Rating: 
Summary: A good read but nothing more
Review: I was unable to do any work in the aftermath of the World Trade Center tragedy, so I bought a novel to take my mind off of it. And this novel does take you to a fantasy land. It was a good book, although 100 pages could have easily been clipped off from it. Also, it seemed that these characters were always drunk, drinking or doing some sort of drugs, and after a while, it started to get tedious reading the descriptions over and over. The story also lacked suspense, as from the prologue, you knew that there had been a murder.What I was also disappointed in was the uneventful role of their mysterious teacher, Julian Morrow. I expected him to have some sort of deep connection to all this, some sort of sinister explanation why all of his students can't take classes with any other teacher, and so on. In short, I expected something more from him, but he barely has any role at all. Just pops up here and there--his reason for being is seemingly just to bring the main characters together. I appreciate the book--it took my mind off the disaster for a few days. It was enjoyable, interesting, but that's it. Certainly not a great book, a classic, or anything that I would ever feel tempted to read again.
Rating: 
Summary: A Tragic Novel (and I don't mean Greek)
Review: Kirkus Reviews said this novel was merely boring, but since I continued to read this over-long story to see what would happen next, I must disagree and say that it was actually bad and disappointing. Perhaps the author's intent was to write a Greek tragedy in a modern setting, but, to me, many Greek tragedies seem impossibly weird and anachronistic. What with the main characters being drunk, stoned, or both most of the time, it is a wonder they could do anything, let alone have a life-changing Dionysian experience. This novel is an intellectually pretentious version of what Lois Duncan does better in books like "I Know What You Did Last Summer," and "Killing Mr. Griffin." Those books are aimed at the Young Adult audience, but they would make much better reading for a person of any age who enjoys this kind of story.
Rating: 
Summary: When will she write another?
Review: I read The Secret History shortly after it was published and enjoyed it immensely. I have been patiently awaiting her second novel ever since. Does anyone have any information about Donna Tartt or know what has become of her?
Rating:
Summary: Almost there
Review: Well, if I must be the sole dissenter among the group, then I must. Tartt's elegant prose and genius plot manipulations most certainly give her the credit she deserves, but somewhere in her novel, I think she falls off the track. When a female writer takes on the narrative of a male character, oftentimes the narration is not completely accurate. "Sweet chuckles in the dark" and "smells of corriander and rue" are a few examples of what a male character would probably not say, even in the rare Richard Papen circumstance. I commend Tartt on an adventurous first novel, but I must admit that I am not fully convinced that her novel deserves its acclaim.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite novel.
Review: Tartt is a genius. She belongs in the company of Henry James, George Eliot, and Samuel Richardson for her successful creation of a fully realized world. More impressive still, no other writer in English, except perhaps Jane Austen or Oscar Wilde, fashions such a beautiful sentence as Donna Tartt. Her sentences lose none of their fascination after hundreds of readings. I have nearly memorized large portions of this novel and I still cannot decode the magic of her writing. How did she do it? And from whom, and when, did she learn her craft? This is her first novel, written partly while she was still an undergraduate at Bennington College. You have to wonder, are the best writers born, not made? Some of her influences can be traced. A description of a room during a party early in Tartt's novel is clearly indebted to a description of a house in The Great Gatsby (both descriptions enliven the domestic structure by use of nautical metaphor). And the feel of the book is very like A Separate Peace: not just the privileged clique that is the topic, but the plot structure as well, with a central sin in the middle and a final penance at the very end. But the real appeal lies in Tartt's miraculous sentences. I am fascinated by language, and I really have not encountered any other English prose written in this century that absorbs me so completely as Tartt's does. This perfectly polished language, combined with the sort of page-turning mystery plot that sells paperbacks in airport kiosks, makes the book a nearly unimaginable feat, combining popular and intellectual appeal. Tartt's book absorbs a reader the way the books of one's childhood did, compelling consent to the imagined world. I am a very jaded reader. Most contemporary fiction disappoints me terribly. I have not surrendered like this to a piece of fiction since my adolescence.
Rating:
Summary: Yearning
Review: The Secret History by Donna Tartt yanks at the heart strings of youth. The book was a history, as the stories of our lives are histories. It was a history of commonplace lives reflected on a mirror which deflected the great tales of antiquity, of epic proportion. Naïve youth, intermingling with wealth and privilege and the gods. They were bound to go awry. Smack dab in the middle was a winter of discontent. The prelude to that was sumptuous pleasure. The postlude, fear loathing mystery and longing. Once a crime is committed, it cannot be undone. So you must accept the dance as it presents itself. And it will follow as life follows upon the day. Waltz, then, with the skeleton who takes you up in its arm by privelege of your open dance card. Sign it. Glide across the smooth floor of life, unsteady in your shoes, unsure of where the next step will land you, ever on the lookout for someone who will recognize your crime and will wittingly - or unwittingly - expose you to the others.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it! Loved it! Loved it!
Review: This is my very first review for Amazon.com- prompted by that horrible Kirkus thing! I rarely read current novels- but I loved this book. I absolutely could not put it down or stop telling everyone I knew about it. Where is Donna Tartt now? The only other recent novel I felt the same way about was Posession by A.S. Byatt- so probably if you liked Possession, you will enjoy this too.
Rating:
Summary: Good summer reading
Review: Highly enjoyable, without a doubt, but a little too conscious of itself. At times, the characters seem much more concerned with the impression they create than the fact that they've committed two murders, and their sense of otherness sometimes intrudes in the storyline. I've read it a few times, and always enjoyed it, despite some irritation at the little group of Greek scholars. Her descriptions of the settings are certainly vivid, and give life to the story that the characters don't always have.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite what it promised, but very enjoyable
Review: The Secret History starts out very well with a very intriguing premise and I was instantly glued to its pages. For me it was definitely a page-turner right till the end. The problem is that the pivotal event takes place right in the middle of the story and the novel lacks something after it. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it a lot, but it looked like another mystery book after the murder. For those who thought that the book would bear more resemblance to a Greek tragedy, I understand their disappointment. Another complaint is that we never get to really understand what is it that attracts this bunch of teenagers to Julian, who is portayed as an obnoxious, self-concious teacher. Apart from this, I enjoyed how the novel revolved around the main character's life in campus, with no apparent routine. Richard is an appealing character, and I was impressed by hoy the author conveyed his confusion towards the other characters in his book. I found him a very realistic character, and I appreciated that Tart didn't make him behave as a hero. The other ones are well drawn as well, especially Bunny, but it is disappointing to see him disappear in the middle of the novel. Nevertheless I recommend you to read the book, you won't be able to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Begs to be filmed
Review: A world so skillfully and seductively drawn, I couldn't stop casting the film in my head. During my first reading of The Secret History, Donna Tartt was to blame for my late arrivals at the office and days half-asleep at my desk. Couldn't put it down, didn't want to see it end. Spiced with a hint of the supernatural, this well crafted tale of psychological suspense simultaneously fills you with dread and welcomes you into a beautifully atmospheric world you'll hate to leave. Where is Donna Tartt? I'm still waiting to read more. And still waiting for the movie.
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