Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

401 reviews

deathmetalheron's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This is one of those books that comes with a lot of hype, a lot of culture surrounding it, and if you even dip your toes in it's hard to sort of step back and give an honest rating. I had never heard of it til this year so it makes sense that it's a "modern" classic, but it's important to sit back and give it a sober impression.
First off, there is so much good in this book--in spite of being slow-paced, it's an incredibly gripping read. Richard + crew are exactly what you want out of morally compromised protagonists, they are flawed and overall bad people but they are compelling enough to read about. The references and the overlying theme of Greek tragedy playing out slowing in postmodern Vermont is really a stroke of genius. You can get little treats if you go back and read the parts in ancient languages again, learning new aspects about the characters and early foreshadowing in some cases.
The strongest aspect of this book is its condemnation, or rather strong criticism of elite academia and university. While there is no "hammer to anvil" moment where Richard goes on a diatribe about why college/"university" is dumb (and the text is all the better for it), the overlying theme of this permeates the vast majority of the text and creates the relationship dynamic with Richard and thew crew. By the end Richard has his realization that while college was somewhere he wanted to go and where he felt he had to, to the other Classics (particularly Henry) life is nothing more than an extremely extended stint in college, due to their wealth. Julian (arguably the true antagonist and representation of the entirety of academic excess) is basically the end-goal for Henry. 
The other factor that shines is how even though everyone is unlikable to some extent, Bunny, who features some of the more obvious detestable traits like elitism, bigotry, and begging for money, it is

still remarkably sad that his murder is what the story is framed around, and by the end when Henry and the rest are revealing their true characters you come to realize that in his soul Bunny was no worse than any of them. In that sense his death feels extremely tragic.

 
Now, where do I find critique with this text? For one, the obsession with the aesthetic of this damn book leaves a sour taste in my mouth--this is certainly one of those books where it's easy to get lost in "no, you don't get it, this is the real point" I do feel that moping around smoking cigarettes and wearing New England prep fashion is not exactly the takeaway you want from this book. I have the benefit of reading this in my 30s, and I knew people like the Classics when I was in college. The Magicians is much more hokey and goofy but it gets away with making fun of dark academia without making it feel sexy. The reaction to that makes me wonder if the themes of anti-elitism should have been more prominent and we didn't need to spend as much time going over the times Richard walks around drunk or how many Bloody Marys Charles orders and how fast he drinks them. At around 400 pages the prose begins to dip and we get extended, plodding sections that really betray the pace.
It's a phenomenal book, and I have so much good to say about it. But at the risk of falling into the milieu of takes on this book, there is a very clear set of themes to me, and yes, you can miss it if you get too lost in the aesthetic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Classism, Drug use, Alcohol, Death, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, and Grief

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Minor: Antisemitism and Rape

komiification's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

One of the greatest pieces of literary fiction I've ever read. Unsurprising that this created an entire subculture. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Murder, Gun violence, Death, Suicide, Drug use, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Grief, Mental illness, Classism, and Misogyny

Minor: Rape

avrilamber's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

For a book whose length overwhelmed me at first (cannot remember the last time I read anything over 300 pages), I found this to be a really easy and enjoyable one to get through.

The books plot is actually very minimal, so it’s a wonder how it manages to span 600 odd pages. But I adore Donna Tartt’s prose, I think it’s gorgeous. Some of the most mundane and ordinary plot points are written so descriptively, it really helped carry me through the book without me wanting to put it down.

I think a lot of the references to the classics were lost on me, but I don’t think I missed out on anything by not knowing the references either.

A great piece of modern literature, that really gives off the dark academia vibes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Murder, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Incest and Rape

shancraic's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Death, Incest, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Classism

Minor: Rape

berrytart's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

dear lord this book was hard to get through, i like the thought of the book and the way it ended. but i nearly cried tears of relief when it was over. everyone was insufferable which i did like!! i’ll most likely never reread this book again though 😃


(francis best character!!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Classism, Racism, Incest, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Death, Islamophobia, Cursing, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Antisemitism, and Car accident

