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A review by alexnderthegreat
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
5.0
600 pages of pure excellence. This book not only made it into my top 5 favorite books, but it might have knocked out The Scarlet Letter, and took the number 1 spot. First, I would like to say, that I am not one for first person narratives, first because of the unreliable narration, but I also just dislike the style, but Richard here turned that around for me. (I'll get further into why I enjoyed Richard's POV later.) Second, this book so profoundly disturbed me (and moved me, might I add: I aspire to be a snobby, entitled, elite classics student-- just joking, but not really.) That at many points in the story, I had to stop reading, put the book down, and just do nothing for a good 15 minutes because I didn't know what to do with myself and I couldn't think straight. Third, although the story was very interesting, for me, this book was more about the characters, and I believe many people will agree with me, so I'm going to talk about the characters real quick.
BUNNY: We're going to start with Bunny because he was only in half the book. Oh Bunny, where to start. You annoying son of a bitch. Overall, I hated Bunny, which was Tartt's intention. But at the same time, when Richard is describing his death, wow I felt bad for him. AND when Richard gave us an insight into the letter he gave to Julian. Although he was a horrible asshole, he was human, and I think that's one of the most important things about this book. They are all human. This is humans doing terrible things to other humans.
Julian: What a guy, not much to say here. He got kinda dull at times, but he also made me feel a hell of a lot more pretentious.
Henry: My dear Henry. The thing about Henry is that he is kind of a mystery. You NEVER know what he is thinking. I fluctuated so much while reading this story on my opinion of Henry. At first I found him annoying, then I liked him, then I loved him, then I absolutely hated him, then I couldn't stop bawling over him. I'm going to focus on him in the second half of the book. We hear so much bad stuff about Henry in the second half of the book. That he ratted on Richard, that he gave Charles those sleeping pills, that he wanted Charles to have the whiskey while in the hospital, that he is sleeping with Camilla (which c'mon, that's only bad from Charles' POV,) which made me hate him so much. You think he has become so devoid of feeling for anyone except himself, but that's really the unreliable narration getting to you. When Henry shot himself, a rush of emotions came over me, I became so emotionally flustered. The fact is, he shot himself to save Charles and the others. If he shot himself with nobody else in the room except the 5 of them, one of them would've gotten the blame (most likely Charles since he was the drunk one,) but he told the innkeepers to come into the room first, so it looked like Richard, who got shot himself, and the others tried to stop him from killing himself before he actually did. Despite all the bad stuff we here about him, he did everything to protect the others. The only thing I didn't like about him was how incredibly unreal he was. You will never meet anyone like Henry. It just won't happen.
Francis: In my opinion, Francis as purely fan service. Don't get me wrong, I love him to death, and he plays a major part in the story, but he was fan service. Not that the book had any fans when it first came out, but he was the one character that Tartt was probably sure that everyone would like (except homophobics...) Including me, Francis was my favorite character for almost the whole book (until it transferred over to Charles near the end.) He was just a likable guy. I do love how he brought everyone together at his country home. He was basically the glue between them, especially Richard and the group. BUT lets talk about Francis/Charles for a second. How do so many people enjoy them together? Cool, I support Francis's little crush, but that relationship is so incredibly toxic, for both of them, but mostly Francis. I wanted him to be happy with someone, which we never did get, since he ended up marrying some girl who didn't seem to pick up on him not having a liking towards girls. Also, Francis don't you ever try to kill yourself again. Never. But really, this was important because we see their actions still affecting Richard years in the future, but we don't really get to see this happening to any other characters, except Francis, when he did attempt suicide.
Camilla: I don't actually have much to say about Camilla. She had it bad, but we didn't really get to hear much from her about her experience. When she was talking, it was mostly about other people, (AKA Charles and Henry.) We also only really got to see her from Richard's perspective, which was a very misogynistic one, might I add. She's not some feminist hero surrounded by men who adore her, which I very much enjoy (see The Raven Cycle,) but she's a female dealing with the same stuff as the men, no difference. Which in some ways is good, but I do wish she defended herself more often and didn't let the guys take advantage of her (RICHARD PAPEN IM TALKING TO YOU.) With Charles it was different, because of his abuse, it's so hard to speak up on that. Tartt took a huge risk putting in these issues of incest and abuse, but to me, it just added to the psychological stimulation of the book.
