The Secret History by Donna Tartt Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Secret History
Book Review: A complete waste of time
Summary: 1 Stars
Pretentious and boring, the author seems to be trying to impress the reader with her pseudo-intellectual nonsense. Didn't care about the characters and was bored by the plot. A great book for intellectuasl wannnabees.Book Review: A good read but nothing more
Summary: 3 Stars
I was unable to do any work in the aftermath of the World Trade Center tragedy, so I bought a novel to take my mind off of it. And this novel does take you to a fantasy land. It was a good book, although 100 pages could have easily been clipped off from it. Also, it seemed that these characters were always drunk, drinking or doing some sort of drugs, and after a while, it started to get tedious reading the descriptions over and over. The story also lacked suspense, as from the prologue, you knew that there had been a murder.What I was also disappointed in was the uneventful role of their mysterious teacher, Julian Morrow. I expected him to have some sort of deep connection to all this, some sort of sinister explanation why all of his students can't take classes with any other teacher, and so on. In short, I expected something more from him, but he barely has any role at all. Just pops up here and there--his reason for being is seemingly just to bring the main characters together.
I appreciate the book--it took my mind off the disaster for a few days. It was enjoyable, interesting, but that's it. Certainly not a great book, a classic, or anything that I would ever feel tempted to read again.
Book Review: A good, not great, book
Summary: 4 Stars
When I bought this book I read it all the way through, and when I finished, I didn't know exactly why it had a hold on me. I sympathized with the narrator, Richard, but I certainly didn't like any of his fellow conspirators. But I did want to know how it all turned out, if Richard survived the madness descending on them all, and I kept turning the pages. What I found compelling in this novel was how Richard, who has little in common with the Classics students who befriend him, observes the moral collapse of those he considers his betters. They are all smarter than him, share closer friendships, and come from better family, yet it is Henry and Charles and Camilla and Francis who slip into insanity. I didn't mind so much that none of them show much remorse for their cold-blooded killings--they consider themselves safe from the bumpkin local law enforcement. But the secret nips at them, gnaws at them, and eventually destroys them, because of the pressures they bring onto each other. Except for Richard, who, perhaps, will survive. As seemingly everyone knows, it took Tartt 8 years to write this book, and it shows. The book is rich with detail; actually, too rich. I don't speak Greek, and little French, but I really didn't mind Tartt loading up the book with enough detail to baffle this simple English major. But the book is ponderously plotted, at times frustratingly so, and at times I feared I would never finish. I did, and have never felt the need to return. I do agree with one previous reviewer, who said that if you liked this book, read "The Great Gatsby". You'll finish in a third of the time, and when you do, the world will seem a different place. And that's the greatest compliment I can pay to any book.Book Review: A novel of murder and corruption
Summary: 5 Stars
I really loved this book! A good summer read.Book Review: A rollercoaster of a psychological odyssey
Summary: 5 Stars
I was tiring of John Grisham novels, and they seem more centered around melodrama than what I believe to be a more essential purpose or motivation for reading novels, and that's the characters, because the characters make the story worth reading. And The Secret History is definitely worth reading because the characters are three-dimensional and make the drama come to life. The novel is full of deep meaning, philosophy, and ponderings. The Secret History is a searing account of well-to-do college friends accepting a dismal, insecure, curious newly registered Classics student into their clique, and what seems to be a superficial observance of eccentric behavior then warm friendship evolves into a descent down the deepest abyss of secrets, lies, betrayal, madness, and murder. More than a mystery novel, you will never see the world the same way again, realizing that the strong bonds of friendship are strong enough to destroy it.