The Secret History Paperback - 2004
by Donna Tartt
About this book
The Secret History by Donna Tartt is a novel that follows the lives of a group of young adults attending a small, mysterious elite college in New England who become immersed in their classics class. As the obsession with the ancient world is fanned by their eccentric professor, will those old rituals stay in the past? Or will it end with blood?
Summary
Reader reviews for The Secret History
Review summary
Readers were sharply divided. Many praised the novel’s immersive, lyrical prose and tense, dreamlike atmosphere, hailing it as a modern Greek tragedy about obsession, privilege, friendship, and guilt. Admirers highlighted its dark-academia allure and the vividness of figures like Henry and Bunny, calling the experience hypnotic despite the length. Detractors found it pretentious and overlong, with thin or static characterization (especially of Camilla, Francis, and Julian), a sluggish, soap-operatic second half, and a mismatched, passive narration that favored aesthetic over insight. The result: a polarizing classic-in-spirit for some, a tedious, self-regarding slog for others.
Readers say this book is:
immersivehypnoticatmosphericpolarizingpretentiousoverlongcharacter-drivenslow-burnbleakthought-provokingWrite a review for this book
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From the publisher
From the jacket flap
Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and forever, and they discover how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill.
First edition identification
The Secret History novel was first published in 1992 by Alfred A. Knopf. The original retail price was $23.00. “First edition†is stated on the copyright page. Pictorial boards, spine lettered in black on a white ground, acetate dust jacket with a price of $23.00, and three reviews by John Grisham, Jay McInerney, and Ruth Rendell.
There are two possible variations of the first edition, one with a yellow tone, and another with a gray tone.
Details
- Title The Secret History
- Author Donna Tartt
- Binding Paperback
- Edition [ Edition: repri
- Pages 576
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Vintage, New York, NY
- Publication date 2004-04-13
- ISBN 9781400031702 / 1400031702
- Weight 0.8 lbs (0.36 kg)
- Dimensions 7.9 x 5.1 x 1 in (20.07 x 12.95 x 2.54 cm)
-
Themes
- Cultural Region: New England
- Topical: Coming of Age
- Category Fiction - Mystery/ Detective
- Library of Congress subjects Psychological fiction, Vermont
- Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2004271588
- Dewey Decimal Code FIC
Media reviews
Citations
- Entertainment Weekly, 12/05/2014, Page 73
About the author
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The Secret History
by Tartt, Donna
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Secret History: A Read with Jenna Pick
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The Secret History
by Tartt, Donna
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