Rating: 
Summary: Don't forget to breath
Review: Having just completed Donna Tartt's fantastically morose novel, the Secret History, I must remind myself to breath. Her characters so captivated me (excluding, interestingly enough, the narrator Richard Papen) that they are no longer restrained to their pages. Henry, from the moment he draws the conclusion "Beauty is terror" has been my favorite. Yet Francis in his closeted yet blatent homosexuality draws my sympathy for his self-induced cage.
Although, I must say, as a woman, I am strangely drawn to Camilla and Charles, the twins. Camilla, her frail exterior masking an icy inner passion, catches my eye as one of the most creative female characters I have read in a while. She denies every stereotype, and every time I though I knew how she would react, she surprised me. She seems most real, the most likely to knock on my door in the middle of the night for a drink.
And her brother, Charles, complements his sister perfectly. His buring rage is the exact opposite to his sisters cool fury. Together they are one, and apart their individual flaws are made painfully aware.
The characters are perfect. The plot is perfect. The description is, as you guessed it, perfect. My one and only complaint, do allow me this after all my praise, is the ending. I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, yet the ending left me wanting. It's not to say that I would be happier with a "they lived happpily ever after" model, but Tartt's conclusion is so morose, my mood was ruined for the rest of the week.
Richards casual prose is ideal for her novel, because his voice is in that perfect state of indecision that is so typical to the college student. Above that stumbling incoherant rant of the adolescent, but below the world-weary rumble of an adult. Richard looks at everything, even things that would make us shrink in horror, with the eye of one trying not to judge.
Rating:
Summary: so what, now what.
Review: This is a very well written book. I raced through it and recommend it because of the author's engaging and descriptive writing. However, I agree with another reviewer who commented: "who cares about these characters?" I could not relate to anyone except the narrator and even he seemed shallow despite his attributed intelligence.One thing I found puzzling was the time of the story. References to "hippies" and the first walk on the moon made it seem like this might have taken place in the early seventies. Yet other references to dated seventies' magazines, made it seem later. I wondered if the author intended this fuzziness.
Rating:
Summary: Page turner.
Review: Why, I wonder, did none of the reviews I read catch on to the reason the author alludes to The Great Gatsby? In Gatsby, the narrator is so beguiled by his rich associates, that he somehow is led to overlook their essential evil. In the same way, Tartt's narrator, Richard, is so taken with his new rich friends and desperate for their acceptance... I really enjoyed the glimpse into college life. I remember characters chillingly like the ones Tartt created, and we might all bear in mind that often enough it's the threat of punishment that stops people from living their worst fantasies. These characters expected to get away with everything for their whole lives. I think the book could have been a little shorter, but the language and imagery are very well done, so the extra is forgivable. It's readable and compelling, but if you really despise pretentious, evil college students, you might be tempted to give it a low rating.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing, enjoyable, thought provoking, but not a classic
Review: A Brief Review: I gave this book four stars, rather than three, because it affected me; although I don't think it is an overly amazing book, I really liked it. There are far too many bad books out there, and for the characters, scenes, and "bigger questions" to linger in my mind days after finishing the book, it deserves something above average. I don't think this book will be a classic, there are parts that are unrealistic, and the writing is not over-the-top amazing. This said, I enjoyed the writing, found the book very readable, became attached to and involved with the characters, and found that the book prodded me to ask questions of myself. The book is a good read, and will suffice for that if that is what you are looking for, but it also goes beyond a good read into the realm of a well-written book that raises important questions about life and death, friendships, relationships, and love.
Rating:
Summary: Good first novell..
Review: I really enjoyed this novel, it is without a doubt a page turner. I disagree with some of the reviewers as to Tartt's ability to bring the characters to life. In my mind all of the characters were very surreal, they were well drawn and had personality, but they all came off as very unusual. It's fairly obvious Tartt has no clue as to how men think, and since the majority of the characters are male they come off as very feminine, which is fine if that is the way they are meant to be characterized but I believe most them are suppose to be played fairly straight.
The pace and tone of the story are exquisite. You will not get bored with this book. Tartt is a wonderful author, another book of her's "Little Friend" is even better.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the greatest novels of all time
Review: I was captured by this book. Never before have I been totally soaked with anxeity. This book has such vivid images and is beautifully written.
Rating: 
Summary: who cares?
