I was turned on to this book after reading The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. She says that this book was the reason she began writing. I loved the Historian so much that I decided to read this one as well. needless to say, I was not disappointed. It's a nice little murder mystery with a twist. It's a really easy read - let's hope Hollywood doesn't find out about it and ruin it.

I love this book. I bought it many years ago and recently gave a copy to my best friend and teenage daughter. They both thought it was a remarkable book as well. I won't go into detail about the characters or plots, as others have done, but it is a FAVORITE book of mine.

I have just completed reading this novel for a second time, having initially read it shortly after it was first published. Then, as now, I simply did not want it to end; and each time I put it aside, I did so reluctantly. The rarely seen, but always present force behind this novel is Julian, a classics teacher at an elite school in Vermont. Around him gathers a small cadre of select students. His students, all wealthy or pretending to be so, take courses almost exclusively from Julian ( a fitting name, for it was the Roman Emperor Julian who tried unsuccessfully to rekindle in an increasingly Christian Rome, worship of the fading, old Gods of the pre-Christian world). In The Secret History, Julian's students commit a ritualistic murder, seen by them as a sacrifice of sorts, and, then, murder one of their own circle who is perceived as being on the verge of disclosing their crime. Ms. Tartt's description of the family dynamics at the home of the fallen student prior to his funeral is richly detailed, yielding a level of authenticity that tenaciously absorbs the reader. Each of the students in her novel is convincingly described, and each in depth. We find Henry, for example, Julian's prize pupil, concerned about which classic text he should carry and display in Court to convey the right image, precisely what the reader would expect from this anachronistic young man. On second reading, my appreciation for Ms. Tartt's gifts only grew. The Secret History is simply one of the best modern novels I have read.

What to say about this book..I've started this review more than five times. It's an elusive thing. Tartt can create images like the most detailed, beautiful Carleton Watkins photograph you've ever seen...convincing dialogue as well. The test is to bundle all these images into a cohesive story that hangs together. Along the way I had my doubts, but in the end it worked. The book has stayed with me and I keep asking myself questions about duty and character and people/things appearing one way, but being another. These are worth continuing to ponder.

I first read this book when it debuted in 1992, intrigued as much by the fact that a first-time author received a $450,000 advance as by the blurbs about the plot. In some ways, this is the novel that my friends would have expected me to write. After all, it involves Latin, Greek, fountain pens, Classics students, a Mustang, and one reference to Alexander Pope. As I came near the end of this second reading, some sixteen years after the first, I felt a melancholy that I had not for some time, but one that was familiar. It was the sadness of knowing that a book that has completed captivated you and taken you into its world, is coming to an end, and like the characters whose further lives you will never know, you must face the light of life around you.

Indeed, this is the secret of the book, both for its characters and for the enjoyment of its countless readers. It takes you to places beyond yourself, yet somehow inside yourself as well, places that are at once frightening and familiar, and frightening because they are familiar.

Make no mistake, the characters are utterly amoral by Christian standards, and because of this are led to extreme immorality and crime. I can honestly say I know no one like any of the characters, nor have I participated in any of the activities that rule their lives (except for the study of Greek and Latin and the use of fountain pens), yet I know them. They and their experiences are familiar. Perhaps this is not unlike the familiarity one feels with Classical tragedies that, despite their wildly different settings and motivations from modern times, transcend time to connect with people of all ages. In this regard, The Secret History takes its place alongside the tragic works that its characters study.

"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. He'd been dead for ten days before they found him, you know. It was one of the biggest manhunts in Vermont history -- state troopers, the FBI, even an army helicopter; the college closed, the dye factory in Hampden had shut down, people coming from New Hampshire, upstate New York, as far away as Boston."

Richard Papen came to Hampden College as a transfer from a small school in California. Why did he choose this tiny, but prestigious college so far from home? He liked the brochure. And it was about as far away from his parents as he could get. His father wanted him to take over the family gas station and his mother couldn't understand his need to go to college at all. Anxious to be rid of the monotony that his life had become in the small tract home where his parents really didn't seem to care much for him, he applied to Hampden. With a lot of help from financial aide, he was accepted. But mounting the bus to take him to Vermont changed his life forever.

When he arrived, his chosen major was English Literature. But he was fascinated by the students who were "Classics" majors. Richard had wanted to continue his study of Greek, but found that he was not able to register for the classes. They were taught by the enigmatic professor, Julian Morrow. He hand-picked the students for the Classics, and only allowed a handful into the program. While Richard wasn't all that interested in the major beforehand, it seems that you always want what you can't have. Determined to be a part of this group, Richard tried to register with Julian, but was shot down immediately. Only when he happened upon the small group in the library trying to finish some Greek homework did his luck change. He was able to help them find some answers, and was indeed admitted to the program. However, this program was all-encompassing, and Richard had to drop all his other classes.

