My heart nearly leapt out of my chest when I saw this! I love this book so much (Henry and Francis were objectively the best characters--fight me.)
Something I personally took away from the book was the apparent lack of connection between the kids and their parents. Richard's father was distant, Francis's mother shipped him off to boarding schools with fringe ideas, etc., etc. None of the kids knew what it was to have true parental love, leading to them being hyper-clingy around Morrow and hanging off his every word.
Not only that, but none of them knew how to handle their emotions--Henry meditated the murder of Bunny when he only deserved a punch in the chest, the others followed along due to peer pressure, Charles was abusive to Camilla, Camilla and Francis didn't know how to stand up for themselves, Richard did drugs, they all drank aggressively, etc.
I agree. I think the character of Bunny is significant in that regard as well. He actually seems to have a loving family with whom he is close, and is the only one to leave behind anything like a descendant (his girlfriend Marion ends up marrying one of Bunny's brothers and they have a daughter they name Bunny).
Bunny is a prime example of what happens when you spoil a kid/don't teach a kid to be secure in themselves. His flaws all stemmed from him trying to over-compensate for his family's lack of wealth.
While I haven't read this one, the descriptions of the characters and descent due to obsession remind me of the characters in Foucault's Pendulum - a collection of similarly odd esoteric history buffs and publishers too involved in their own mysteries to dig their way out
"First of all - for a book about conspiracy theories, and it certainly references and incorporates a lot of them, it’s not really about conspiracy theories. It deals in obsession, and how the things we obsess over change us. As they dig deeper and deeper to better build their farce, Casubon, Belbo, and Garamond the publisher slowly shift from skeptics joking at the poor saps they’re rooking to believers, and unwittingly, place themselves at the very center of the grandest conspiracy of all."
'Be not afraid of greatness,' urges Shakespeare in Twelfth Night. 'Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.'
You hit the nail right on the head. It's funny because I could say that The Secret History, at least from a plot perspective and certainly from a pacing perspective, wasn't a very good book, and yet I haven't been able to stop thinking of it since I read it last year. It's a shame more people in our circles don't talk about it.
Thank you for the kind mention on the restack. I liked the Goldfinch as well, though it didn’t register with me on an emotional level the way The Secret History did due to the lack of Classics, although if I recall Francis makes an appearance.
I’ve been meaning to get to that one as well. It’s set in the South, where I live, and Tartt is a southerner herself, so I’m interested in it for that especially. I just get so caught up in nonfiction I hardly have any time for novels.
My heart nearly leapt out of my chest when I saw this! I love this book so much (Henry and Francis were objectively the best characters--fight me.)
Something I personally took away from the book was the apparent lack of connection between the kids and their parents. Richard's father was distant, Francis's mother shipped him off to boarding schools with fringe ideas, etc., etc. None of the kids knew what it was to have true parental love, leading to them being hyper-clingy around Morrow and hanging off his every word.
Not only that, but none of them knew how to handle their emotions--Henry meditated the murder of Bunny when he only deserved a punch in the chest, the others followed along due to peer pressure, Charles was abusive to Camilla, Camilla and Francis didn't know how to stand up for themselves, Richard did drugs, they all drank aggressively, etc.
I agree. I think the character of Bunny is significant in that regard as well. He actually seems to have a loving family with whom he is close, and is the only one to leave behind anything like a descendant (his girlfriend Marion ends up marrying one of Bunny's brothers and they have a daughter they name Bunny).
Bunny is a prime example of what happens when you spoil a kid/don't teach a kid to be secure in themselves. His flaws all stemmed from him trying to over-compensate for his family's lack of wealth.
While I haven't read this one, the descriptions of the characters and descent due to obsession remind me of the characters in Foucault's Pendulum - a collection of similarly odd esoteric history buffs and publishers too involved in their own mysteries to dig their way out
I haven’t read that one, but it sounds like that’s a fair comparison.
"First of all - for a book about conspiracy theories, and it certainly references and incorporates a lot of them, it’s not really about conspiracy theories. It deals in obsession, and how the things we obsess over change us. As they dig deeper and deeper to better build their farce, Casubon, Belbo, and Garamond the publisher slowly shift from skeptics joking at the poor saps they’re rooking to believers, and unwittingly, place themselves at the very center of the grandest conspiracy of all."
https://lastredoubt.substack.com/p/foucaults-pendulum
💬 they murder a local farmer.[...] That’s the government’s job.
😂 oops 😭
'Be not afraid of greatness,' urges Shakespeare in Twelfth Night. 'Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.'
The is an excellent review. I recently listened to an episode covering this book on The Nietzsche Podcast. It was very well done.
You hit the nail right on the head. It's funny because I could say that The Secret History, at least from a plot perspective and certainly from a pacing perspective, wasn't a very good book, and yet I haven't been able to stop thinking of it since I read it last year. It's a shame more people in our circles don't talk about it.
this is an amazing take
Thank you; this was one of my favorite things to write.
I have a copy …
This gets it back onto my radar. I forget what inspired me to purchase it.
Well shit, I'm going to have to give it to you, I agree with everything you say. Did you like The Goldfinch?
Thank you for the kind mention on the restack. I liked the Goldfinch as well, though it didn’t register with me on an emotional level the way The Secret History did due to the lack of Classics, although if I recall Francis makes an appearance.
Same, I didn't love it as much. I haven't read her other book, the one that came between these two.
I’ve been meaning to get to that one as well. It’s set in the South, where I live, and Tartt is a southerner herself, so I’m interested in it for that especially. I just get so caught up in nonfiction I hardly have any time for novels.
As a newly minted Southerner I should also read it.
Have you ever read anything by Richard Hughes? He might fall within your interests.
I have not but I will look into it.
One of my all-time favorites, and especially in the examination of moral issues and the complexities of the human condition.