Minor: Cancer, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

naomi_salters's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Chronic illness, Drug use, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Incest, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Self harm, Sexism, Addiction, Death, Body shaming, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Bullying, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Animal death, and Violence

thegr1mreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Rape, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Mental illness, Incest, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Gun violence, and Death

arthedgehog's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Incest, Gaslighting, Drug use, Drug abuse, Addiction, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Death, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, Gore, Death, Alcohol, Incest, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Racism, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Gun violence, Animal death, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Murder, Infidelity, Antisemitism, Drug use, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Gore, Drug use, Classism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Islamophobia, Cursing, Sexual assault, Rape, Abandonment, Car accident, Suicide, Sexism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Biphobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Eating disorder, Deportation, Racism, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Misogyny, and Incest

phantomeyer's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I kept waiting for this book to impress me. It never delivered. It did a good job of sustaining a vague tension, but it was also sufficiently hazy that the (likely intentional) feeling of unreality meant that I was unmoved by the plot. Plus, I had very little interest in the characters: a bunch of pretentious caricatures the lot of them. If I’m going to be told a murder story in first person, it needs to be a hell of a lot more gripping. And no, I don’t mean fast-paced. I mean more thought-provoking/eerie/evocative…. Basically somehow more interesting and entertaining. I don’t know what it says about me that many reviewers found this book to be “crazy” and really dark, whereas I mostly felt underwhelmed?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Homophobia, Murder, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Incest, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

gemmascott's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

While I did enjoy this book, I’m not 100% sure it lived up to the hype, personally. 

On paper, I’m the perfect audience: former classics student; working class background, elite university, but for some reason, it failed to completely hit the mark. 

The prose was beautiful and the student archetypes were well constructed, as was the satire of this kind of university life. However, the first half of the book was a bit of a slog to read - very slow paced and could easily have been half as long!

Interestingly though, when I first read the book 8-9 years ago, this is the section I remembered - much more clearly than “Book 2”. What interested me most about this section was the way the characters talked about Bunny’s impending death in a sort of abstract sense, almost as though they were playing a game, as there was no real consideration of the impact of their actions, nor any sense of empathy. This may, of course, be due to the fact that the characters are horrible people, but

given the way they reacted after Bunny’s death,

I think this is unlikely. More likely, it shows both their immaturity

and the extent of Henry’s manipulation

. 

“Book 2” was certainly the part of the book that gripped me most, as it dealt with the aftermath of the murder and it’s impact on the perpetrators, which is as far as I know, a concept rarely explored in literature. 

A key moment for me was Richard’s realisation of what they’d done during the funeral - that sudden realisation of the gravity of the situation, that the person is never going to come back, is something I’ve experienced at funerals, although obviously in a very different context! 

The various reactions of the students to the murder also speaks volumes as to their characters - while Henry is largely coded as a sociopath, the twins and Francis seem much more like highly damaged people, who have perhaps a weak moral centre, but some sense of empathy, as they each largely go “off the rails” following the murder. On the other hand, Richard, who paints himself as the most sympathetic character during the novel (even calling himself a “bystander” at one point), is largely able to move on with his life, at least outwardly. For me, this makes him one of the least empathetic characters and suggests he shares at least some characteristics with Henry - despite his purported horror at some of the events, we see very little genuine empathy or even feeling from him.  Julian is also a key villain of the novel, and likely of the same mould as Henry and Richard - was Richard a social experiment in terms of allowing a working class boy to join the group, or just another vulnerable person Julian could control/isolate in order to satisfy his god complex?

In terms of my main criticisms of the book, these include the references spread throughout the novel. These gave an impression of almost an old journal article in Classical Studies, where the academics sought to prove their credentials at every possible moment (I once read an article with an entire paragraph in untranslated French, for no apparent reason), and made the book feel at once as though it was gatekeeping, and trying to flatter its readers as to their own academic prowess. 

There were also some inconsistencies - Richard is suddenly proficient in Latin (despite Julian saying he won’t learn the language until next year - which I took to mean academic year), and while most of the references were “real”, from brands, to pop-stars to authors, there was an inexplicable inclusion of the “Isrami” government - if the author didn’t want to specify, just say a “Middle Eastern” government - for me a very strange and distracting choice. 

I would also have liked to see the theme of class explored a little more deeply - none of the characters seem to mind Richard’s background (which they must have understood), despite their obvious distain for others of a similar socio-economic status. 

Overall, an interesting book, but I wouldn’t say it completely lives up to the hype. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Incest, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content