“THE SNOW in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation. He’d been dead for ten days before they found him, you know. It was one of the biggest manhunts in Vermont history—state troopers, the FBI, even an army helicopter; the college closed, the dye factory in Hampden shut down, people coming from New Hampshire, upstate New York, as far away as Boston.
It is difficult to believe that Henry’s modest plan could have worked so well despite these unforeseen events. We hadn’t intended to hide the body where it couldn’t be found. In fact, we hadn’t hidden it at all but had simply left it where it fell in hopes that some luckless passer-by would stumble over it before anyone even noticed he was missing. This was a tale that told itself simply and well: the loose rocks, the body at the bottom of the ravine with a clean break in the neck, and the muddy skidmarks of dug-in heels pointing the way down; a hiking accident, no more, no less, and it might have been left at that, at quiet tears and a small funeral, had it not been for the snow that fell that night; it covered him without a trace, and ten days later, when the thaw finally came, the state troopers and the FBI and the searchers from the town all saw that they had been walking back and forth over his body until the snow above it was packed down like ice.”
Thus begins Donna Tartt’s debut novel “The Secret History”. It was quite unusual for a book’s opening to give out so much. We might naturally assume that what the book has revealed in the first page is probably only a minor event which would lead to a more interesting chain of events. But that is where The Secret History is ultimately surprising. It’s not your run-of-the-mill whodunit but it is apparently a whydunit(This I found out after finishing the book).
If I am to define The Secret History – It’s a rich, dark, mysterious and compelling book.
I found the lack of twists/interesting events hard to digest. But it all seemed to make sense when I understood that its main objective is explaining the consequences of a crime & effects of remorse.
While I’m curious about the concept of Whydunit, the book could have been made crisper by better editing.
At the end, I felt that something was definitely missing from the book. I am unable to point it out, though.
If you are passionate about Greek or learning any classic language, you will probably appreciate the love that Donna has conspicuously expressed for Greek throughout the book.
If you love dark books, this is for you!
Didn’t really like the tragic turns everyone’s lives took.
Literature Junkie 