The Secret History - Donna Tartt

This happened one summer day a year ago. I was immersed in reading a book in a half-empty subway car, when out of the corner of my eye I saw an elderly man with blood on his bearded face and shirtfront shuffle in. He was of a sturdy build, but overweight. There was not a trace on his knuckles: it was clear that he had been beaten up. I put down the book immediately as the man took a seat next to me, shoulder-to-shoulder. I was so shell-shocked and confused that I could not speak for quite a while. Finally I asked him: "May I do something for you?" He declined and thanked me for the solicitude. Facing us, there was a couple - a man and a woman in their ...  Read the complete review

The secret History is Donna Tartt’s first novel. Since its publication in 1993 it has become a best seller and it has been critically acclaimed, it even made it in to the top 100 in the recent ‘A good read ‘BBC list. So is it a great book? No. Let me explain why. THE STORY A young Californian student Richard Papen frustrated at home gets a scholarship to study at Hampden College in an isolated part of Vermont in the North East of the US. Having already an interest in languages, especially Greek, he decides to enlist for a classics course run by the famous but rather mysterious academic Julian Morrow. This is not as easy as he at first ...  Read the complete review

Sometimes the thing that bounds friends together is the fragility of the relationship. The fact that you probably will fall out, grow apart or find new interests. Sadly most friendships are like that, to use the well quoted maxim, 'Some friends are for a reason and some are for a season'. But what if, in your youth you makes some friends and you think that they will be your friends forever. Not because of any bond or closeness, but because together you have done something so scary that you must stay close. So, the tale. Poor boy Richard from California gets a scholarship to an east coast university. The family relationship is poor, and not very well ...  Read the complete review

I picked up this book quite expecting to hate it. The initial massive hype over its publication had convinced me that it couldn’t possibly be any good. While the story-line (homicidal Classics students at a New England college) seemed irritating in the extreme. So when I finally did get round to reading it I was perversely hoping it was going to be as tacky as I thought. How wrong I was! This is a remarkable, serious first novel that’s the only book I’ve read that captures the utter weirdness of the Ancient History. And of those who study it, probably (I did, so I class myself among those weirdos.) And this now definitely among my top ten books. ...  Read the complete review

What?s a little murder between good friends? This is the question Tartt asks in this gripping and well-written tale of loyalty, love, friendship and death. Richard Papen is a 28-year-old from Plano, California. He longs to get away from the boredom of small town life, and decides on a whim to apply for a place at an elite American college. To his surprise, he is accepted, although he struggles financially, and is thrilled to at last be learning and living amongst people he can relate to. Still, Richard wants more. He notices a cliquish group of students in a tiny class who are handpicked by the tutor who runs it. They appear to the outside world as ...  Read the complete review