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A review by gabiirayner
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
4.0
4.5
I wish I had the literary intelligence and philosophical capability to say I honestly understood and was shaken by every word I read but that would be an absolute lie. However, I truly believe this is one of the most haunting books I've read and I cannot even begin to wrap my head around the linguistic and storytelling skill Donna Tartt possesses. Another review mentioned how much of the book feels like the authorial equivalent of a runner jogging in place as they wait at a traffic light and I can't deny this in the slightest, but sometimes it is these moments of empty exposition and dialogue that allows the chaos to sink in, to slowly realise (just as Richard does) just who these people really are and what they've managed to drag him into. Oof.
I wish I had the literary intelligence and philosophical capability to say I honestly understood and was shaken by every word I read but that would be an absolute lie. However, I truly believe this is one of the most haunting books I've read and I cannot even begin to wrap my head around the linguistic and storytelling skill Donna Tartt possesses. Another review mentioned how much of the book feels like the authorial equivalent of a runner jogging in place as they wait at a traffic light and I can't deny this in the slightest, but sometimes it is these moments of empty exposition and dialogue that allows the chaos to sink in, to slowly realise (just as Richard does) just who these people really are and what they've managed to drag him into. Oof.