Consumatum Est (The Secret History - Donna Tartt)

Member Name: edie

Product:	The Secret History - Donna Tartt
Date:	15/02/01 (342 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A very pleasant surprise

Disadvantages: Too long by half

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.

I won’t bother recapping the story-line since other reviewers have done that well and its not a book who’s appeal you can capture by describing its plot. Much of its power comes from Tartt’s evocative descriptions and sustained moods, the tensions up to the murder and confusion afterwards. Even though I know what happens, I still like to dip into this book and read the best passages from time to time. Especially memorable is its elegiac tone that often reminds me of the Great Gatsby: a book that’s actually referenced in the Secret History. While Gatsby’s and The Secret History’s narratives have some parallels : melancholic young man goes East and falls in with glamorous, rich friends before finding out they’re not quite what they seem.

The Secret History is not quite as good though. Gatsby’s main virtue to me is it’s conciseness, a book that never outstays its welcome. But The Secret History much too long, especially in the second half , where not as much happens but what does is really dragged-out. Its a shame, as despite the tendency to over-elaborate the story, Tartt still retains her wonderfully crisp prose full of cherishable lines, my favourite being one about "lying on the roof top terrace, reading Proust and smoking c
igarettes."

Much as The Secret History is as very cinematic and it wasn’t a surprise to learn it was optioned by Hollywood. Part of the fun reading it now, is imagining who would play the characters in the movie version. (Though I can’t imagine any current actor who could play Henry.) Donna Tartt doesn’t seem to be going to write a follow up any time soon, so maybe the film’s all we have to look forward to from her. But if she does write another book, I’ll be first in the line this time.

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