# The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

3 Hacker News commenters recommended The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for an absorbing story that made readers forget their troubles; one critic found it not very good.

## Why people recommend it

- Absorbing reading that makes time pass (2 comments): "one of the VERY few books that completely made me forget my misery while I read it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49910697)) "The movie treatment was horribly shallow in comparison" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48833908))
- Long middle section praised (1 comments): "a long, delectable middle that made up for both ends" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48834010))

## What people warn about

- Not very good to some readers (1 comments): "Sadly, I thought Tartt's “The Goldfinch”, which lots of people raved about, was not very good." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49903449))
- Film adaptation felt shallow (1 comments): "The movie treatment was horribly shallow in comparison" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48833908))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/crime-and-punishment.md): 39 recommend
- [The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brothers-karamazov.md): 28 recommend
- [Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace](https://hackerapproved.com/p/infinite-jest.md): 26 recommend
- [The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://hackerapproved.com/p/great-gatsby.md): 24 recommend
- [Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atlas-shrugged.md): 23 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804173028?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780804173025) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt", https://hackerapproved.com/p/goldfinch/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).