There were 5 other students in the program: Henry Winter, a tall, dark-haired boy that worse glasses and English suits. He was brilliant and wealthy. He studied endlessly and spoke 6 different languages. Edmund, "Bunny" Corcoran, was loud and rude, but lovable in a way. Francis Abernathy, was elegant and refined. He wore exotic clothes and pince-nez glasses. And again, came from money. The last two of the group, were the twins: Charles and Camilla Macaulay. They were blond and beautiful, sophisticated in a way that Richard had never known. And now he was one of them, although he always seemed to find himself on the fringe of the group. But eventually, they accepted him and even started inviting him to go away to Francis' Aunt's home in the country for weekends.

This book is basically 2 halves. The first is before Bunny is murdered. And the second half is the aftermath of said murder. Strangely enough, it's a bit of a mystery even though you know in the first page who is murdered and who is responsible. Donna Tartt's writing is amazing. It's beautiful, and the story which is a tough read seems to flow with ease.
"Does such a thing as "the fatal flaw", that showy dark
crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs."

Tartt takes a group of kids, albeit not exactly the normal college students, and creates an intense character study of them. She throws in a planned murder and then creates an atmosphere in which their world seemingly breaks down inch by inch. Of all the characters, Richard is probably the least defined. But he is basically a good kid caught up in circumstances that were completely beyond his control. The controlling factor is Henry. From one moment to the next, you have no idea whether he is a soft-spoken intellect with only a desire to fit in, or a cold, calculating man who will do anything to achieve what he really desires: power and control over others.

Even the minor characters in the book are well-written and thought out. Julian, the enigmatic professor who seemingly loves his students. But might just love himself and his reputation more. Judy Poovey, another friend of Richard's is loud and funny. And Cloke Rayburn, the campus drug-dealer, who is a prep school friend of Bunny's, gets caught up in the disappearance of his friend and has no idea why.

Underlying all of this is the group's desire to follow Henry, even though in their minds they know it is wrong. Henry is such an incredible force, and is the epicenter of the entire story. What are his morals? And do they fit with the morals of today's society?? Donna Tartt lays it all on the line, and leaves it up to you to decide the answer to these questions. A brilliant, well-written novel, The Secret History is going to be one that sticks with me for quite some time. I realize this isn't much in the way of reviews, and I know there is no way to do justice to this book. But if it gives you a peek into a fantastic story and makes you want to pick it up, then I guess my job is done!

This is, hands down, one of my favorite books ever. Do yourself a favour and read it. It'll keep you up late into the night!

I thought this novel was a good psychological thriller. It shows your conscience will get you in the end, but not in a preachy way.

My major complaint is that the stuck-up language and clothing of the characters is just not realistic. Even though they're snobby classics majors, they're still college kids (undergrads, no less) in their early 20s. Here are some grating examples of their unrealistic speech: They say "Goodness" (as in 'goodness gracious') when normal young people would say "God"; they call guys "fellows" instead of "guys"; they say "certainly" instead of "yes"--or, what would be more the norm in dialog, "yeah"; the male characters say "lovely," and they're not even from England. And what college student wears suits on a daily basis?

My brother was a classics major and later studied comparative literature at Harvard, and he and his classmates wore jeans and T shirts and talked normally.

And I can't believe the characters wouldn't be more freaked out by the incest in the book. In that same vein, I don't understand why the characters give camilla such a hard time for moving away from charles. That's about the only emotionally healthy and sane move any of them makes in the book (maybe that's why they give her a hard time--craziness loves company).

Also, it seems unlikely that the characters would be able to inflict such horrendous injuries to the farmer they accidentally kill with their bare hands. I also would think they would be far more traumatized by this first killing than they were, accidental or not. the whole bacchanalia/first killing is definitely hard to believe. And we never do hear about the "carnal proceedings" that took place in the bacchanalia--which the author teases us with early on.

But still, an interesting and well-written psychological thriller. I like the academic and classics backdrop and "secret society" feel of the book.

A pity that she dropped the ball with her second work, "The Little Friend" but some writers only have the one great book in them. Hopefully that is not the case and she makes a comeback with her next novel.

