Rating: 
Summary: Worse than bad
Review: This book was dreadful. Like another reviewer, I kept waiting
for it to get better, for plotlines to develop, for dark and
shocking revelations. In vain. I suppose I can believe this
got published, but with all that acclaim and media attention?
I'm missing something. For starters, I never got acclimated
to the setting, which is supposed to be a contemporary
Benningtonesque campus with drugs and academic pretentiousness; but stylistically it had more of an Edwardian, Brideshead
Revisited feel, and the two just didn't jibe for me. Plus,
ALMOST NOTHING HAPPENED. They just drank alot, got really
drunk alot, called each other alot, and acted mysterious.
Nothing really happened until around page 250 of this egregiously
long book. Bad and brief is one thing, but bad with Tolstoyan
ambitions is quite another. Save yourself time and money, don't
read this book. You'll thank me later.
Rating: 
Summary: Visit the torrid world of murder,sex and drugs in...VERMONT?
Review: The cover of the book, in most cases, is not flashy. The name of it is not particulary noteworthy. But, after reading this masterpiece of modern fiction, you find it difficult to believe that it is not more universally lauded! After being introduced to the characters you feel yourself being drawn into their world of intellectual precociousness. You can see yourself being woven into their lives and, consequently, into their story--one of murder and deception. However, through the beautiful prose of the main character, Richard Papen, the reader can see that the crime is not one-dimensional; but, instead, takes into account the feelings of the four other characters, who each add their own justification to the ghastly murder of one of their own, one of their "friends." After finishing this novel, you begin to crave a second and a third and a forth, detailing more of the lives of these characters. The young people you are introduced to, remorseless and beguiling as they are, will find a way into the reader's heart and mind. I challenge anybody to pick up this book and take over a week to read it. I further challenge anybody to forget it after that week is over. In this reader's opinion, THAT is the only difficulty
Rating:
Summary: The Best Novel of the 90s
Review: I've read this book over five times in the three years since I "discovered" it. There's a certain magic at work in Tartt's writing. Is she at work on another novel? Please let me know
Rating: 
Summary: Appealing combination of high and low...
Review: The Secret History is a novel about the kind of people who still see themselves,
in their early twenties, as highly romantic, mysterious individuals. They are
a secrective group of intellectually gifted students, taking a walk on their own
wild sides. What makes the book engaging is that the author buys wholly into the
mystique of her characters; her zealous belief in the tragic stature of these
people and events almost convinces the reader, as well. But in proslytizing
for her faith, Tartt pushes the novel too close to pretentiousness
and, ultimately, melodrama. Of course, that's what makes it such a page turner.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best-written, most engaging mysteries ever.
Review: Donna Tartt spent eight years writing this novel, and I'll
bet you will want to finish reading it in a day or two.
When you're interrupted, you will think of little else but
getting back to the story. Before you've finished page two,
you will know that you're reading an extraordinary work.
The originality of the tale, its refreshing structure, and
Tartt's splendid use of language will enthrall you.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best-written, most engaging mystery novels ever.
Review: Donna Tartt spent eight years writing this novel, and I'll
bet you'll want to finish reading it in a day or two.
When you're interrupted, you'll think of little else but
getting back to the story. Before you've finished page two,
you'll know that you're reading an extraordinary work. These
predictions are only one woman's opinion, of course, but try it. The originality of the tale, its refreshing structure,
and Tartt's splendid use of language are enthralling.
Rating:
Summary: Five friends, one secret, totally mesmerising!!!
Review: 1st thought-I need a book.
2nd thought-Sounds ok, the history of some girl.
3rd thought-Read the title wrong, WHAT have I bought?!!
4th thought...
no time for thinking, just keep turning the pages, swallowed in by the experience. This book will have you compiling a list of people to recommend it to BEFORE you've finished.
The end just blows you away... still reeling you reach for the phone to spread the news.
Ignore this and its your loss.
You'll never know just how much your missing out.....
Rating:
Summary: A mystery that actually reads like literature ...
Review: Donna Tartt's debut novel, The Secret History, successfully blends the unlikely
-- page-turning mystery and contemporary literature. Revolving around a group of
select students attending the Greek language course of an enigmatic professor,
The Secret History explores just how far friends will go to protect each other
... and themselves
Rating:
Summary: I Just Wish It Had Remained a Secret...
Review: Oh man, don't even try to ingest this pseudo-intellectual foolishness. I was bored with book, annoyed by it, and angered by it. How could any book so highly praised be so bad? I don't know-but, it definitely is. Just a few examples for you the reader:
Tartt is a terrible writer. Her adjectives are bizarre. In the first chapter, the protagonist writes that he longed for the "sweet, dark rhythms" of country towns. That's a perfect example of the author's crap. What does she mean by that? Nothing. She thinks the words sound nice and mysterious and intellectual and poetic and chic and post-modern. How can a rhythm be dark? How can one be sweet? It can't.
Point Two: The problem with the protagonist. The protagonist is a paper-thin veil concealing the narrator. How can you tell? Well, the tip-off is that the protagonist, Richard Papen, a California male, doesn't act or write in the style of a California male (even one educated in an elite school). No, he talks like a self-important woman. Honestly, I had to keep reminding myself that the narrator wasn't a woman. I couldn't even convince myself that the narrator was an effeminate man. It simply isn't possible. No man in the history of the human race has ever spoken or written like Richard Papen does in this book. His touch is way too delicate and smug, almost creepily asexual.
A second problem arises from the narrator. Because Richard Papen is Donna Tartt, the book swiftly becomes a pointless exercise in self-aggrandizement. Donna uses Papen to demonstrate to the reader how brilliant Donna really is. Expect Donna to make lots of wonderful insights into the modern American culture. In fact, you have probably heard these fascinating insights before. It's all the modern clap-trap about the dangers of society (a la Ellis).
I won't belabor this final point. This book is as boring as all hell. Recommendation: Avoid this puppy like it carried the bubonic plague.
Rating: 
Summary: Camilla and Daisy; Tartt and Fitzgerald
Review: No doubt this excellent novel can be interpreted at multiple levels. The world of Dionysian mysteries, possession by Bacchus,and ritual murder are as murky as the mystery religions themselves. However, I was struck at the parallels between The Secret History and F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The narrarator, Richard Pappin, a-sexual and bright, mirrors the narrarator in Gatsby. Both are outsiders and both work their way into an inner circle where secrets destroy. The characters of Daisy in Gatsby and Camilla in Secret History, are pulled between two men. In the case of Daisy, she is pulled between her husband and Gatsby. In the case of Camilla, she is pulled between her twin brother with whom she is having an incestuous relationship and Henry, the star intellectual student. The gay Francis and the a-sexual Jordan in Gatsby both open doors for the narrarators into a world they wish to enter. Finally both novels are marked by two murders, all four are sacrifices to arrogance and priviledge. One chapter was totally amazing to me. The chapter on Bunny's funeral seemed to strike some readers as boring but I found it to be full of the darkest humor about the human condition. It reminded me of a Patricia Highsmith short story inserted in the middle of the novel. The murderers of Bunny are invited by his parents to stay in their home and attend the funeral. Richard observes the family move in and out of grief, so perfectly drawn by the description of Bunny's father grieving over Bunny while playing with a small grandchild. A fascinating book that is highly recommended. If you are a Great Gatsby fan, you must read this book.
|
