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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
From the outside looking in present day America appears obsessed with little more than pop culture, gun culture and the prime time bleatings of Oprah and Jerry; but a vastly different nation emerges from the pages of this extraordinary novel, focusing on a mysterious class of Greek language students whose cerebral pursuits turn distinctly nasty. The narrative is provided by Richard, a native of California who transfers to Hampden College on the East coast in an attempt to bury his small town past of TV dinners and gas stations. The students at Hampden are a different breed; moneyed offspring of the rich and powerful, and with little money and no friends he enrolls in the Greek class, hiding his social inadequacies behind a semi-fictitious identity. He becomes a drinking pal of the gregarious Bunny, a confidant to effeminate Francis and a trusted friend of the beautiful twins, Charles and Camilla. But it is Henry who makes the biggest impression upon him, with his towering intellect and ruthless pragmatism, and when Richard stumbles upon a thinly veiled secret of Henry's he delves deeper into the illicit twilight world of his new friends. As realisation dawns on him of his friend's murderous deeds he is forced to choose between communal loyalty and revealing to the police his knowledge of their crimes. His decision to remain silent contrasts starkly with that of a fellow classmate whose threatened betrayal results in the group's ultimate destruction, bringing with it fatal consequences. The Secret History is a surreal exploration of privileged youth educated beyond its means and lacking the moral strength or incentive to rein in its most primal desires. By combining the elements of a thriller with a coming-of-age drama, and adopting an almost European introspection Tartt has made an astonishing debut and achieved one of the literary landmarks of the Nineties, at the same time offering a disturbing allegory of modern day America. This is a novel that has to be read to be believed. Donna Tartt is a literary giant in the making ... What a talent!
Format:Paperback
A really good psychological thriller with a difference. The killer is known from the start, but this only intensifies the 'page turning'.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Despite having read all the great reviews for this novel, I was reluctant to read it. Or maybe because of having read all the great reviews, I was reluctant to read it. Hype can often lead to disappointment, and I hate to be disappointed...
Well, I wasn't disappointed, but something niggled me. I found The Secret History to be both a well-written and a compelling read. Yet describing it as a modern classic makes me feel somewhat uneasy. Admittedly, people are still buying it now so it is standing the test of time to some extent. But a modern classic...?
The characters aren't particularly likeable, even though you are given quite an insight into their lives, and if you don't really warm to the characters, and are able to empathise with them, it can be quite a chore reading about them. The premise of the story is good, yet in parts I found it predictable. And some of the prose seemed superfluous.
I imagine that all the references to the classics will make this book appeal to a perhaps more high brow audience, but take away these references and quotes and you are left with little more than a tale of college life, with a murder thrown in. In fact, The Secret History could be a more high brow version of Brett Easton Ellis's The Rules of Attraction.
The Secret History is worth reading but read it with an open mind - don't expect this book to change your life.
Well, I wasn't disappointed, but something niggled me. I found The Secret History to be both a well-written and a compelling read. Yet describing it as a modern classic makes me feel somewhat uneasy. Admittedly, people are still buying it now so it is standing the test of time to some extent. But a modern classic...?
The characters aren't particularly likeable, even though you are given quite an insight into their lives, and if you don't really warm to the characters, and are able to empathise with them, it can be quite a chore reading about them. The premise of the story is good, yet in parts I found it predictable. And some of the prose seemed superfluous.
I imagine that all the references to the classics will make this book appeal to a perhaps more high brow audience, but take away these references and quotes and you are left with little more than a tale of college life, with a murder thrown in. In fact, The Secret History could be a more high brow version of Brett Easton Ellis's The Rules of Attraction.
The Secret History is worth reading but read it with an open mind - don't expect this book to change your life.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
I don't know how it ends yet!
Am near the end of the book and hope the ending doesn't let me down. However so far I've very much enjoyed her wonderfully descriptive classic style of writing, in a story which... Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2003
Entirely Captivating
Donna Tartt's lead character in her other novel (The Little Friend) says how she hates books where the characters grow up because nothing interesting ever happens after they do. Read more
Published on 11 Nov 2003 by "amyjoanne"
A psycological mystery along the lines of a Greek tragedy.
I can't convey the magic of this novel in words. It is a psychological mystery that insinuates itelf and its themes into your mind and it is, to use a cliche, unputdownable. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 1999
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