I absolutely adored Tartt's other novel, The Little Friend, and I had high hopes for this one too. I was not disappointed. The novel tells the story of five students at an elite New England liberal arts college. All of the students are tremendously, unusually devoted to their studies, and this devotion leads them to tragedy as they murder first, an outsider, and then one of their own. The fact of the murders is not the suspenseful part of the plot. Indeed, the murder of one of the group's own is revealed on the first page. Rather, the interest, intruige, and suspense comes in how the students cope with the knowledge of what they've done. Their suspicion, fear, and even some remorse wreak havoc and lead the group to an even more tragic climax. The main characters in this book are Classics students, and indeed, the book itself reads much like a Greek tragedy, with precipitous decline, and knowledge thereof.

Donna Tartt is a phenomenal storyteller. She creates plots that are deep, rich, and complex. Much like The Little Friend, The Secret History is a highly psychological book. I was absolutely gripped by this book from beginning to end.

Tartt's suspenseful and riveting first novel is one of my favorite books. I've re-read it three times and stayed up much of the night reading it the first time around. I could not put it down, which is the highest compliment I can give to a book. Told from the perspective of Richard, a newcomer to a small college in New England who becomes part of a clique of six students at a small college in New England who are handpicked by their professor to study the classics. The story involves an accidental death, the cover-up and the murder of one of the members of the clique (this is not a spoiler - Tartt reveals this much in the first part of the book). It's a compelling read with well developed characters. I anxiously await Tartt's next book (not counting The Little Friend).

A friend recommended this book. I do not know why. My opinion: I found it to be a slow, tedious read, mainly because it contains many detailed descriptions about people, settings and situations irrelevant to the story - what I consider "filler" and a waste of the reader's time. I think the book could have been much shorter. Furthermore, the characters and plot were never believable. A college student helps new friends hide a murder with which he had no involvement, and then helps those friends commit another murder to help ensure the first murder - again, one in which he had no involvement - is not revealed. The author uses her characters to display her knowledge of language and literature. I guess she had to use it for something.

No, I've never written a book and I probably never will. And, yes, it's easy to criticize someone else's work. Still, I did not enjoy reading this story.

A wonderful 300-page novel... that unfortunately clocks in at 558 pages. Tartt's prose grows so purple at times that I often feared her book had cut off my circulation. While her story about pampered Vermont undergraduates creates an engaging character study backdropped by murder, I found myself wishing someone had taken a red pen to the chunky prose. For example, the characters can scarcely utter a word of dialogue without the accompanying tag line being weighed down by too many ponderous adverbs. Likewise, just how many times does the main character, Richard, have to notice the shimmer of light on his love interest's hair? We get the idea.

Clearly Tartt is gifted, but too often she is unrestrained in the worst way. As for pacing, I found myself wanting quicker segues between the most interesting scenes. Unfortunately, meandering blow-by-blow accounts were provided when compression would have sufficed. Most vexing was the fact that the character I found most intriguing--the students' Greek professor--remained a barely sketched enigma all the way to the tale's end. And while Tartt's knowledge of ancient Greek is sufficient enough to be convincing, she too often fails to use simple English punctuation correctly (Tartt suffers from comma overkill; she often sets off dependent clauses with semi-colons, creating awkward fragments). Perhaps this wouldn't be such a flaw in novels carried along by less formal rhetoric, except Tartt's writing about supposedly gifted students who should know better. These examples may seem like quibbles, but they are only the least of the many flaws one might find if they look too closely at this book.

The Secret History is a pop potboiler masquerading as highbrow art. Enjoy it for what it is and hope that Tartt's third novel will be the more tightly written masterpiece I sense she is capable of.

I come away from this book at a loss as to what to say about it: It deserves both high praise and heavy criticism. It is a rapturous, beautiful, intricate and balanced work of art; it is also oddly archaic, strangely disconnected from reality, and oftentimes more dissolute than well-worked.

In praise, its insight into the kind of effete degeneracy that seems to well up when one isolates maturing intellectuals with one another is chillingly apt: It is apt, however, more in the sense of metaphor than in any naturalistic sense. The romance, luxuriousness, and cruel beauty of the cultivated degeneracy Tartt takes as her theme is evoked with brilliance and not inconsiderable talent.

In way of criticism, however, the novel is long and hangs loosely on its frame; its narrator, a character standing halfway between the position of a blank-slate observer and a character in his own right, vacillates between transparency and muddiness, his gestures toward the development of a personality alternatingly muddy and tragic, and this narratorial shapelessness contributes to the baggy-monsterness of the text as a whole.

