the secret history: saltburn but make it greek & more pretentious
- paigenherbooks
- Jan 27, 2024
- 6 min read
4/5
With the daunting snow days of an Iowa winter, I figured why not revisit some of my least favorite, favorite psychologically messed up characters, meaning I re-read The Secret History by Donna Tart, and once again loved it. Her lyrical writing combined with the wackiest and unhinged characters who are wallowing in misery, creates a story that is all involving, one that dares you to keep reading and commands you to think, ponder, and sometimes release a very uncomfortable giggle.
Synopsis: 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 they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last—inexorably—into evil.
Now, I have reviewed The Secret History before and to be honest it’s an utter trash review. This was back when I was trying to be a book influencer (rip the dreams of a long forgotten wanna be included pre-teen) and was honestly saying what ever the hell I thought I should be saying. By the gods I have matured since then, and this time around reading The Secret History felt different. A tangible difference in my understanding & enjoyment, hence why I am reviewing her again.
Don’t judge a writer on their old reviews, please.
Why is The Secret History so good? Other than the fantastic way in which Donna Tart constructs and bends language, she creates a story that brings the reader in from the very first line.
As a reader we are following Richard.
Poor Richard who is from suburbia California. Who had about anything a child could want, except for maybe loving parents. Richard decides to go to school at this Oxfordian-esque college, because the brochure looked pretty (Richard our relatable king), but what Richard doesn’t know is that is time at school is a gilded age, beautiful on the outside and absolutely rotten on the inside.
Richard becomes enthralled with our cast of characters.
Henry: big, bold, too smart, too charismatic Henry.
Bunny: irritating, lying, yet oddly likable, Bunny.
Francis: punchy, homoerotic, languishing, trust fund baby Francis.
Charles: drunken stupor yet inviting intimate Charles.
Camilla: soft, cold, always distant, but painfully beautiful Camilla.
Richard is sucked into their money filled, Greek highlighted world with fever and doesn’t come up for a breath of air until it’s all over. These characters, this tight knit occultic family become the prize of Richard’s life, he becomes enamored with them, and honestly so do I.
The thing about The Secret History is that every character is a juxtaposition, they are equally likable and unlikeable at any point within the story. There are times you are rooting for them all and others you want to shut the book and growl at the wall. The thing that keeps you there though is Richard. Seeing the world and these people through Richard’s eyes, his unreliable eyes, keeps you interested. You want to know more, you want to know what’s going on because, honestly, Richard doesn’t have a fucking clue what is happening.
The first time I read this, that really irritated me.
I felt like I was strapped to the dumbest character and I was missing big parts of the book. This time around I finally understood, that’s the point. Richard is and will always be the outsider, not A outsider but THE outsider. No matter how much they invite him and entertain him, no matter how he feels, he will always be on the outside looking in, no matter how deep he is. This creates such a yearning within the novel. The yearning that Richard has to be liked, to be accepted, to be more than he feels like he is. It rests all in the hands of these trust fund, snobby, and eloquently taught kids. He wants so desperately to fit in and even when he feels like he is, it only takes seconds before he realizes he is once again, looking through the window, and isn’t at the metaphorical dinner table.
Talking about unlikable, Bunny. Bunny drives me up the wall, he’s a liar, he’s annoying, and quite frankly the dullest of the group. He uses people, is aggressive, and genuinely believes he deserves everything. He is also viciously homophobic and the choice of words weren't always my favorite. Reading the story, I wanted to punch Bunny in the throat. Then body slam him and run him over with my car. He’s dialogue and the way he interacts with the rest of the group is quite frankly, infuriating. Almost to the point that during the novel you feel as if the group is justified in what they do to Bunny, that it truly was the only way. I mean, look at how he’s acting, he’s insufferable. Then I finished the book in a little bit of a horror stricken state and realized how I was feeling. Donna Tart had convinced me with her evil yet beautiful characters that Bunny deserved what he got…
That being said, after pondering it for a while, it all started to make sense. This dissonance of Bunny comes from Richard yes, but also because most of the time he’s right. He constantly is making fun of everyone else, really zoning in on their insecurities, and it’s so unbelievably annoying because he’s dead on the nose about it. For the group this is extremely worrisome. For people who want to be mysterious and different, having someone as “dull” as Bunny be able to see through their smoke screen bullshit is terrifying.
So this dislike of Bunny comes from his honesty.
That he’s honest about everyone else but himself.
Meanwhile, every other character in this story is constantly lying, a facade to their peers, in one way or another. This creates a dissonance between the characters and explicitly between Richard. Richard is doing his damndest to be one of them, to be apart of the small exclusive group and hating Bunny seems to be the thing that everyone does. Not to mention that Bunny preys on the insecurities of the others, so by constantly teasing Richard, Richard already dislikes him, so it kinda works out perfectly that everyone else does.
The only thing that I wish we had gotten more of was Julien, which I also mention in my previous review.
Julien is the teacher, he only accepts four or five students and they take almost every single class with him for their whole college career. No-one knows all the Julien lore but what people do say is always very interesting & slightly perturbing. His presence is felt in the book, but almost in a god like way. He is there, and he instructs them, he has his moments, but he always seems out of reach. Which, upon further consideration has to probably do with the fact that Richard is Richard and not Henry. Henry, it seems, is the only one that truly knows Julien, who is viciously close with him, and not once do we really get to see what these two talk about. Again, to further showcase that Richard is out of the loop, an “other” if you will.
Though, I think that by being able to get to know the Julien & Henry relationship just a bit more, it could have elevated the occult vibes of the story. Even if it was an argument, an agreement, literally anything to showcase that Julien knows something more than he lets on, would have elevated the “cult leader” vibes I was semi-hoping for.
That being said, the overall cult vibes is still very, very present within the story. By the end, you as the reader are almost exhausted by the involvement of each character within their own and everyone elses lives. The current sweeps everyone together whether they are tied by sex, alcohol, Greek literature, or simply wanting to fit in.
Which is why Richard as a narrator is so intriguing. Much like Wuthering Heights (I’m on a dark gothic roll people) our narrator is unreliable. He is recalling these events years and years after they happen. Recalling events & people whom he was very much involved and in love with. All of them take on a seemingly “larger than life” personality, because that’s how Richard saw them. These untouchable gods of campus and his life. He became enthralled in a way that he simply can never let go.
It reminds me of Saltburn (loved it) where Farley tells Oliver at the party something along the lines that this is Farley’s home, he belongs here, meanwhile Oliver is an outsider, this summer will be the highlight of his life, one he will hold on to for the rest of his life and wish for everyday.
That is Richard.
Even though there was death, destruction, obsession, murder, and a laundry list of dirty deeds, he still wishes he was there, he can’t let go because he became so intoxicated with these people that if he lets them go, if he moves on, it becomes a dream.
Him forever wondering if it ever even happened.
The Secret History is beautiful. It’s dark, it’s cold, it’s lathered up in Greek dialect and Latin phrases that have you wanting to pick up a dead language. It’s exciting & miserable, thrilling yet feels like you’re on the edge of a psychotic break the whole time. It’s moody and mysterious, packed with punches and yet the slow burn that replicates what true life is, mundanity & the finding of one’s self.
I love it.
Felix lectio.
xoxo,
paige
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