The Secret History

Rating:
Summary: Less hipe
Review: Although it's really enjoyable and engaging, at points it becomes far too long. I don't really think we needed to know all that much about the Corcorans and their very own way of mourning. In fact at that point the action slows down and it doesn't pick up for about a hundred pages. It's a fine novel but it could have been far better had it avoided "best seller cliches" and concentrated more deeply in humanizing it's at times only slightly outlined characters. I guess though, that it's the price to pay nowadays if you want to see your first novel published.

Rating:
Summary: Simply fantastic
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I forgot to eat and go to school while reading it. The characters all have their individual backgrounds and motives, which makes their interaction so fascinating. If I would recommend only one book, it would have to be this one.

Rating:
Summary: A book that will just keep you going.
Review: The Secret History is a fine novel. Although occasionally problematic (there isn't, for example, any mention of when the book takes place) this book will keep you going and going and going. Intriguing plot line, wonderfully drawn characters, and one of the few authors I've read who has a grasp for the voice of the opposite sex. Check this one out.

Rating:
Summary: False Sophistication
Review: With the exception of Henry and the doomed Bunny, the characters in The Secret History are cardboard cutouts whose motives and actions are therefore never explained. All we readers know is that these are way cool, very smart young people without any conscience. Mutilating a no-doubt badly educated Vermont farmer was nothing to feel anguish about, just a messy consequence of a night of really moronic behavior, elevated above say a fraternity hazing by invoking the spirit of Dionysius. It's not that Donna Tartt cannot write well because there are some scenes where she describes college life just right. It's that the book has an adolescent's point of view that divides the world into two camps: cool and not cool. Bunny's parents are not cool, so that is why the author's portrayal of them is so unsubtle and one-dimensional. Given her talent, I hope Donna Tartt's future books demonstrate that human beings are a lot more complicated than they are in this book, and resist showing off an expensive education without purpose. Finally, this is a nitpick, but no one in Connecticut would refer to "lower Connecticut" if they were trying to say "black" in code. Lower Connecticut is in fact called the Gold Coast, known for its wealth, with the exception of the city of Bridgeport. The coach would have said "a team from Bridgeport" if he was trying to say the opposing team was mostly African American. And teams from Bridgeport never play the prep schools, by the way.

Rating:
Summary: You will never forget this story!
Review: Disregard the Kirkus review! I have read this book twice; both times I was glued to the pages! I'm excited to read it again. I've checked for more books by Tartt each time I've gone to the book store. . . come on, Donna, don't keep us waiting!

Rating:
Summary: Donna Tartt, please write another book!
Review: My copy of this book has completely fallen apart; I reread it and return to certain passages all the time. I'm haunted by these characters, particularly Francis and Henry, and amazed at Tartt's fantastic first novel. I wait anxiously to see what she'll come up with next.

Rating:
Summary: Our book group hated it!!!
Review: We read this book for our book group and all but one person hated it, two people didn't even finish it. A lot of hype about nothing!

Rating:
Summary: The greatest book I've ever read.
Review: I'm not usually a fan of books (not many teens are), but I grew attached to Donna Tartt's characters. This story was origional, and well written. I recently let a friend borrow this book, and I can't wait to get it back so I can read it again.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite book, bar none
Review: I would be suprised if I have read this book, in its entirety, less than 50 times.

Rating:
Summary: One of the finest works of literature I have ever read.
Review: No other book has haunted me as much as The Secret History has since I read it in 1993. This is definitely my favorite book of all time. When is Donna Tartt coming out with her next book? I have been waiting restlessly for the past five years.