Though it is easy to identify the themes of the work in broad strokes, I come away from an attentive reading of the text without being able to put my finger on its moral center, which is, I think, a flaw in Tartt's writing, not an element of her design; _The Secret History_ works very hard to achieve a sense of this moral center, and it is a very grave and wise one, at that; but it fails to alight on it definitively. The novel does not easily settle into the sum of its parts.

A very unsettling element of this book is the weird timelessness of its setting: I had to guess continuously when it might have been set, my first guess being the sixties, then gradually moving up through the decades as bits of background information trickled through the text. As nearly as I can tell, it takes place in the eighties--a time during which students use typewriters and rely on pay phones, but contextually after the sixties and seventies. Being the eighties, however, virtually every character speaks in his own bizarrely archaic voice: Bunny sounds like a hybrid of Teddy Roosevelt and Gatsby; Francis like a Victorian effeminate; and the unflattering peripheral characters like technicolor Californians or oddly outdated cokeheads. I can't determine whether this is an element of its structure or a flaw.

Finally, as a Classicist myself I came away with the uncertain suspicion that Tartt does not actually herself possess any classical languages. Virtually every instance of Greek in the text is orthographically wrong in some way; for instance I saw a lambda mysteriously mistyped as a gamma, that is, flipped upside down in the transcription process (it caused the word to read "pogyeides" not "polyeides"); and when the diacritical marks aren't wrong, they're lacking. These quibbles aside, it may well be that we ought to blame the typesetter, not the author, because Tartt's use of classical material in the text is unwaveringly appropriate and often quite erudite.

Despite its flaws, the book is intoxicating: I took a long shower the day I finished it, when I was about halfway through; I didn't realize until halfway through the thirty-minute soak that I was lingering because I actually felt _infected_ by the guilt of Tartt's characters, that my immersion in this book had made me uncleanly complicit to their crimes, their dread. This little work of sympathetic magic on her part is a testament to the intellectual and moral impact of her text, and, I think, excuses in itself the flaws one may point out in it; it is, moreover, beautifully written and unflaggingly rich. This book may never be a classic, but it is without a doubt fiction of literary merit.

The Secret History has the best written characters I have encountered in a long time. This is a book that will keep you up all night because you just CANNOT stop reading it. While reading The Secret History, I found myself almost (I said ALMOST - you'll see why once you've read the book) wishing that I was right there in the story with them, sitting in Professor Julian Morrow's classics class, having cocktails with Henry, smoking cigarettes with Camilla. The Secret History is a suspenseful mystery novel and an engrossing character study. It is intelligent and smacks of academia. Read this book if you love novels set in colleges, as I do, or if you simply love mysteries or gripping stories in general.

Interminably bored in the insignificant town of Plano, Richard Papen applies to Hampden College in Vermont, an area of the country completely foreign to him, on a whim. Upon arrival, his involvement with an ominous group of variably erudite students irrevocably leads him down a road of deception and, eventually, great misfortune.

Though gloriously detailed and occasionally oddly comical, the story is unwittingly exhausting in its attempts at suspense. I found nothing suspenseful or thrilling about this novel, and I became irked with my great distaste for each and every character. Teeming with immoral and idiotic characters and fundamentally just a ridiculously lengthy tale of depression, I found it hard to enjoy it as much as most reviewers apparently did. I preferred 'The Little Friend'.

This is a chilling story about murder, supposed friendship and how small groups of people can become cultish under certain influences.

The story does drag at times as it follows some of the most pretentious college students ever created in fiction. The group is extremely bright, but not as bright as they think they are. The reader's awareness of the group's intellect and flaws follows the same arc as that of the narrator who realizes too late that maybe following the group wasn't such a good idea after all.

Despite being more than 500 pages, not a single one of those pages contains a character you'd want to know personally. I'm not a proponent of authors only writing about likable people by any means, but it can be a challenge to read 500 pages straight about people who vary from despicable to the bad side of neutral.

I've decided that my continued interest in reading deserves more attention in my blog, so I decided to post a short review of what I just read for anyone who is interested or perhaps I will post my reasons for stopping a book (such as Wicked, my most recent incomplete).

