The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Donna Tartt's The Secret History is every classical language nerd's dream. Now I don't know about you, but whereas I didn't study Greek at school (even less at college, as Tartt's protagonists do), I did learn to read Latin and, needless to say, loved it. Only a dead language can be that orderly, powerful, mathematical, and precise. I even participated in nation-wide Latin language competitions and I am no longer ashamed to let the world know about it (and yes, my romantic life was virtually nonexistent in high school, but let's just pretend there is no causal connection here at all.). But I digress - let's return to The Secret History and what makes it your perfect weekend read...

First published in 1992, The Secret History revolves around a group of five classics students at an elite college on the East Coast, who accept the narrator, Richard Papen, a lower middle-class kid from California, into their midst. It opens with the shocking revelation that the group ended up killing one of its members, and the novel traces the events that led to this (and  many other) transgression(s) of moral and legal boundaries. So yes, it reads like a traditional Whydunit in many respects, but it's so much more than that.

The setting, fictional Hampden College in Vermont, is both romantic (in the literary sense, not the popular) and classical. Tartt is a true master when it comes to bringing the scenery to life and catapulting you to the snow-covered, eerily pristine and uncannily deserted Hampden campus during Christmas break, even while you're sipping your iced latte on a hot and crowded beach in late June.

From time to time, my feminist heart ached for a female protagonist; the closely knit clique features one female member, Camilla, though she is mostly described - through the eyes of the male hero - in terms of physical, rather than intellectual beauty, even if we do get to understand that she excels at Greek translation just like the rest of the genius bunch. 

Sounds like a college movie for nerds to you? It is! Classics fans will enjoy obscure references to Greek and Roman literature throughout the novel, as well as tidbits in foreign languages and the overall modelling of the story on traditional Greek tragedy: A fatal flaw that propels the characters to meet their inevitable destiny. Underneath this intellectualized, high-end exterior, Tartt delivers a smart and complex thriller with many enjoyable twists and unexpected turns.

The blurb on my edition (Penguin 1993, see above) compared it to Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment (1866), which I did find a bit of a stretch. Still, The Secret History is a massive and cleverly constructed page-turner, full of allusions and written in a gorgeous, elegant style.