Ninia Kadagidze – Why People Should Read The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The Secret History is a novel by Donna Tartt about six college students who are isolated from the rest of the university. It is written in first person from the point of view of one of the six students, Richard, who, many years later, reflects and makes comments about the actions that led to the murder of one of his friends, Edmund “Bunny” Corcoran. Not only the plot but also the genre and the main message make this book so interesting and unique.

The novel is an inverted detective story, and the events that lead to Bunny’s murder are revealed throughout the book, which captivates the readers and makes them intrigued to find out more. However, the story is not like other detective novels because it does not center around solving a crime but rather tells what caused it. As Richard recalls his college life, he also thinks of the debates he had with his friends and teacher about ancient Greek philosophy and religion. Many readers enjoy these parts because they are impressed with how many separate ideas these discussions introduce, and they find the information about different topics very interesting.

Richard’s college life was anything but ordinary. For instance, his teacher, Julian, allowed his pupils to have classes with him only, making them distant from other students and easy to manipulate. Julian’s ways of teaching bring up the main message of the novel – the dangers of isolation. Even though Julian is not directly involved in Bunny’s death, he made his students detached from the world and only engaged in ancient civilizations, the subject that he taught about. For example, one of the characters did not even know that men had set foot on the moon because he had no idea about the recent news from that time. Julian manipulates these people by telling them they think outside the box and unlike others, but in reality, he isolates the students so they would be unable to get any unrelated opinions that might have helped the students see his wrongs.

To sum up, The Secret History is a great book not only because of the story it tells but also because of Donna Tartt’s wonderful writing and the details she pays attention to that many readers do not notice.

Author: Ninia Kadagidze