Charles: When I talk about this book with others who have read it, so many people are surprised when I say Charles is my favorite. You could argue that he is the worst out of the group, but at the same time, he also went through hell. Yes, incest is bad. Yes, abuse is very very bad. And I don't sympathize with those things. But you could say the same for Camilla (besides the abuse) and nobody is attacking her for it. The reason Charles was my favorite is because he was the most real. Through Richard's eyes, we saw this group of people as Gods and Goddesses, but Charles was the most human. Behind his alcoholic and aggressive exterior, he was so incredibly vulnerable. He handled the cops and the FBI the most, he handled Marion, he handled Henry, he handled Camilla, he even handled Francis a lot. He was desperate for someone to handle him. This task, he threw at Richard, which is good. I love Richard and Charles's relationship. I like it a lot. Cool dynamic there. He was so upset when he though Richard betrayed him, and although a bit (really) dramatic, he had a very real reaction. He was also an alcoholic who was dealing with the fact that he is a murderer, so he was destined to go a little mad. Don't forget that Charles was the only one who spoke up against the murders in the first place. Charles was one hell of a problematic guy, but he's my problematic guy. Hope you're happy down in Texas, Charles.
Richard: Oh Richard, where to start with Richard. Richard is such a hate-able character. First, he's super misogynistic (see his image of Camilla the whole book, opinion on mother-like Marion, countless girls he sleeps with then ignores.) Second, his internalized homophobia. We get it Richard, you're straight. Stop reminding us. (Richard, You're not straight.) Third, he's kind of dull, especially in the beginning of the story (I thought this up until his winter alone.) Fourth, his unreliable narration. Everything happening in this story is happening through his point of view. Being a psych student, I realized that everything he is saying is a memory, and probably distorted in some way. He made something more dramatic, or added something in, or forgot something. I think this unreliable and messy narration is what makes the book so thought provoking and psychologically stimulating. It makes a dramatic and fictional story so real and life-like. The main reason why, by the end of the book, I like Richard so much, is because I relate to him the most. He is a bad and problematic guy, but compared to the Gods the other characters are, through his eyes, he is the most human, and his reactions to things are so real. My favorite Richard is second half Richard when he finally has enough of being kept in the dark and demands answers, and when he flips on Henry. YES RICHARD!!!! RICHARD ASKING QUESTIONS HE DESERVES TO KNOW THE ANSWERS TO!!!! RICHARD YELLING!!! RICHARD GETTING HIS EMOTIONS OUT!!! Richard Papen is so important. I can go on forever about how important Richard is, but I think the message is clear.
Overall, this book is amazing. In my classical studies class I took this semester, a phrase we always seemed to come back to was, "Real People, Bad Decisions, Terrible Results" (or something along those lines.) That basically sums up The Secret History. This book moved me like no other book has. Donna Tartt is a beautiful and extraordinary writer. Her writing made you sympathize and fall in love with such problematic characters, which for me, is pretty hard to accomplish. This being the first book I read by her, I don't know if I have the heart to read any others. This book made me so emotionally and mentally flustered, but I loved it.
BUNNY: We're going to start with Bunny because he was only in half the book. Oh Bunny, where to start. You annoying son of a bitch. Overall, I hated Bunny, which was Tartt's intention. But at the same time, when Richard is describing his death, wow I felt bad for him. AND when Richard gave us an insight into the letter he gave to Julian. Although he was a horrible asshole, he was human, and I think that's one of the most important things about this book. They are all human. This is humans doing terrible things to other humans.
Julian: What a guy, not much to say here. He got kinda dull at times, but he also made me feel a hell of a lot more pretentious.
Henry: My dear Henry. The thing about Henry is that he is kind of a mystery. You NEVER know what he is thinking. I fluctuated so much while reading this story on my opinion of Henry. At first I found him annoying, then I liked him, then I loved him, then I absolutely hated him, then I couldn't stop bawling over him. I'm going to focus on him in the second half of the book. We hear so much bad stuff about Henry in the second half of the book. That he ratted on Richard, that he gave Charles those sleeping pills, that he wanted Charles to have the whiskey while in the hospital, that he is sleeping with Camilla (which c'mon, that's only bad from Charles' POV,) which made me hate him so much. You think he has become so devoid of feeling for anyone except himself, but that's really the unreliable narration getting to you. When Henry shot himself, a rush of emotions came over me, I became so emotionally flustered. The fact is, he shot himself to save Charles and the others. If he shot himself with nobody else in the room except the 5 of them, one of them would've gotten the blame (most likely Charles since he was the drunk one,) but he told the innkeepers to come into the room first, so it looked like Richard, who got shot himself, and the others tried to stop him from killing himself before he actually did. Despite all the bad stuff we here about him, he did everything to protect the others. The only thing I didn't like about him was how incredibly unreal he was. You will never meet anyone like Henry. It just won't happen.
