Book Review: The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Title: The Secret History
Author: Donna Tartt
Published: New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1996 (1992)
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 524
Total Page Count: 95,921
Text Number: 275
Read Because: recommended by _houdinilogic_, purchased used at Duvall Books
Review: When Richard Papen transfers to New England's Hampden College, he falls in with a small group of erudite, haughty Greek scholars. But while Hampden fulfills his every academic dream, he discovers that behind their untouchable façade his fellow students hide strange faults and dark secrets—and he is drawn, inexorably, into both. The Secret History is, at the risk of shortly overusing the word, delightful. It shares an incredible similarity with Tana French's The Likeness, both in atmosphere and content: a group of untouchable, strangely intimate students tied up in a murder-mystery plot—but it's less a case of redundancy and more a case of further reading, as I'd recommend each one to fans of the other. The Secret History begins almost impeccably: Tartt has a lush, complex, rewarding writing style, and the story starts as an academic idealization of the most delightful sort. It is the college experience every academic wants to have, esoteric and indulgent, but bundled with complexity and psychological depth that make it more than simple wish-fulfillment. Having dug deep and grown comfortable as an academic fantasy, the book develops into a psychological thriller. Initially, it runs the risk of failing to live up to the high, tense expectations promised by its impressive language and weighty foreshadowing; the book's middle period, as the characters wallow in anxiety and alcohol as they try to cope with that they've done, threatens to grow stagnant. But the plot holds some strong punches, and the slow mental disintegration of the characters gives psychological weight and depth to those events. It may not fulfill its every lofty expectation, but The Secret History frequently comes close.

The result is a book which is pretentious and idealized in the most enjoyable sense, intensely compelling despite its length and, occasionally, its pacing, finely crafted and constantly a pleasure to read. I imagine it's even more rewarding upon reread, and will soon find out for myself. This is a work of skill—not faultless, but no worse for that, perhaps because the fact that it invites a careful eye and extra attention more than makes up for the faults they uncover. I devoured this book, and every page of it was delicious; to those that enjoy what it has to offer—intelligence, joy, suspense, psychology, academia, obscurity, character, beauty, artisty, language, and skill—I recommend it with enthusiasm. It is—again—delightful.

Review posted here on Amazon.com.

Today I went to Starbucks; also, help me find the ideal chunky black shoe.

I feel you, oh tickle in the back of my throat. I have done so for about 24 hours now, but I refuse to be punished for the cruise by suffering a cold, and so I am staunchly pretending to be perfectly well until—and I hope it doesn't get to that point—I no longer can. Because right now, all it really is is annoying, not disruptive in any way, which is a blessing. While ignoring the throat-tickle today I went to Starbucks to spend some productive time out of the house. I used to do that all of the time, and then fell out of the practice of it, but I should really get back in—it does me good, and gets book reviews written. (I am many behind.) It was a lovely day, I looked lovely too; it was a good use of my time.

Relatedly (if you're in my head, anyhow, connecting Starbucks and getting out and looking lovely to this ongoing quest of mine towards personal improvement), I have a weird request to make. I am in search of shoes, and do not know how to find them. In the past, shoes haven't been much more bother than a trip to Payless, but I've been discovering that my disinterest in shoes and all other fashion items has less to do with disinterest in them and more to do with disinterest in popular examples of them. I don't want flimsy little flats or silly pointy heals; I want chunky black shoes, and knowing that I want to find a decent-quality pair that I really like.

The problem is that I'm not trained in these things—I find shopping an alien concept, but perhaps shoe-shopping most of all. So the question is: do shoes like I want exist? if so, where can I find them? My first priority is a pair of black shoes that look like (and I know this is silly) Shiny Thing's Flare Oxfords in Second Life: [1] [2]. Black, shiny leather, laced, a little bulky/oversized, ideally with a bit of a platform and/or heel but without aggressive tread, with a square-ish and large-ish toe. The women's shoes I've looked at so far seem to be all frills and pointy heels, no thank you; I've had somewhat better luck looking at men's shoes in a kid's size range. Skecher's offers up Cool Cat - Pixel which is pretty promising; Cool Cat and Alley Cat may be too, and Raiders - Buccaneers have a neat platform look but I'm not sold on the overall shape. ETA: Dr. Martens 8461 may work—Docs have thin sharpness to their uppers which I don't like, but the overall shape is spot on. The perfect shoes in this category would take oversized and chunky and run with it—I don't want platforms and I'm not quite aiming for Kingdom Hearts, but I want my shoes to look bigger than they are and maybe give me a bit of height.

Secondly, more as a pipe dream, I want boots. Something like Shiny Thing's Glossy Ribbon Boots from Second Life (outing myself again as a massive dork): [1] [2]. Black, shiny leather, somewhere between calf- and knee-high, maybe a bit of platform, chunky heels, square toe; lacing detail probably preferable, but buckles may work too. I have no idea where to even begin, here. None of the popular women's boot designs appeal too much. I could consider combat boots, maybe. Honestly I don't know what's out there, or what might work.

I wear a size 8 or 8 1/2 women's shoe, preferable wide. I wear a size 6 or 7 in men's shoes. I'm aiming in the $50-150 range; lower is better, but dirt cheap isn't necessary.

Do things like this even exist? Where might I find them? Where can I browse shoes in a productive way? What sort of brands may turn up styles like these? Are you some sort of magical shoe genie thinking, "silly Juu, this is the pair you want?" If so I suggest you send me a link.

Teach me how to buy shoes.

Please?

P.S. I am, finally, pretty much caught up on what I feel like I need to get caught up on of what I missed while I was gone. But if you find yourself wondering if that means I personally snubbed your important piece of news or heartfelt post, link me—I may have missed it.