I just finished reading the Secret History by Donna Tart last night and it was a fabulous way to spend the last hours of 2007. I love Tart's writing style with palpable metaphors and familiar literary allusions throughout the book. The character development is outstanding as the plot is told from the main character's perspective, which the reader comes to realize is more jaded and limited as the plot proceeds. Rather than having the events retold by a main player, the narrator (Richard) is more of a follower and voyeur into the lives of five upper class youths with a passion for the Classics and a sense of superiority to the masses. It's Richard's self-aggrandizement and sense that he is above his own middle class roots that initially draws him to this enigmatic group. The story has many tightly interwoven twists and turns that call on the readers' imagination and anticipation, so 600 pages did not seem too long for the whole of it to unfold. The Secret History is a psychological thriller that wades into the moral ambiguity of accidental murder and the less ambiguous attempts of this elite group to cover it up through a subsequent murder. Being that I'm especially attracted to the topic of the human condition, the inevitable loss of innocence and our constant attempts to make peace with life's limitations and eventual death, the fact that the characters are dedicated to the study of classics, obsess about Tolstoy and eventually propel themselves into a reality of stark truths is both moving and disturbing. There are a few diversions into witty commentary on American politics, but on a whole the book stays true to its limited to the microcosm of the upper class educated youth. While not being particularly funny book, Tart's excellent characters are a continuous source of amusement and familiarity. The weakest aspect of the book is a plot that attempts to be more complicated than it can handle and leaves too many unanswered clues and threads by its end. The reader is left asking about events that were alluded to, but to which Richard was ultimately not fully aware. This is frustrating as it seems knowing more may have helped the reader better understand each characters motives. However, the uncertainty does allow for the reader's imagination to run free.

I highly recommend the Secret History!

I have always mentioned this book as one of my favorites of all my readings. I had mentally choosen actors to play every part of this story if it were ever made into a movie. Captivating story, moving in a Tarantino style. Questions are asked by characters as you realize you have read the answer pages before. The statement "You never know a person" applies heavily in this story.

This is a silly, pretentious book about characters for whom you have no sympathy. It is the typical product of creative writing classes with high level language about nothing worthy of the language. The author needs to get some soul into her writing. The narrator's voice is strangely dead and decidedly not masculine. Write about what you know. Perhaps Ms Tartt should follow Arthur Rimbaud's advice: whatis needed is a derangement of the senses. This is the literary version of a coffee table art book. Attractive but without fire. Perhaps your time could have been spent more profitably reading something else. Three stars instead of less because it is a first novel, the author tried hard, and hopefully she will get the stick out from where it is and write something with sincerity instead of self-indulgence.

Having graduated from college just over a year ago, I find this portrait of college life infinitely satisfying. It doesn't hurt that I went to a small, private liberal arts college and took many of my credits in Classics. Nonetheless, I believe any reader can dig into and love this book. I began it on a Thursday and finished it on Tuesday morning at 2 AM. I read the book for 2 hours on a saturday night, for god's sake. Perhaps the best part of the book is that from the opening five pages, you know that one of the main characters will be murdered by the others. It's the elaborate tangle of a tale that draws you in, makes the reader pour himself into the narrator. In this way Tartt makes Richard the one we root for, the outsider in a new world of wealth and philhellenism. The six students take most, if not all, of their classes with Julian, an elderly Classics prof. The story takes on a truly sinister aspect when the characters begin to feud with each other and the ringleader, Henry, convinces the others to perpetrate a terrible act. The emotion and beauty of this novel ring clearly throughout; this is one to keep and pass on to others, a frightful novel illustrating the binary soul of Greek tragedy: Apollo's reason and Dionysus' passion.

This is an absolutely stunning book. While it's a modern tale set in a remote Vermont college, the style and great attention to detail gives the book a very classic feel.

Richard, the narrator, hails from a poor and rather loveless family in California to study at a Vermont college. Once he's accepted into the secluded group of students studying Greek, he slowly discovers that they have been involved in some bizarre extracurricular activites. As one of the group starts unravelling and threatens to reveal all, it is decided that he must be killed.

Thinking that will solve their problems, the rest of the book shows the severe repercussions of their actions. Each deeply guarded secret soon unravels and has the reader racing to find out what happens next.

I'm not a fan of mysteries and in this book you are told about a murder in the prologue, so it is not a "who done it" in the usual sense. The book explores how an isolated group can become so out of touch that murder becomes an option. The first half gives everything leading up to the murder and the second half, the effects that murder has on each of these 6 college students. It has themes not unlike Crime and Punishment. Although technically they get away with murder, the toll this crime takes on each person's psyche is enormous with dire consequences. Extremely readable and hard to put down at certain critical points. My book club enjoyed this selection.

I just finished reading Donna Tartt's "The Secret History".

Let me just say that I thought the prose was really nice, and I enjoyed the references to the Classics because I studied some Classics in University. The book set a mood, and I enjoyed that aspect of it as well.

