The Secret History – Donna Tartt

Chosen by Jodie

A group of Greek mythology students attempt to experience a higher level of being and in doing so carry out an evil act.

⫸ “There were many reasons why the The Secret History was such a hit with us all in the Free-Range Bookclub. It was easy to admit we were enthralled, but like the characters, we had to come together and bond over our thoughts to completely understand our visceral responses.

“In the book, a group of New England college undergraduates who study Greek form a veiled friendship that excludes many. Their God-like opinions of themselves, and their obsession with experiencing an alternative realm of being sees things take a turn for the worse.

“It’s a very Greek idea, and a very profound one. Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it. And what could be more terrifying and beautiful, to souls like the Greeks or our own, than to lose control completely? To throw off the chains of being for an instant, to shatter the accident of our mortal selves?

“Donna Tartt has ensured there is one privileged person who is admitted to this private sect however, and that is you, the reader. The admission of murder in the opening pages, and even the title, make us complicit in the crime. To continue is to knowingly be involved. But then, there is a perverse pleasure in being admitted to this intoxicating group and a part of the secret.

“Richard, the narrator, is open and honest from the outset and it’s hard to dislike him, nor any of the characters, despite their immoral and snobbish demeanours. Richard begins as the outsider, arriving at Hampden without friends or familial support, but looking for a better life, to “fabricate a new and far more satisfying history”. He is drawn to the bunch of conceited and clever Greek students, focused on becoming one of them, and fulfulling his hopes and dreams through them. He narrates the story to us like we are friends, chatting about friends.

“With the biggest of the plot drivers revealed in the opening sentences, it would be easy to think there is little left to get the heart racing. However, Tartt deals in angst instead, detailing how and why the murder happened, with many interesting character developments and surprises thrown in for the later.

“There was a general consensus of delight for us all after reading The Secret History. We agreed it was difficult to put down. For it was continually astounding and enthralling. It was delicious and disgusting. And it challenges you all along the way to be party to or to turn your back on their deviancies. A book we all highly recommend.

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Published 2004
Vintage
559 pages