Review of Donna Tartt's _The Secret History_

The Secret History by Donna Tartt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Let me say at the outset: Donna Tartt's prose in The Secret History is brilliant. She succeeds completely, I think, in evoking time, place, and mood. In that sense, the book afforded me that prized experience of being seduced by a world, of entering into it (mostly) willingly and being allowed to live there until (mostly) sated with the secret and guilty delights it had to offer.

However ... I felt slightly frustrated by my inability to form a bond with any of the characters. All of them are more or less deeply flawed, which is fine, of course. But Richard lacks Holden Caulfield's poorly hidden sympathy (which would have provided at least some redemption), and the brilliant Henry, as much as I wanted to admire him, had no interest in my admiration--or anyone else's, it seemed. The others fall in a line somewhere behind these two, to a greater or lesser degree.

I must give Tartt an admiring nod for having the chutzpah, especially in a first novel, to stick to her guns and tell the story with such lovely absence of passion. Her skillful descriptions are all the more remarkable for the cold and remote tone she achieves throughout.

By all means, read The Secret History. But I wouldn't pair it with lavender tea beside the fireplace.


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