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The Secret History

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'The Secret History' by Donna Tartt is a suspenseful novel set in an exclusive university where a Classics study group decides to commit murder, reminiscent of Eleusinian mysteries. The story follows a group of eccentric and privileged college students who get entangled in a web of their own making, leading to chilling events and profound changes in their lives. The writing style is erudite, literary, and intriguing, with a focus on character development and relationships, creating an evocative and convincing setting.

Characters:

The characters are deeply flawed and often morally ambiguous, making for a compelling yet unsettling narrative.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is characterized by its literary beauty and intricate detail, creating immersive atmospheres and complex characters.

Plot/Storyline:

The novel intricately weaves a narrative about a murder within a tight-knit group of college students, exploring the psychological consequences of their actions.

Setting:

The story takes place in a small, elite liberal arts college in New England, creating a unique blend of beauty and foreboding.

Pacing:

The pacing of the novel varies, with a slow buildup in the first half and a more hurried pace in the latter half as events unfold.
Does such a thing as 'the fatal flaw,' that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this:...

Notes:

The Secret History was published in 1992 and is Donna Tartt's debut novel.
The book is often described as an inverted detective story, focusing on the motives behind the murder rather than solving 'whodunit'.
The novel is set in a small, elite liberal arts college in Vermont, often associated with Bennington College, where Tartt studied.
The characters are heavily influenced by classical philosophy and Greek tragedies, reflecting themes of beauty, morality, and the consequences of one’s actions.
The story begins with the murder of Bunny, one of the main characters, and explores the dynamics and secrets of the group responsible for his death.
Despite being unlikable, the characters evoke a complex mixture of fascination and repulsion, which engages readers deeply.
The writing style is noted for its lush prose and detailed descriptions, contributing to the atmospheric setting of the story.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Triggers and content warnings include themes of murder, substance abuse, psychological distress, and incest.

From The Publisher:

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and forever, and they discover how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill.

Richard Papen arrived at Hampden College in New England and was quickly seduced by an elite group of five students, all Greek scholars, all worldly, self-assured, and, at first glance, all highly unapproachable. As Richard is drawn into their inner circle, he learns a terrifying secret that binds them to one another...a secret about an incident in the woods in the dead of night where an ancient rite was brought to brutal life...and led to a gruesome death. And that was just the beginning...

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

A contemporary literary classic and "an accomplished psychological thriller … absolutely chilling" (Village Voice), from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Goldfinch.

Ratings (505)

Incredible (140)
Loved It (162)
Liked It (114)
It Was OK (42)
Did Not Like (36)
Hated It (11)

Reader Stats (1025):

Read It (502)
Currently Reading (13)
Want To Read (381)
Did Not Finish (22)
Not Interested (107)

10 comment(s)

Hated It
1 week

Remembered that I read this last year. But I apparently read it in 2019 to. I still can't get onto the bandwagon for this one. Found it tedious and not at all compelling. Where more annoyed at the characters, their action and just didn't had a good time. If it wasn't for my reading this as a buddy read with my great friend I would have dnfd it.

___

Nope this is still not the book for me. Don't see the greatness of the story. I found the people to be pretentious and annoying and the story the same and not thrilling or intriguing to read about

 
Incredible
1 month

Welp, everyone was right, that rocked

 
Loved It
3 months

I found the first fifty pages or so difficult to get into, but once these characters hook you, they don't let go. Richard is such a strong stand-in for the reader that I forgot his name more than once; he remarks on his inability to reach the center of the group multiple times, and the same can be said for the reader. Even at the book's end, I felt there were some secrets that were never fully explained.

Tartt fills her world with charismatic characters who consider themselves the elite of their small Vermont college, studying Greek at a high level not only as a language, but as a philosophy and way of life. The students worship their teacher, Julian Morrow, as a demigod dispensing wisdom on how to live a noble life as the Greeks did. But it is just this obsession with Greek life that ultimately brings the students down. Their spiral into paranoia is perfectly illustrated. As the group dissolves I started to think that none of them should trust each other, and still the ending shocked me. A great read.

 
Incredible
4 months

best book I've ever read

 
Incredible
5 months

4.5. meu deus do céu.

a MENTE de donna tartt...

 
Hated It
5 months

What a long-winded story with insufferable characters. This one was not for me

 
6 months

DNF @ 150 pages.

The writing is nice and the atmosphere is fine, but if I'd known this was going to be a plotless character study of a bunch of pretentious, unlikeable people I'd never have picked it up.

 
Incredible
8 months

The characters, the writing style, the plot twists... Everything about this book is perfect.

 
Incredible
9 months

I loved this book because I think it really captured how divorced from reality college students can become in elite colleges, where there's no emphasis on shared humanity, but rather, an intellectual heirarchy. I want to a college like this, and it was brutal.

 
Liked It
9 months

Dark atmosphere

Mystery elements

Heavy tone

Substance abuse themes

Compelling narrative

Catalyst event

Character study

Flawed protagonists

Lack of likeable characters

Surprisingly good and interesting

 

About the Author:

Donna Tartt was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, and is a graduate of Bennington College. She is the author of the novels The Secret History, The Little Friend, and The Goldfinch, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2014

 
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