Studying the artistic detail (based on Donna Tartt’s novel «The Goldfinch»)

Abstract

(ua) Роман Донни Тартт «Щиголь» – твір надзвичайно глибокий і багатогранний, що надає широкі можливості аналітичного вивчення. Через дбайливе поводження авторки із художнім часом і простором найдоцільнішим способом дослідження видається аналіз «услід за автором». Стаття присвячена дослідженню художніх деталей у романі, використовуючи аналіз «услід за автором».

(en) «The Goldfinch» is a story of a boy and later an adult male Theodore Decker who accidentally obtains a masterpiece. The writer, as a surgeon, separates one second of expectation from the other, detail from detail. The reader is presented not just a frightened child but deep sorrow of the loss of the whole world. In the second chapter of the first part D. Tartt reveals herself as a skillful psychologist, skillfully accustoms herself to the inner state of the main character, with him she travels through the memories, tracks associative relationships he makes. The writer brilliantly follows all defense mechanisms of a man who is faced with the inevitability. The author uses gradation way of describing while stringing visual and auditory details, retards artistic time. The writing of D. Tartt is characterized by the unique skill in the detail describing. The role of artistic detail in the process of inner state depicting is investigated. The author touches upon the problem of the depicting of critical situation in the novel. The attention is paid to the writer’s skills in showing main character’s feelings, memoirs, thoughts, associative relations and human nocifensor in critical situations. It is admitted that in case of such temporal and space detail the most suitable way of analysis is «in succession to the author». Thus, in the novel The Goldfinch D.Tartt declares herself a talented master of words, subtle psychologist and philosopher. As a surgeon, the writer separates one second of expectation from the other, detail from detail. Therefore, the reader can observe not just a frightened child but deep sorrow of the loss of the whole world. This is achieved by the skillful combination of visual and auditory details that create convex emotionally saturated images filled with heartbeat of life. The author dowers the main character – both a teenager and an adult man – with the ability to see deep philosophical maxims in small details, to decipher the message from the artist, to understand the dialectical interpenetration of life and death. Because of such careful author's treatment to the artistic time and space the most appropriate way to study seems to be the analysis «in succession to the author».