Author- Donna Tartt
Series- N/A
Published- 1992
Page Count- 629 pages
Publishing House- Penguin
Genre- mystery, dark-academia
Rating- 5/5 stars
About the Author
Donna Tartt (born December 23, 1963) is an American author. Tartt's novels are The Secret History (1992), The Little Friend (2002), and The Goldfinch (2013). Tartt won the WH Smith Literary Award for The Little Friend in 2003 and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Goldfinch in 2014. She was included in Time magazine's 2014 "100 Most Influential People" list.
Taken from Donna's Wikipedia page.
Plot
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 their lives are changed profoundly and for ever.
Truly deserving of the accolade Modern Classic, Donna Tartt's cult bestseller The Secret History is a remarkable achievement - both compelling and elegant, dramatic and playful.
Taken from Goodreads.
Opinions
If you like or are interested in "dark academia", then this is the book you'll get recommended to death. It is the most beloved book in the dark academia world. It was a book I had seen in charity shops over and over, so when I found a copy for 50p I just had to have it. I didn't actually know much about it going in, but I am so glad I decided to pick it up.
This is a long, dense book at 629 pages. It focuses around academia, specifically Greek language and high brow academia. A lot of the academic talk went over my head. I pride myself on being fairly intelligent, yet this book was beyond me. It's almost inspired me to start learning again for the sake of learning. I put this down to the writing. Donna Tartt's writing is so beautiful that you feel fully absorbed in the writing. I haven't felt like this about an authors writing in a while. Usually when I am reading, the thing I spot is the plot or the characters. As someone studying to become a professional writing, I really should pay more attention to writing. The writing was just sublime. I adored it. It was one of the reasons I didn't want to put this book down.
I saw in a few reviews comments on how the characters were all unlikeable due to their "snobby" attitudes. To some degree, I agree. These are people from high society, wealthy backgrounds and vastly intelligent. Our protagonist, Richard, is well out of his depth around them. He comes from an ordinary life in California. Yet it was their untrustworthiness and unlikeable qualities that made this a highly gripping read. You couldn't trust them. Key bits of information where withheld until the right point in the story. Yes, they are snobby, but Tartt made you care about them. I really liked them as an ensemble, even Bunny. As annoying as he was and you understood why they had to kill him, you really did pity him. One of the best casts of characters I've read about in a very long time.
The twists and turns in this book were very well executed. Each reveal made you want to keep reading, despite these chapters being very long. They were easily 50-150 pages long. It just added so many layers to this book. I have a feeling this is going to be one of my favourite reads of the year. You knew from the beginning that they had killed Bunny, but the reason why shocked you. How you found out, and it wasn't till almost 200 pages in, kept you invested. I had almost forgotten that this was Richard reflecting on events that had happened eight years ago. I've never read anything quite like it.
Yet more gushing praise was how highly atmospheric this book was. The setting of the university, the locations visited. Every little detail about this book was chosen with great care and you can tell that in the writing. I think it's clear from this that I loved the book. As a writer, I really appreciated it's craft and how it was made. The gothic, dark academia vibes transported you to the college and made you feel as though you too were going along on this journey.
I have plans to read her other two books at some point this year. I know The Goldfinch was turned into a film and that not many people have read her most recent release. I hope she writes more books as I need more books from her. It was just a very beautiful, well-written book.
Have you read The Secret History?
Carenza :) x
