The Secret History by Donna Tartt—Book Review

The Secret History

by Donna Tartt

Book Review

rating: 3/5

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Synopsis:

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.

My thoughts:

"I liked the idea of living in a city -- any city, especially a strange one -- liked the thought of traffic and crowds, of working in a bookstore, waiting tables in a coffee shop, who knew what kind of odd, solitary life I might slip into? Meals alone, walking the dogs in the evening; and nobody knowing who I was."

The Secret History by Donna Tartt is considerably one of the most iconic novels in the dark academia genre. Published in 1992 by Alfred A. Knopf The Secret History has gained an occult-like following.

Dark Academia has become especially present on the "women interested in women" lesbian/gay/bisexual/pansexual/queer women side of TikTok. Defined as "an aesthetic that is inspired by old and classical literature/philosophy, as well as themes of existentialism and death (essentially a knowledgeable, vintage emo)." explained by a user on Urban Dictionary.

The Secret History tells the story of Richard Papen and a year of his life after he transfers to Hampden college at the age of twenty-something. There he befriends an exclusive group of students with whom he studies Classics with. It is with this group that he gets entangled in weekend trips to a lake-house, pulled into the murder of a friend, wrapped into the summoning of the god Dionysus and the head of a farmer that got bashed in in the middle of the night.

"'It had to be approached on its own terms, not in a voyeuristic light or even a scholarly one. At the first, I suppose, it was impossible to see it any other way, looking at it as we did in fragments, through centuries. The vitality of the act was entirely obfuscated, the beauty, the terror, the sacrifice.' He took one last drag of his cigarette and put it out. 'Quite simply,' he said, 'we didn't believe. And belief was the one condition which was absolutely necessary. Belief, and absolute surrender.'"

One thing that I loved about this book is Donna Tartt's writing style. Every page was gorgeously written, it was like mellifluous on paper. It was something that I would get tattooed on my body. The only reason my copy is not currently marked up in pen is because I listened to the audiobook read by Donna Tartt, the author, herself. I definitely recommend the audio just for the experience of listening to Donna Tartt read to you if nothing else.

There was one thing in this book that drove me insane, personally is that I could not understand was how a group of intelligent college students could somehow justify murdering one of their friends...no matter how much of an asshole he was. Their thinking and mindset became warped from spending too much time in ancient Rome and Greece with their old ways of thinking and ideologies. Not all were monster and simply saw murder as "a redistribution of matter". They were bothered by these violent acts so much that one lost the ability to speak. Only slowly gaining it back with small french words and moving to sentences and then transitioning back over to English.

Overall, I enjoyed The Secret History. I personally feel as if I would of enjoyed it so much more had it been my first book in the Dark Academia genre rather than Ninth House and If We Were Villains but that is on me and has nothing to do with Donna Tartt or her book. I do plan on reading The Goldfinch (soon, hopefully, but no promises).

Does such a thing as "the fatal flaw," that showy dark crack running down the middle of life, exist outside of literature? I used to think it didn't . Now I think it does. And I think mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.

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