I was a bit disappointed over all however, mostly with the characters, who were quite superficial and as a result, impossible to really sympathyze with, especially considering their actions in the book. I would have liked the relationship between Richard and Camilla to have been explored more for instance, or at least why Richard was so infatuated with her.

I found that the book was in serious need of editing, particularly towards the end, where Tartt seemed to just add all these little conflicts to add more volume to the thin story (with the exception of Julian and the letter).

I found the whole business with Bunny was unecessary and extreme, and even though he wasn't a very likeable character, I felt bad for him, his girfriend and his poor family, and once again, absolutely no sympathy towards Henry, Charles, Francis or Camilla, who were pretentious, petty and foolish at the same time or Richard, who I actually found to be passive to the point of being disgusting.

Maybe the plot was just unbelievable - as well as the whole idea of killing one of your best mates and thinking nothing of it. Throw in a cluster of flat characters that the reader doesn't really get to know, and you just end up wishing that the lot of them get what they deserve for what they did to Bunny.

Want a suggestion for a dark, haunting and beautful novel? Read The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides.

I just finished reading Donna Tartt's "The Secret History".

Let me just say that I thought the prose was really nice, and I enjoyed the references to the Classics because I studied some Classics in University. The book set a mood, and I enjoyed that aspect of it as well.

I was a bit disappointed over all however, mostly with the characters, who were quite superficial and as a result, impossible to really sympathyze with, especially considering their actions in the book. I would have liked the relationship between Richard and Camilla to have been explored more for instance, or at least why Richard was so infatuated with her.

I found that the book was in serious need of editing, particularly towards the end, where Tartt seemed to just add all these little conflicts to add more volume to the thin story (with the exception of Julian and the letter).

I found the whole business with Bunny was unecessary and extreme, and even though he wasn't a very likeable character, I felt bad for him, his girfriend and his poor family, and once again, absolutely no sympathy towards Henry, Charles, Francis or Camilla, who were pretentious, petty and foolish at the same time or Richard, who I actually found to be passive to the point of being disgusting.

Maybe the plot was just unbelievable - as well as the whole idea of killing one of your best mates and thinking nothing of it. Throw in a cluster of flat characters that the reader doesn't really get to know, and you just end up wishing that the lot of them get what they deserve for what they did to Bunny.

Want a suggestion for a dark, haunting and beautful novel? Read The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides.

I really enjoyed this book by Donna Tartt. I immediately picked up her other novel Little Friend, after I finished this one. To me, that is the mark of a great novelist.

Tartt has a way with the pace of the story that sucks the reader in almost immediately and doesn't let go. This story is bizarre and thrilling. I couldn't put it down.

Highly recommended read!

"The Secret History" is a story about a group of undergraduate classical studies students who kill one of their friends. Don't worry, I'm not giving away the plot: the murder occurs on the very first page of the book, and then the reader is taken back to the events leading up to the incident.

The narrator of the story is Richard Papen, a young man who leaves his lower-class California family in search of bigger and better things on the East Coast. Shortly after enrolling at a small college in Vermont, Richard switch over to a major in classical studies. This major is unlike any other program in the school in that there is only one professor, the brilliant but immoral Julian. Furthermore, Julian insists that Richard drops all his other classes in order to fully devote himself to the demanding classical studies curriculum.

In addition to Richard, there are five other students participating in the classical studies program. They come across as snobby and arrogant at first, but Richard finds himself drawn to them and is eventually accepted into their circle. After a while, Richard learns a terrible secret about four of his new friends: they accidentally killed a man during a crazy bacchanalian revel. When a member of their group, Bunny, appears likely to spill the secret, the others decide that the only solution is to kill him, too. Not surprisingly, Bunny's death has a powerful effect on everyone in the group, and they each begin acting out in their own ways.

This is an intriguing book that really pays tribute to the classic Greek tragedies: the story features betrayal, conspiracy, murder, and even incest. It's interesting to see how the violent events in the story take a toll on each of the characters individually. Author Donna Tartt is an amazing storyteller who really keeps the reader in suspense throughout the entire book. My only complaint is that this book is overly detailed, and as a result could easily be about 200 pages shorter. In spite of it's length, though, this is a brilliantly written psychological thriller, and it's a truly amazing effort for a first novel.

As many other reviewers have noted, this is a novel that is so easy to read it almost seems to read itself. There is nothing simplistic or superficially "easy" about the book, but it the story is just told so well and is so inherently compelling that almost no effort whatsoever is required to work one's way through it. It is, in short, a delight to read.

