Book Review: Donna Tartt – “The Secret History”

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 forever, and they discover how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill. (Source: amazon.com)

I am glad I gave this book a shot after reading a very tedious excerpt of “The Goldfinch” before. Of course, this book tended to be quite tedious in parts, too – something that makes me understand why people say that Tartt is hard to digest, that after reading one of her books, they had to take a break before starting other books written by her. And that is the only reason why I “only” gave it 4 instead of 5 stars. And tedious for me in this regard means sometimes too long trains of thoughts from Richard, the narrator, filled with mentions of Greek mythology, philosophy – but really, that is just my personal opinion/problem, and not a reproach to the author herself or her writing skills – on the contrary, because after all, I totally knew what I was getting myself into when I started this book.

The story is different from other murder stories – you know right at the beginning who’s the murderer and the rest of the book is an explanation WHY the murder happens – something that some books sometimes are lacking. And I am not talking about the “normal” reasons for a murder – the person being killed was rude to the others, slept with someone’s wife, betrayed the protagonist in other ways – Tartt goes way deeper into the psyche of 5 college kids who try everything to maintain their normal life, to pretend everything’s fine, and she takes the reader on the constant journey how 4 of them after the murder keep on living after that life-changing experience. She never stops opening up the psychological problems in the college kids’ “new” life, in their minds, she draws the reader in, makes him/her part of her story.

One thing I loved most about this book is the long conversation about a quarter into the book where Henry and Francis, two of the main characters, are telling Richard – the narrator – everything they’ve been keeping secret from him. I loved that conversation, the way it was written, the way Tartt used her words. She made me somewhat feel like I was part of that story-telling, like I was sitting in the same room with them, listening to everything they revealed. And that is a talent that nowadays not many authors have (at least for me and my taste in books and authors). Overall, for me, ALL of the conversation between the 5 young people are highly entertaining, so that it was very hard for me to putting that book away – they are compelling in a way that is too difficult to explain.

Plus, Tartt never gets tired to reveal even the deepest depths of her characters. The further you get into the story, the more you find out about Henry, Camilla, Charles and Francis, and just when you think you know all there is to know about them – something else is revealed. The only two people who really kind of stay mysterious to the reader are Henry and Julian, their teacher. To some people, it might not be satisfying, but to me, it gives the story and its end a bit of extra spice. Everybody can make up their own mind if and how everyone found their peace eventually or not. I like this way of approaching readers.

It’s going to take some time until I’ll approach another of Tartt’s books now – maybe even “The Goldfinch”, after all, – but I definitely do not regret taking this one onto my book shelf. It’s an amazing piece of modern literature, and the best thing about it: it’s a book you will not forget that easily.

And that is – in my opinion – the greatest gift an author can make and get.