The Secret History Review
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last—inexorably—into evil.
The Secret History started at the end with death and continued from the beginning, which was absolutely brilliant! The prologue threw me straight into the book's action, revealing who dies in the end. I loved this because you can get to know the characters throughout the book while reading it on another level because you know who the murderer is and who will die.
The Secret History has a definite plot but is also very character-driven. Donna Tartt wrote The Secret History in a way that made the book seem like I was reading a character study. The book was written in a way that the characters had a pack mentality, and it dived into how people act after committing a horrible crime. You can't really say you "love" any of the characters because most of them are unlikeable, psychotic, and murderers. But it is possible to love their dynamic and love them as a figure. I don't think the characters are meant to be relatable. The main characters are a group of elite scholars who strive to live the life of poetry, but instead, they live a life of lies. Because, in the end, they are all morally gray or a horrible person at their core.
It was beautifully written, too. Each word was carefully crafted to add the most meaning to the story. It had layers upon layers of hidden meanings weaved throughout the words. The Secret History truly is a work of art.
However, this book has many heavy topics that Donna Tartt didn't shy away from. Slurs, sexual assault, incest, racist comments, suicide, and murder are just a few to watch out for in The Secret History.
The biggest thing I disliked had nothing to do with the storyline. Most readers hate long chapters, and I usually don't have a problem with long chapters either, but The Secret History had the longest chapters I have ever read. The book is around 600 pages, but there are only eight chapters if you don't count the prologue or epilogue. I did not see any reason for a chapter to be 45+ pages long when there were plenty of places where Donna Tartt could have stopped the chapter.
I struggled to keep reading this book because the first 50 pages were purely information dumps, and it was difficult to keep track of all the information and who was who. I think this book could have easily been cut down to 300 pages because there was so much useless information. I sometimes felt that Donna Tartt was trying to be overly poetic, forcing meaning onto everything in life.
In all honesty, I did enjoy this book, but I think it is more suited for an adult audience that would find more beauty and meaning in it than I did.
Written by Carlie Renee
