The Secret History

I will preface this review by saying that I initially decided to read this because I was informed by the general consensus of social media that this book was — at least in terms of vibes — closely similar to If We Were Villains. Of course, that wasn’t what truly pushed me to reading the book. but. a combination of it being a perfect ticker for Fully Booked’ s Read More 2022 challenge and by recommendation of my good friend, Geoff (@pageglue).

“The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation”

If that opening line wasn’t enough to capture your attention, then god knows what will.

The Secret History indeed had similar vibes with If We Were Villains; however, it did not have the level of strength the latter had in making its characters disgustingly pretentious. It may be obvious that they are living the teenage life wherein we seem to weirdly absorb whatever we consume and slowly become an incarnation of it, but Donna Tartt created a bubble that protected her characters from being sickly pompous.

I loved the characters of this book. I respect that everyone had their problems to attend to and that they all have secrets that they want to hide. Yet like any friendship, they were bound to be discovered. And, although they respect one another, there comes a point where everything crumbles and the foundation of their relationship becomes shaky.

This diminishing support, then, becomes the very structure of the book. You might say that no one will be oblivious of the outcome of the story as the prologue literally starts of with the very scandal the book will make you relive, in spite of that Tartt was still able to erect such an intriguing story that you just cannot seem to put down the book.

“There are such things as ghosts. People everywhere have always known that. And we believe in them every bit as much as Homer did. Only now, we call them by different names. Memory. The unconscious.”

In addition, Tartt constructed a beautifully constant rhythm of rise and fall within her story. Interwoven within the fabric of the plot — these cadences take you to an exciting journey of vigor to read through everything and slack of wanting to just get over with it, yet enticed by the secrecy within the narrative.

You’d think that with everything that I said, I wouldn’t have issues with the book, no? But I did so too. As much as I liked the characters, I find that there are certain elements to their stories that weren’t divulged well enough. It’s true that they are wonderfully made, painfully real, and fiercely loveable and detestable making them strongly three-dimensinal; however, I wanted more from the bits and pieces of their stories — of those little moments that were forgotten and was never brought light upon. It may be up to the readers’ interpretation, and if that is the case it is understandable, but in the contrary it felt, to me, like a forgotten tale set aside.

Moreover, I was a tad bit disappointed with the main character, Richard — the one whom opens our eyes to the events that have happened. It may be that he is circumspect, yet it doesn’t make any natural sense with how he reacts to things. He was a boring person and despite it being a curious thing, his catatonic personality brought upon a weird dissatisfaction at the back of my tongue.

“It does not do to be frightened of things about which you know nothing. You are like children. Afraid of the dark.”

I enjoyed this book extremely. So much so that I was able to finish it relatively quickly (although it was partly because it was a library copy and I was in a contraint of time). I saw this book as an astonishing study of character; how secrets begin as nothing more than an itch requiring a scratch. And yet once you do, your skin starts to peel off, exposing meat. This exposure will soon, albeit slowly, destroy you.

Magnificent in its overall structure, The Secret History is a novel worthy of anyone’s time. I will forever be grateful for Geoff for recommending me this book. And I can now see why Joy (@theserenepages) and Joe (@diehardthrillridefan) loved this book too.