A Review of ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt
I think it was last summer that I was flooded with recommendations on instagram for ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt and with it came a flood of reels drenching me in the gloomy showers that engulf the worlds of dark academia. Naturally, I placed a request for the same in the library and patiently awaited my turn and one fine sunny morning just as the atmospheric rivers started to flood sunny San Diego, I received a notification in my email inbox that it was finally my turn to take a trip to Hampden College in Vermont.
This story is a first person narrative about the life and experiences of Richard Papen a California native who moves to Vermont on a scholarship to attend the Hampden College in an attempt to run away from his turbulent relationship with his parents. At Hampden, Richard, an outsider and a transfer student, is initially fascinated by the intellectual sophistication, the air of mystery, and the apparent disdain for conventional societal norms by a small group of elusive students under the guidance of Professor Julian Morrow. The group appears to have a unique and esoteric understanding of classical studies, making them both intriguing and somewhat intimidating to Richard. As luck would have it, Richard comes across this group in the library one day and offers them a creative solution that helps them translate a tricky passage written in Ancient Greek by Herodotus which helps Richard win over the group and with the help of Professor Julian, Richard transfers all of his classes over to this Lyceum of Classical Studies.
This group under the stewardship of Julian, can definitely draw many parallels with tales from Greek mythology itself. Frances is a bystander who witnesses an epic and survives to narrate it. Camilla is the ever enticing enchantress who has everyone in the groups in tangled in the web of her charm. Charles is in the throes of an unrequited and incestuous relationship with Camilla. Henry is the tragic Greek hero who goes above and beyond the call of his duty and lets his passion consume himself to the extent of offering himself up as the sacrificial lamb at the altar of the values he believes in. And Richard is us. The outsider who is pushing aside the curtains of the stage stealing a peek at whatever madness goes once the curtains are drawn. At its heart, the story is a classic whodunnit. The driving point of the plot is the death of Edmund ‘Bunny’ Cochran, the circumstances leading up to it and the unmasking of the demons that lurk under the skin of each of the members of the group in the aftermath of this gruesome murder.
One of the complaints I have about this book is the fact that despite masterfully weaving a spell that invokes its reader the gloom of dark academia, the plot meanders towards the end without exploring the psyche of the perpetrator causing the final scene of the novel to not crescendo to its highest potential. While I still think ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt is an interesting novel written very elegantly and is indeed very quotable, I am not sure if I will be drawn back to it as strongly.
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