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A review by theguildwriter
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The Secret History has all the charming, cozy feel of A Separate Peace while whisking you away on a much darker journey. I loved that Tartt trimmed the fat where she felt necessary between scenes, giving us scene breaks rather than feeling the need to walk us back silently to countless parking lots and rooms. I loved the progression of this story from the desire to be noticed, included, and admired into the fear of what it would take to maintain those very things. We watch Richard transform from someone who feels trapped in a place he doesn't belong to someone straining to be the mysterious intellectual he believes Julian can make him into and, finally, into what he's been this entire story: a bystander, by his own admission. More than that, if we're honest, he was an enabler. A necessary cog in the machine that turned out to be Henry's chain of desires and plots as he, too, strained for the same acknowledgement and acceptance that Richard did -- only he wanted that solely from Julian (and perhaps Camilla as well) . Getting swept away by Richard's recollection of the past (occasionally tempered by his older self reflecting) is part of the magic of this book. He paints Bunny in a particular light up until his death, and then he allows you to see the other sides that he had obscured before then. He allows Bunny to be the full person he truly was: grey, complicated, and overwhelmingly human. And, by the end, he does the very same with Henry. He builds up hate for him and the things he has done to the group as a whole, but by the time of his death, he remembers the love he had for him, remembers his gentle and quiet ways instead of painting them as awkward and cold.
Each character is slowly revealed as fuller than Richard originally let on, and there's a beauty in seeing all of them turn from something marble and perfect into flesh and flaws. That is the most compelling and resonating part of this book, and for that alone it is well worth the read.
Each character is slowly revealed as fuller than Richard originally let on, and there's a beauty in seeing all of them turn from something marble and perfect into flesh and flaws. That is the most compelling and resonating part of this book, and for that alone it is well worth the read.