Francis: In my opinion, Francis as purely fan service. Don't get me wrong, I love him to death, and he plays a major part in the story, but he was fan service. Not that the book had any fans when it first came out, but he was the one character that Tartt was probably sure that everyone would like (except homophobics...) Including me, Francis was my favorite character for almost the whole book (until it transferred over to Charles near the end.) He was just a likable guy. I do love how he brought everyone together at his country home. He was basically the glue between them, especially Richard and the group. BUT lets talk about Francis/Charles for a second. How do so many people enjoy them together? Cool, I support Francis's little crush, but that relationship is so incredibly toxic, for both of them, but mostly Francis. I wanted him to be happy with someone, which we never did get, since he ended up marrying some girl who didn't seem to pick up on him not having a liking towards girls. Also, Francis don't you ever try to kill yourself again. Never. But really, this was important because we see their actions still affecting Richard years in the future, but we don't really get to see this happening to any other characters, except Francis, when he did attempt suicide.
Camilla: I don't actually have much to say about Camilla. She had it bad, but we didn't really get to hear much from her about her experience. When she was talking, it was mostly about other people, (AKA Charles and Henry.) We also only really got to see her from Richard's perspective, which was a very misogynistic one, might I add. She's not some feminist hero surrounded by men who adore her, which I very much enjoy (see The Raven Cycle,) but she's a female dealing with the same stuff as the men, no difference. Which in some ways is good, but I do wish she defended herself more often and didn't let the guys take advantage of her (RICHARD PAPEN IM TALKING TO YOU.) With Charles it was different, because of his abuse, it's so hard to speak up on that. Tartt took a huge risk putting in these issues of incest and abuse, but to me, it just added to the psychological stimulation of the book.
Charles: When I talk about this book with others who have read it, so many people are surprised when I say Charles is my favorite. You could argue that he is the worst out of the group, but at the same time, he also went through hell. Yes, incest is bad. Yes, abuse is very very bad. And I don't sympathize with those things. But you could say the same for Camilla (besides the abuse) and nobody is attacking her for it. The reason Charles was my favorite is because he was the most real. Through Richard's eyes, we saw this group of people as Gods and Goddesses, but Charles was the most human. Behind his alcoholic and aggressive exterior, he was so incredibly vulnerable. He handled the cops and the FBI the most, he handled Marion, he handled Henry, he handled Camilla, he even handled Francis a lot. He was desperate for someone to handle him. This task, he threw at Richard, which is good. I love Richard and Charles's relationship. I like it a lot. Cool dynamic there. He was so upset when he though Richard betrayed him, and although a bit (really) dramatic, he had a very real reaction. He was also an alcoholic who was dealing with the fact that he is a murderer, so he was destined to go a little mad. Don't forget that Charles was the only one who spoke up against the murders in the first place. Charles was one hell of a problematic guy, but he's my problematic guy. Hope you're happy down in Texas, Charles.
Richard: Oh Richard, where to start with Richard. Richard is such a hate-able character. First, he's super misogynistic (see his image of Camilla the whole book, opinion on mother-like Marion, countless girls he sleeps with then ignores.) Second, his internalized homophobia. We get it Richard, you're straight. Stop reminding us. (Richard, You're not straight.) Third, he's kind of dull, especially in the beginning of the story (I thought this up until his winter alone.) Fourth, his unreliable narration. Everything happening in this story is happening through his point of view. Being a psych student, I realized that everything he is saying is a memory, and probably distorted in some way. He made something more dramatic, or added something in, or forgot something. I think this unreliable and messy narration is what makes the book so thought provoking and psychologically stimulating. It makes a dramatic and fictional story so real and life-like. The main reason why, by the end of the book, I like Richard so much, is because I relate to him the most. He is a bad and problematic guy, but compared to the Gods the other characters are, through his eyes, he is the most human, and his reactions to things are so real. My favorite Richard is second half Richard when he finally has enough of being kept in the dark and demands answers, and when he flips on Henry. YES RICHARD!!!! RICHARD ASKING QUESTIONS HE DESERVES TO KNOW THE ANSWERS TO!!!! RICHARD YELLING!!! RICHARD GETTING HIS EMOTIONS OUT!!! Richard Papen is so important. I can go on forever about how important Richard is, but I think the message is clear.
Overall, this book is amazing. In my classical studies class I took this semester, a phrase we always seemed to come back to was, "Real People, Bad Decisions, Terrible Results" (or something along those lines.) That basically sums up The Secret History. This book moved me like no other book has. Donna Tartt is a beautiful and extraordinary writer. Her writing made you sympathize and fall in love with such problematic characters, which for me, is pretty hard to accomplish. This being the first book I read by her, I don't know if I have the heart to read any others. This book made me so emotionally and mentally flustered, but I loved it.