In my regular searches for new books in Amazon I've come across this novel, The Secret History, a fair number of times. Despite its numerous very positive reviews I did not pick it up, the reason being that this is a story about a few young people in their college years and I somehow did not think I would have a mind for it. Then one day a friend of mine happened to recommend it and offered me to borrow his own hard copy version; and this just tipped the balance.
This novel by Donna Tartt is definitely not the typical light read about a bunch privileged, happy, unconcerned youths in their University years, far from that. The characters are quite unusual, each of them deeply troubled in a different way. They all have in common a fair share of "living without thinking" though, or at least without thinking straight. Their lack of morality is also stunning. I'm still wondering if the unbelievably high amount of drinking, smoking and drugs they do somehow explains their behaviour or is just a consequence of it or both.
If you are interested in the plot you can easily find it in the net, I will not touch on it here. Personally, I've very much enjoyed the first and last thirds of the book, while I could have lived without some of the middle chapters in which little action takes place. I've definitely enjoyed Tartt's elegant writing style and the way she hints at things and then fully reveals them at just her own pace.
Donna Tartt's third and latest book is now on sale and enjoying great success, "The Goldfinch". Here's a short video of the writer and her work:
Now, at the risk of exposing my dumbness only too much, can anybody explain me what the title of this book really mean?
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