“The Secret History”
Written by Donna Tartt
Reviewed by Diana Iozzia
The Secret History
is a modern classic, that helped define the dark academia genre. The genre is
classified by its mix for characters’ appreciation and love for Greek, Roman,
Italian, French, and romantic culture, and the characters’ descent into dark
crimes. The setting is almost always an exclusive boarding school or college.
Other famous novels, which I have all read, in this genre are If We Were
Villains, Long Black Veil, Dead Poets Society, Black Chalk,
and She was Always the Quiet One. As an anglophile who would consider
this genre to be a favorite, I knew for years I wanted to go to the core, to
return to the roots of this type of novel. Many say that The Secret History
and Dead Poets are the parents of this genre, so I was thrilled to
begin.
This novel, one of Donna Tartt’s masterpieces, about a
group of Classics majors at an elite university has become praised, mocked, and
emulated in many popular films and television shows. Most recently, a teen
favorite to love and hate, Riverdale centered its fourth season around
the similar theme, with a main character beginning school at a
literature-centered boarding school. There are characters similar to Tartt’s,
including a character even named after her, called Donna Sweett. Tartt’s novel
has such lasting power, that so many works have been inspired by her. My
favorite is mentioned earlier, If We Were Villains, about a close-knit
group of theatre students who begin acting suspiciously like their William
Shakespearean counterparts.
In The Secret History, we meet a cult-like
group of individuals, obsessed with classics culture and speaking romance
languages. Charles and Camilla are twins, bordering on the incestuous side.
Francis is wild yet reliable. Henry is a sensitive yet caring guy. Lastly, Edmund
“Bunny” Corcoran is Henry’s foil, a rude and terrible man who takes advantage
of everyone in the group. However, the story starts out on a very interesting note:
our narrator, Richard, tells us the investigation team and police have found
Bunny’s body after ten days of his murder. Richard also tells us that he and
his friends are behind it. The story then propels backward to the beginning of
Richard’s education at the Hampden boarding school, showing us each character’s
descent into mania and madness.
Tartt does an excellent job at creating characters
that are meant to be disliked, beloved, frowned upon, and absolutely hated. Depending
on the reader’s personality type, Tartt’s characters will be relatable to some,
while all readers can agree that Bunny is purely disgusting. However, we
readers must look upon our own moral compass and decide if his death is
justified.
Tartt’s writing style may be off-putting to some, but
I found myself eating it up like ice cream. I found her verbose and eloquent
way of writing to perfectly match the story style. Each character has distinct
mannerisms, vocabularies, and personality traits that easily define them and
allow us readers to find them significant. Additionally, a dark tale at an
elite university would require thick language and require references to the
romance languages these characters speak. To some, the language and dialogue
may feel pompous, but I believe that the story could not be told in any other
fashion. The bombastic style allows the story to feel authentic. While I
personally never attended a university or boarding school, I can recognize the
human nature and imagine myself there. Her more irritating characters feel realistically
annoying. Tartt’s work never feels excessive, and readers can appreciate the time,
effort, and research she invested into this project.
I personally loved the story, but I must acknowledge some
flaws. There are some horrific moments of sexual content that has not aged
well. We must consider the time it was written and also which characters are
saying and acting this way. We are not meant to sympathize and agree with the
horrific words and actions in which the main characters partake. Additionally, I
believe that many readers could find frustration in how long the story is. In
comparison, I find other stories in the dark academia genre to not be long
enough. The Secret History takes place over the darkest year of Richard’s
life, so it would feel it would be an injustice to have the story take place over
only 300 pages. The 550+ page length of the story includes fleshed-out
characters, intense but vivid scenes, and appealing sequences. Many novels do
not include every length that Tartt has included. I only wish we could have a
current adaptation of this, perhaps into a mini-series directed and acted in by
the best and brightest of current Hollywood.
Moreover, this novel includes LGBT characters, similar
to If We Were Villains. Thankfully, in comparison, Tartt does not use
the LGBT characters to send a graphic message or manipulate the characters specifically
because of their sexuality. However, I still do not think the representation of
the LGBT characters, especially for Francis and Richard, was a successful one,
merely glossing over certain moments due to the characters’ inebriation. As
mentioned above, I do warn about the incestuous relationships, and the sexual
content. Also, this genre glorifies murder, smoking, drugs, alcohol, sleepless
nights, and unhealthy relationships.
Furthermore, I highly recommend this novel to those
who have enjoyed all books, films, and television programs I have mentioned
above. Those who love gothic and dark themes, especially in works for young
adults and teens, may enjoy this novel, if they have not yet learned about it.
I also recommend this book to lovers of Carrie, Heathers, Kill
Your Darlings, Never Let Me Go, and even Rope.
Lastly, I will rate The Secret History at 5 out
of 5 stars. I was very lucky to find my copy at a free little library, but I
will plan to buy a nicer and cleaner copy.
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