The story concerns the killing of one student by a group of other students in a small liberal arts college in Vermont (think along the lines of Middlebury). This is not a spoiler since we are apprised of this on the first couple of pages of the novel. From there the question for the reader is why they killed him. The knowledge from the very beginning of the novel that Bunny was doomed lends a strangely tragic atmosphere over every page in which he appears. I initially wondered if the author had given away too much by revealing the murder at the beginning of the novel, but as I read I found this knowledge framed the novel in a way not otherwise possible had we not knowledge that Bunny was doomed. I think it was a brilliant move.

The novel deals a great deal with class distinction in the US without really saying much about class. This is one of the books few flaws. Five of the six students are privileged, either economically or socially. Richard, the novel's narrator, is a working class student from California, while the other five are from the east coast. The latter five are presented as decadent. Most of them are hard drinking, drug abusing, and in some instances sexually deviant (and I'm not referring to the student who turns out to be gay). They also turn out to be murderous.

The central story of the novel is concerns Richard's entrance to the world of the novel's fictitious Vermont college and his initiation into the small, closed off world of the students who work under the college's eccentric but gifted Classics professor Julian Morrow. The novel's central irony is that Julian clearly believes he is educating the elite of not only Hampden College but of society at large. That they all possessed the "fatal flaw" mentioned in the book's first sentence is the central conceit of the novel. Tartt details in fine form Richard's growing friendships and experiences with the other five students and the intricate web of betrayal and deceit it grows into. The main delight of the novel derives from how outstandingly Tartt details this story. Whatever else the book is, it is a great yarn.

I'd like to single one aspect out for special praise. Most of the characters in the novel are male while the author is female. Now, it should not really matter what gender a writer belongs to, but unfortunately many writers simply don't handle the opposite sex very well. Think of the many complaints of Hemingway's depiction of female character. I've often complained of the male characters in Iris Murdoch's novels. It is obvious that even very good writers--and both Hemingway and Murdoch fall into that category--do not always create compelling characters of the opposite sex. Other writers manage to avoid the problems by mainly writing from the standpoint of a character with the same sex as their own. Think in this regard of Philip Roth and Saul Bellow. Their protagonists are almost always male. Or Margaret Atwood, who almost always writes from the standpoint of a woman. Now, there is nothing wrong about any of this. Donna Tartt has written a novel centered almost exclusively on male characters (there is one major female character, but she usually remains somewhat quietly in the background), written from a male point of view. And she has done so marvelously. This is an achievement that should not be underrated.

In short, this is an extremely fine novel in every way. I can give it my strongest possible endorsement. And many thanks to my daughter Elizabeth for giving this to me as a Christmas present.

This is destined to be an assigned book in college classes that have even a peripheral connection to Ancient Greece. It will also make for a fascinating comparison of this college setting (a small Vermont campus)with that of the reader. This is a world of drugs, booze and the laxest academic requirements imaginable. Beautifully researched, with plenty of suspense and a loud ring of authenticity. It will help if you have at least a smattering of aquaintance with The Illiad.

Tartt's talent as a writer is incredible. It has to be one of the most well written books I've ever read, and I've read quite a bit. After finishing the book, the characters stayed on with me, and their story lingered like an echo, hard to ignore and forget. The plot of The Secret History unfolds both gracefully and powerfully, tragic and unstoppable. It is the story of a student at a new college, who gets accepted into the circle of a select few and their eccentric professor, who sets them apart from the rest of the college. In this private world, they develop their relationships together, and their dependency.

I read Donna Tartt's "Little Friend" three years ago and was spellbound; last week I came across a mention of The Secret History and wondered why I never read it.
The Secret History is a modern twist on the gothic.
Tartt masterfully weaves together idyllic imagery with just enough foreshadow and haunt to keep the reader gripped at all times. I was taken a little aback when I first picked up the book- it's 560 pp in paperback!- but I could barely put it down.
The story does not unfold so much as it's like a monsoon... just when you think you have a grasp on the characters and the story, new details emerge, with vague hints that make you wonder why you never noticed it before. Other reviewers complain about this style, but I find it's precisely the point. The reader, like the narrator, finds herself exposed to more mystery and complexities than seemed possible.

