A True Angst Ridden Modern Classic

Its funny that I had never really heard of "The Secret History" until recently; then all of a sudden it was recommended to me over and over again within a three month period. When I saw it on sale at Waterstones in London I picked it up just for plain old curiousity factor. It was probably one of my best book purchases ever.

This book tells you straight from the start who gets murdered, who the murderers are and why they did it, but its the aftermath of everything that has happened that is the real mystery. Its all told from the point of view of Richard, a boy who studies Greek and the Classic societies in a small college in Vermont, and his involvement in a small society of other classical students who murder one of their own. Its such a novel concept...and its so reflective and poignant that it makes you feel empathy and sadness for all involved in this fatal plot. The notions of right and wrong and who we are and what society makes us are definitely played out well in Donna Tartt's novel, and the characters are all truly believable as people, with their fatal flaws and all.

"The Secret History" had glimpses of J.D. Salinger's classic "Catcher in the Rye" in it, I thought, and it is this reflective aspect of the incident that is extremely well done. You would think something like that might move a bit slowly, given that an ordinary climax would have been the actual murder, but it moves so fast, the book is hard to put down.

An obvious let down would have been the end, and I can't really tell if I was more disappointed that I had finished the book or if I was really unhappy with the ending being that I thought it was anti-climatic.

This book is SO SO amazing. It appeals to so many different people on so many different levels and exposes the reader to a murder mystery, a love story, a suspenseful page turner...it encompasses all different types of literary styles in beautiful form.