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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
Equal parts beautiful and harrowing, Donna Tartt's debut novel is worth the look. Her darkly appealing characters are not without their faults. This is what makes the book's turn of events all the more tragically inevitable and, ultimately, wonderfully captivating.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
slow-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
many books wish they could be her
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
The Secret History is a book that was on my TBR for ages. It's one of those novels that I was pretty sure would be right up my alley, but for some reason I was putting off reading it. Finally, in a spur of the moment, I picked it up and immediately I knew I’d found a new favorite.
Tartt’s writing is absolutely magnificent. It’s like a rich chocolate: dark, dense, and decadent.
This is a book of corruption and elitism. What happens when a group of extremely eccentric, extremely privileged students cross an ethical and moral boundary that should never have been crossed? What happens when a perceived superiority of mind and intellect drives these people to extremes? A complete unraveling of the mind, that's what happens.
It’s hard for me to even convey how deeply emotional this book has made me. I loved these characters, and equally, I hated them with every fiber of my being. Richard, our narrator, wants to fit in with this crowd, wants to partake in their broken exaltation of living. Slowly, he loses himself, making excuses for the inexcusable just to be able to spend time with them. I found that poignant criticism of this attitude that a person is somehow more sophisticated if they immerse themselves in classics, philosophy, myth.
There’s a scene in the book which, I think, summarizes the thesis of the novel: Richard finds himself at a party, away from the rest of the group. He laughs with his peers, converses with them, has fun with them, and thinks that these people are friendly, kind, loyal — totally unlike what he has been experiencing with Henry and the rest. And isn’t that what life is about? And isn’t the fatal flaw of these characters the idea that somehow they are better than the rest?
This book is a modern Greek tragedy, through and through.
Tartt’s writing is absolutely magnificent. It’s like a rich chocolate: dark, dense, and decadent.
This is a book of corruption and elitism. What happens when a group of extremely eccentric, extremely privileged students cross an ethical and moral boundary that should never have been crossed? What happens when a perceived superiority of mind and intellect drives these people to extremes? A complete unraveling of the mind, that's what happens.
It’s hard for me to even convey how deeply emotional this book has made me. I loved these characters, and equally, I hated them with every fiber of my being. Richard, our narrator, wants to fit in with this crowd, wants to partake in their broken exaltation of living. Slowly, he loses himself, making excuses for the inexcusable just to be able to spend time with them. I found that poignant criticism of this attitude that a person is somehow more sophisticated if they immerse themselves in classics, philosophy, myth.
There’s a scene in the book which, I think, summarizes the thesis of the novel: Richard finds himself at a party, away from the rest of the group. He laughs with his peers, converses with them, has fun with them, and thinks that these people are friendly, kind, loyal — totally unlike what he has been experiencing with Henry and the rest. And isn’t that what life is about? And isn’t the fatal flaw of these characters the idea that somehow they are better than the rest?
This book is a modern Greek tragedy, through and through.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
slow-paced