This is a pretty good book, but I had expected so much more. It is the story of a death among several pretentiously precocious college students. None of the characters are particularly likeable, and I had trouble believing in them. They seemed like caricatures, archetypes, moved about on a chessboard of a plot. The book is full of small details which convince me that the author knows New England and college-life very well, but there is something distinctly unpleasant in spending an entire book with these people. I thought perhaps the characters would grow and come to some important self-realization as a result of their loss, but it seems to me that they simply diminish into wan spectralism. Basically the book reveals how the death affects the entire community, and there is certainly some interest to be found in watching how things unfold, but I was a bit disappointed overall with this story of hidden evil amidst superficial propriety.

As soon as I finished this book (it only took me three days as I could not put it down), I opened to page 1 and started it all over again. Enough said.
For maximum enjoyment, begin reading on a cold evening in November...

While there are no pages left to read, this remarkable story still haunts my thoughts and occupies many of my conversations. "The Secret History" is destined to be a classic. Not only is it beautifully and artfully written, but the story is completely original- unlike anything I've read before. (Comparrisons to "Crime and Punishment" abound, but should be disregarded; apart from a first-person perspective on committing an unthinkable crime, there is so much more to this story, especially in terms of the various relationships and phenomenal character development.)

Simply put, the plot goes something like this: when the narrator Richard moves from California to enroll in Hampden College in Vermont, he becomes intrigued by a close-knit group of students studying the Classics with a seemingly unconventional professor. Upon gaining entry into their classes and subsequently their lives, he becomes entangled in a murder of a friend. However, there is SO much more to the book and the characters than I would want anyone to know prior to reading this novel.

This book is not only a wonderful choice for book clubs, but would be an interesting requirement (or recommended reading) for various courses in psychology, sociology, criminology, and of course literature and the Classics.

I can not rave highly enough about this novel and hope it continues to garner tremendous success. I look forward to reading more from this author, and would love if someone made this into a movie!

As soon as I finished this book (it only took me three days as I could not put it down), I opened to page 1 and started it all over again. Enough said.
For maximum enjoyment, begin reading on a cold evening in November...

The Secret History combines all of the best elements of the classic Greek tragedy, the modern college bildungsroman and the film noir mystery in her debut novel which is just as good in the first page as it is on the last. This is truely one of the most satisfying books written in the past century, and can be read on multiple levels - as a light read just for plot, or as a serious literary text that probes the meaning of obessession and the impact the study of historical cultures has on our current actions. Donna Tartt truely explores every possible emotion these characters feel, both before and after the climax, in ways in which is it hard to believe that anything short of living the characters' lives in the book or genious could account for.

Loved this book, even though I generally do not like dark, psycological mysterys. Very well written, I found myself sacrificing sleep to keep reading "just a couple more pages".

Richard is a Californian who yearns for the culture and sophistication of the North-east. He comes to a snooty New England college where he is flattered to be invited to join the charmed circle of five classical Greek buffs who are the only students of a charismatic professor of Greek and practice some kind of secret ritual. Their charm turns out to have a sinister side.
Several reviewers have remarked on the similarity of the plot to Plessl's recent "Special Topics in Calamity Physics." The book that came most to my mind was Eric Linklater's wonderful lighthearted "Laxdale Hall" (published in 1951 and set in Scotland) which also centers on the reenactment of a bacchic frenzy. At the end of that book the professor of Greek responsible for the reenactment has gone to America, where he teaches in a small college and has five students.

This book was amazing. It reminded me a lot of the Dead Poet's Society, but even better. I had read "The Little Friend" first and wanted more by this author and picked up this book. It's one of those books that stays with you for weeks or months after you are done reading it. I loved this book and can't wait until Ms. Tartt writes another one. Although I suspect I will be waiting a long time because her second book didn't come out until 10 years after the first.

Well written, incredibly interesting, highly original, and impossible to put down, "The Secret History" is without questions one of the best books I've been fortunate to read. From the nature of the mystery involved to the intricacies of the relationships of the characters therein to the beauty of the first person narration from the story's main character, it is impossible not to appreciate the stunning power of this book. It has acquired many fans, but still deserves a much greater readership. In fact, I'm considering going back to read it for a second time.

This book answers the question: "Without love beauty and danger it would almost be easy to live" with a curious response. Should one "live forever" under a pagan construct, in which distinct knowledge and refinement are the only transcendence? A world of gnosis. Or are we bound in an incarnational world in which both the Divine and the malevolent supernatural can enter, and which way are we seduced? A thoroughly Catholic novel which contemplates the questions of damnation within the weltanshauung of the post-adolescent. The story belies its complexity, and the clean narrative is a joy of references to timeless prose which those with a similar textually archaeology will enjoy. No annotations needed.