![]() ![]() ![]() The psychological toll Richard experiences in the story arises, when this romanticism comes crashing down at the meeting point of harsh reality. His words create an artifice, as he views people through a romanticized viewpoint. He doesn’t contort facts or offer an entirely different version to real events. But, not in the way you expect him to be. The narrator, Richard Papen, is definitely unreliable. It doesn’t use unreliable narrator trick to put up a final, thrilling twist. ![]() “The Secret History” is a very straightforward novel, considering the fact that it starts with a murder, committed by college students, who are otherwise perceived harmless, innocent souls. The ‘heart of darkness’ and ‘murderer’s guilt’ aspects of the novel are wonderfully incorporated to depict the life of young Americans, fascinated by nihilism and chaos. Through the murder element, Tartt elegantly explores the isolation of a young man, oppressed by a very mundane life, who gets a distant possibility of leading a romanticized version of life. But, don’t expect the ‘why’ and ‘how’ to be as thrilling and convoluted as in Japanese mystery writer Keigo Highashino’s works. ‘Why’ and ‘How’ part is what drives this 629 page (paperback) novel. The narrator tells us who’s murdered how he himself is partly responsible for the murder and names others who participated in the vile act. Donna Tartt’s 1992 debut novel “The Secret History”starts with a murder that’s not cloaked in mystery. ![]()
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