone were to ask why I chose to become an English Literature major, at first the question might make me laugh. When I think back on my life, it feels obvious, it’s hard to imagine myself ever choosing a different path. I’ve loved reading my whole life, after all. And yet, I realize that I really didn’t decide to become an English Literature major until my freshman year of high school. While there are many different reasons why choosing this major was the right decision for me, I was set on this path by a single book, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.
When I first read The Goldfinch at fourteen years old I had only recently decided that journalism wasn’t for me, after realizing I did not have an interest in making a career of writing. Additionally, at this age, I was primarily reading romance novels. While I loved them at the time, since reading The Goldfinch I have rarely picked up a romance novel, largely because I didn’t connect to them in the same way that I felt connected to The Goldfinch. While I was at an age where I would naturally move away from tween romance novels, and begin to read more advanced literature, it was far more than that. I was enraptured by her beautiful prose, in-depth characters, and thematic relevance to my life. I never felt that the romance novels I previously read had these things, or even comparable complexity in their subject matter.
The Goldfinch is a coming-of-age story, in which you stay with the protagonist Theodore Decker from ages thirteen to twenty-seven. Due to this, he felt like someone real, and someone I knew intimately, and I found that I loved feeling like that. To spend so much time with a character, to get to watch them grow up, and to consistently be sitting with their inner thoughts creates so much room for a deeper connection. Theo’s journey is one that takes us to the depth of human emotions and the core of what it means to exist. Despite being a deeply depressed individual, who mentions several times that he would rather not exist at all, Theo is always continuously searching for -and finding- reasons to live. Going on this journey with Theo expanded my idea of what books could mean and be.
After reading The Goldfinch the trajectory of my reading completely changed. I started exploring a variety of genres, drawn to books that were similar in some way, be it in theme, prose, or simply because the novels were character-driven. For example, The Picture of Dorian Gray deals similarly with art and obsession, Masters of Death by Olivie Blake is character-driven, and On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is similar in prose and themes of family, grief, and love. I found that there were more opportunities to think deeper while reading these books, and that I had fun doing so. It was this that inspired me to look for a path I could take that would allow me to continue to grow as a reader, and discover more incredible books to love. It was this that led me to an English major.
In the five years since I read that book (and I have re-read it since), it has remained my favorite book, and the best thing I have ever read. This is of course because of Donna Tartt’s masterful writing, beautifully complex characters, and timeless themes. However, there is perhaps a touch of sentimentality in this view, as my life has been forever changed for the better because I read The Goldfinch.