Review: I spent several nights reading this novel, which has been touted as being brilliant...... And now that I've finished it, I consider those nights wasted. Who cares about any of these characters? They are the epitome of spoiled college kids who spend most of their time drinking and using drugs and the rest of their time thinking how intelligent they are. The main character hates his parents, hates his hometown, hates everything about his life until he gets to college and then he finds a group of people he can spar with intellectually. In the end they are all insane or dead and Richard lives on, still hating everything. The references to classical lit were great, if a little too, too.....
Rating:
Summary: Ominous, Haunting...Great Story
Review: This is no run of the mill murder story. Donna Tartt weaves a tale that is so intricate and complex, yet the whole thing never falls apart and keeps the reader on edge. As I read this novel, I had a sense of "doom" hanging over my head, even though I knew who was killed at the start of the story. It's how the story is told, narrated by the main character, Richard. He tells the story in flashback, but he reveals things as he learned them while they were happening. I can't say enough about the perfection in Tartt's writing. She just flows. All of the characters are well-developed, and you get a sense of their dark side. Even though the story starts off by telling you who was murdered--don't worry, there are lots of surprises in the plot! This book will stay with you long after you've finished reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Thrilling
Review: I was fascinated to read Jon Bornholdt's powerfully-written review below. I wonder if perhaps he is taking the book too seriously. I can see the force of his main criticism that the quotations and references are merely authorial vanity and pretentiousness ("window-dressing designed to disguise the worthlessness of the product itself" as he evocatively puts it), but I don't agree with him. Firstly, in literature (as in art and music) "window-dressing" can play an important role. Fancy phraseology, literary references and such like can give life to writing and elevate it from the commonplace, it can all be part of the effect of the piece. I agree that if overdone it can be incredibly tiresome. There I think people will have varying opinions. I didn't find the style of Donna Tartt's writing irritating. I thought the quotations and references were dazzling precisely because that is their intended purpose. However, did I think there was any profundity or substance to the book? Decidedly not! So why do I recommend this book whole-heartedly despite the fact that there is no substance to it at all? Because it is a first-class page turner. It is a compelling and addictive thriller. I'm not sure that Donna Tartt intended the book to have any depth. Whatever her faults as a serious writer, she has captured something elusive in this book. She has written a piece of fiction that one literally cannot put down. The first time I read this book, I read it avidly to the exclusion of everyone and everything around me. It is hard to explain why the book is so compelling. It is partly because the characters are fascinating (I didn't find them that derivative or unbelievable, to be honest, in fact I found them rather novel). How the group interacts is perhaps the most gripping part of the story. They are all intelligent and slightly eccentric classics students plus there are a number of interesting sexual tensions between them. They are somehow intimately involved in a gruesome murder, as you find out on the very first page, and there is a terrific amount of suspense as you read to discover the story of how on earth they got involved. After about the half-way point, when you find out, the rest of the book is an exciting account of how they try to hide their involvement from the authorities. The ending...? Well, hmmm, see what you think. If you want stunning insights or incisive comments on the human condition, this is not the book for you! However, as an upmarket thriller, this book is excellent. It is very enjoyable, very exciting and very compelling. It's a rollercoaster ride which I enjoyed tremendously. If you approach it in this frame of mind, you will enjoy it greatly too.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging Performance of Tartt Reading Her Novel
Review: This review refers to the unabridged audio as read by the author, Donna Tartt. This is quite a charming and effective performance. Tartt reads in a pretty, Southern-accented voice that sounds a little like Holly Hunter. Although she's not a professional actress, she does a good job in capturing the different voices of Bunny, Henry, Julian, and the other characters. And of course, her insights into the text as its creator, combined with her dramatic skills, make for compelling hours of entertainment. The book itself is a tale of murder and madness, like a dark mirror image of "Brideshead Revisited." Only instead of the hero being tempted towards holiness, he's lured into unsuspected evil. (Tartt's moral vision is similar to Waugh's but she sneaks up on you from the opposite direction.) The narrator, Richard Papen, eventually speaks of "the essential rottenness of the world" as he sinks into despair after his participation in murder. But he is the most unreliable of narrators. Tartt is smart enough to show us alternatives he could have taken instead of evil (like friendship with the superficially annoying but essentially good-hearted Judy Poovey.) This audio performance will enhance your enjoyment of this fine, scary novel. I look forward to Tartt doing something similar with "The Little Friend."
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