Rating: 
Summary: Mind-numbing trash
Review: This book is the worst novel I have read in years, perhaps ever.
The characters are wholly incredible, their actions and dialogue simply not believable. Even the worst hack of an author ought to ensure that at least the rudimentary facts of a story are credible and logical, even here the author fails. Beyond that, there are so many completely absurd interactions that I simply cannot fathom how it is that so many readers gush about this book. It is the height of arrogance for an author to insert foreign language phrases, sentences, etc., without even suggesting their translation in so many instances as Tartt does here. I guess people think it is "clever" and, well, she must be so SMART to use Greek, too! This was 523 pages of pain that I wish I'd chosen to give up on early on. How a woman can choose to tell a novel from the perspective of a man is beyond me. On page 2, I was thinking that this must be a book where the author writes from the viewpoint of more than one protagonist, because it was so clearly a woman speaking through the character of a man, I could not conceive that this would continue. But it did, and was so transparent it was ludicrous.
I don't know what the women at Bennington College were like when she attended there, but I have news for you; 99.9% of heterosexual male college students are going to jump the bones of any willing coed, and the fact that the male protagonist didn't, save one instance in an entire college year, is so ridiculous. And to have us believe that a college-age and caliber human being would not have the sense to abandon living quarters in an unheated warehouse in rural Vermont where a gaping hole in the ceiling allows snow to fall into the sleeping area, and to STAY THERE WITHOUT QUESTION FOR 2 MONTHS is just so laughable, it is sublime. My God, how can such garbage be called literature!?
Rating: 
Summary: Slow start, can't turn the pages fast enough finish.
Review: The beginning of this book was slow. I can't tell you how many times I put it down to read anything else. And the characters were a bit cliche & not at all likable. HOWEVER somewhere in the story I got caught up in finding out what would happen to the group of scholarly killers. Having the who-done-it question solved in the first chapter paid off as the story progressed. I found myself having to read on to see who would be caught...or next. Even though the characters on the whole were pretty lousy, I found myself disliking some more than others -- even really hating a few. Having that much emotion about fictional characters is a sign of great writing. By the last 1/4 of the book, I couldn't put it down. By the end, I found myself imagining what was to come of the remaining characters. Donna Tartt did an exceptional job on her first novel & I can't wait to read more of her work.
Rating: 
Summary: Over-hyped
Review: To be honest, I don't really understand why this novel spawned such fanaticism and rock-star-esque heroine-worship for Donna Tartt. Sure, it's a gripping page-turner, and Donna Tartt writes crisp, occasionally beautiful prose, but I'm still not sure this quite deserves the classic status it seems to have been afforded. For a start, the plot seems a little telemovie for me -it plays right into popular cultural fantasies of evil, glamorous rich kids and their coke-snorting, amoral ways, mixed up with equally potent popular fantasies of arcane learning having a sinister heart (basically, a popular suspicion of the rich and over-educated.) I didn't really believe in any of the characters, although I was fairly happy to permit their larger-than-life, unreal existence within the context of an enjoyable, slightly trashy and extremely well-executed thriller. I'm still a bit confused as to why so many people claim this book changed their lives...It entertained me for a few late nights, but it's hardly great literature. Tartt's second novel, which I'm reading at the moment, seems to merit such high acclaim much more than this one does.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting characters, great story
Review: Tartt does a superb job of describing the characters in this interesting story. By the end of the book I really felt that I knew each one. It was a page turner that kept me reading until the end. Well done!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent ride!
Review: Even the negative reviews of this novel are loaded with emotion. That's what art does. It demands a strong emotional response. Well done, Miss Tartt!
Rating:
Summary: Glad I didn't go to this college
Review: Donna Tartt has written a complicated, nuanced, sometimes dragging but intriguing novel about relationships and the effects a crisis can have on them. It is not easy to like any of the characters in this novel, and yet like a voyeur I could not help but be fascinated by the events taking place. I had to keep reading to see what would happen. We know from the beginning that Bunny Cocoran is dead and that he has been murdered. The twist in this book is to watch how this murder has effected the group of students that committed the act and to see if they get caught. Hampton College is a small Liberal Arts school in Vermont with a unique and exclusive Classical Greek Department lead by a brilliant yet eccentric professor who is idolized by his students. The group of students are a very odd mix of wealthy, priviledged and brilliant people . Richard Papen the narrator is a new student at the college who comes from the most ordinary of backgrounds and wishes to be part of this clique. Once he is accepted he definetly gets more than he bargained for. Part of belonging in this group involves buying into the idea that they are above the ordinary rules and ethics that guide the rest of us. This is evidenced in their total disregard for the results of a botched bacchnalian ritual that was attempted. But does this include murdering a friend? Richard is more than happy to go along with this to feel part of something special. The crux of this novel lies in watching each of the characters self destruct as they wrestle with their conscious and how far they are willing to go in order to protect themselves. Murdering their friend is just the beginning of their problems and as Tartt reveals more about their lives and actions, the reader grows more incredulous at just what goes on behind closed doors and what these people are willing to do in order to keep their secrets. A good book with well developed characters and a plot that keeps surprising although slow and ponderous at times.
Rating:
Summary: Good characters, Well plotted, Suspenseful.
Review: Donna Tartt's "The Secret History" is about a secluded group of New England liberal arts students at a secluded New England liberal arts university. They are a half-dozen students of a reclusive professor who follows no curriculum, but tutors his group the "old-fashioned way", teaching them the classics himself, and seeing to all their educational needs himself. A new student arrives, and being interested in the classics, and also in the other students in the group, whom he sees in mysterious sightings around campus, he makes his way into the group. The students are generally wealthy, and therefore even more reserved, meaning that they are quite far from the mainstream of the campus at large, in multiple ways.The book's tension comes from knowing, from the very first few pages, that one of these students will be killed, and the other students will be aware of the killing. It is through the eyes of this new student, the book's narrator, that the events leading to the death unfold, as well as the events after the death. Without giving away some important details, suffice it to say there is a relationship between the classical studies group and the death. It's not a satanic murder or anything like this, but a much more believable and subtle occurence, an event the surviving members of the group must handle, both psychologically within themselves, and logistically within their university community. The book is written nicely, and its characters very well drawn, their personalities described in a psychologically astute manner. It is filled with allusions to classical literature, especially in the expository beginning sections, but this is sometimes a little too much obvious showing off on the part of the author. The characters are sympathetic, however, and this reviewer cared enough about them all to finish the book and discover the ending. The story is also interesting and suspenseful, and while slightly contrived, it is not too far from the realm of reality at all. The ending is relatively powerful, and wraps up the various threads in a compelling manner. A reader interested in reading about New England liberal arts students of ancient greek literature, and their strange exploits and experiments with the psychological aspects of the works, will be drawn to these characters and the way the plot unfolds. A picky reader looking for experimental literature or deep psychology should look elsewhere. This is a good read, with good characters and a good story.
Rating:
Summary: Best in 2002
Review: If you read only one book in 2003, make it this one. It is wonderful!!!! The Greek was over my head but the story, the plot, the characters, etc were sooo good. I wish Hollywood would make a movie of it. I'm looking forward to reading Donna's next, written ten years later. Anne J.
Rating:
Summary: Truly memorable...
Review: Nearly 10 years after reading this novel I still think about it and hold it up as a gold standard of reading pleasure.
Rating:
Summary: The Secret History
Review: You will NOT forget these characters...it is a wonderful, thoughtful and original book - BUY it now!
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