The Secret History brought an onslaught of the Dark Academia aesthetic into the literary world, with its ancient Greek poetry and the gothic atmosphere. I must admit that I found the book through Book Tok/Bookstagram (a community of book lovers), and was quite surprised to find out that it was published in 1992.
The book begins with a startling prologue, pre-emptively spoiling the main premise of the book. It took me a while to struggle through the initial chapters, and it sat on my shelf for a whole year before I picked it up again.
Our main character, Richard, from whose perspective we see the world of Hampden, a small town in Great Britain, and an elite Greek class that Richard yearns to be a part of. The professor, Julian, handpicks a few special students, and Richard, in a way, weasels his way into the group. Despite being an outsider; an average middle-class American (or so he says), he finds himself joining the world of the elite by befriending the students of Julian’s class.
Bunny, Henry, Camilla, Charles and Francis. The five, previously acquainted long enough to consider him a pesky annoyance at best. Gradually, the group lets Richard a glance into their money-laden world. To me, he seemed to remain an outsider till the end.
Since the plot is revealed in the beginning in quite a jarring manner (something I didn’t expect), a burning curiosity kept me going, “Surely that’s not the whole plot? Something must happen, right?” Well, surprising events did unfold, but the book focused more on why the murder happened, instead of who did it.
Richard is an interesting character; he is selfish but doesn’t own up to it. He seems to be a conformist, going along with what his friends do without being an active participant. I wondered if the numbness and derealisation he felt were portrayed through the author’s writing style, with tactile descriptions and the general helplessness he exudes.
“And it made me feel better in some obscure way, imagining myself a hero, rushing fearlessly for the gun, instead of merely loitering in the bullet’s path like the bystander which I so essentially am.”
Even before I read this quote, I had the same opinion of him, that of being a bystander. Richard was usually in the dark about the shenanigans of the others, only finding out much too late, often making decisions on autopilot.
The most interesting part to me was the gradual lead-up to the details of the murder and what caused Bunny’s unfair demise. Henry plays a magnanimous role in guiding the others, encouraging them to ignore their (frankly valid) hesitations about committing a heinous murder. Interestingly, Julian didn’t seem to play a major role in the book, initially seeming like a dependable mentor; his presence gradually diminished, that is, until the end, where the major blow was not due to his presence, but rather, a lack thereof.
The characters were memorable (Henry), and the writing was fabulous, but the plot seemed stagnant. It’s almost a testament to Donna Tart’s writing prowess that for a while, in the middle (around 300 pages in), I forgot that absolutely nothing was happening. The ending left a sour taste in my mouth. Ill-fated romances aren’t my cup of tea, and admittedly, I would hesitate to reread this book.
The Secret History is a hefty book, with almost 600 pages of meandering around the plot. The atmosphere built by Donna Tart was superb though, and I’m glad I picked it up. What did you think of the book?
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Bye!
