Book Thoughts: The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The Secret History by Donna Tartt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Last year I read Tartt's "The Goldfinch," which I found incredible. That book was a rich, deep exploration of loss, searching, and recovery, with complex characters and an expansive narrative. Maybe because of unfair comparisons to that book, it took me a little while to get into this work. That said, the book's pacing increased throughout, and while the character development was not as good as "The Goldfinch" (not many books will be), it was still really good. Tartt's writing is eminently readable, and the book is enjoyable to read.

If there is one significant criticism I would raise, it that it feels like everything doesn't quite add up at the end - that there are certain events that occur earlier in the book that one figures, as a reader, has some importance because its included, but has no real explanation by the end of the book. The one possible explanation for this is due to the limitations of the narrator, Richard. For much of the book, Richard is a little on the periphery of the central characters/actors of the book that drive the plot forward. He is not involved in as much of the pivotal events until near the end; thus, his knowledge of them is based on what other characters have relayed. As such, as a reader, one is left without a complete picture. Whether this is intentional (and maybe an ironic gesture towards the title of the book) or simply the effect of the writer's narrator choice, I can't say; but it does give a feeling that book could have been more.

Be that as it may, I ultimately really enjoyed reading this book, and thinking about the choices the characters make, and the choices in how the author presented the story. One of those books that makes you like reading.

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