Donna Tartt Shrine | Press | What did you think of The Secret History?
What did you think of The Secret History?
What did you think of The Secret History?
Comments (115)
yeah, it was OK. read it once about 15 years ago, and just finished a second reading last week. It's riddled with typos and there are a few grammatical errors, but an engaging read over all. I agree with the observations above that the funeral went on far too long, and in some cases, the tone of the book has an immature nature to it - and no, it wasn't intentional.
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A great book, The ending in the hotel sent a shiver through me and during the book I kept thinking why do I like these people so much after what they did, I really enjoyed this book and will read it again I think.Im going to read 'the little friend' next which I hope is as enjoyable. I found this book searching on Amazon and looking at what people were listing as favourite books after typing in one of my favourite books: 'The Magus' by John Fowles.
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Such a solid, wonderful book. I feel a whole range of emotions when I read this-it's like an out-of-body experience. For casting, here is who I would choose: Justin Chatwin as Richard Papen; Jared Leto as Henry Winter; Richard Pattinson as Charles Macaulay; Emma Watson as Camilla Macaulay; Jake Gyllenhaal as Francis Abernathy; Ben McKenzie as Cloke Rayburn; and, finally, Pete Wentz as Bunny Corcoran. I know he is not an actor but a singer, but I think he could try acting for awhile, and that this role would suit him perfectly. When I read the book, sometimes I picture these actors as the characters and it really makes it much more interesting.
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One of my favorite books of all time.
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This book, which I've read both in translation and in the original English, is without a doubt a work of literary genius. It is psychologically sophisticated, artistically inspired, elegant in language, deep in meaning, and rich in allusion. I can't think of any major complaint or criticism. Every character seems believable and real, yet intrinsically part of the author's unique literary world.
What is most engaging, however, is how cleanly the book manages to simultaneously be both a kind of a latter-day Greek tragedy and a superb educated commentary on Greek tragedy. I can recommend The Secret History to anyone and everyone, and feel it should be regarded as a modern English-language classic.
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i read this book at least once a year and never get tried of it. Does anyone else attemp to turn it in to a screen play?? Is it just me??? I know he's too old now but i always saw Phillip Semore Hoffman as Bunny. Who would you cast??
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About seven years ago I read it for the first time. It was christmas, and I was spending a week in my cousins house. Just five days to read it. Next christmas I read it again like a tradition in my anual visit to Bilbao. I'm from Spain and it was not very easy to find a copy of the book for myself. When I found it I read again, and again...Today I found a very good edition (spanish) and I'm reading it again. What's inside this book? How can this pages make me feel like ... don't know how to explain it.
-- "vida eterna!"
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Best. Book. Ever.
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I am completely absorbed with this book. I read "The Little Friend" first, and was so taken by the character development by this author that I had to read more. This writer is amazing! Henry is someone I can see and hear so clearly in my imagination, but I can't think of a mainstream actor who could touch the character.
I was especially in touch with the main character who spent his winter freezing and alone in his freshman year in New England. I am not done with the book, but my god, it's fantastic!
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I enjoyed The Secret History, but like one or two other contributors, I felt it fizzled out somewhat, after a brilliant and inspiring opening half.
Let me give you an example. The section on Bunny's funeral was far too drawn out and protracted to the point of tedium. The scene where Bunny's father hugged Richard as he wailed over the loss of his son, and Richard was so moved that he cried and actually began to apologise to the man for having murdered his son, was so beautifully written that I felt every emotion Richard was feeling; the guilt and despair as the meaning of what he had done was laid bare before him in human form.
Donna Tartt should have moved on from there to the graveside, rather than concentrating on the trivial events leading up to and surrounding the funeral. In the first half of the story, I was totally wrapped up in the main characters, and found no empathy or interest in the problems of Bunny's brothers, nephews and nieces, and I saw no point in dwelling on them to the extent the author did.
The story recovered again after the funeral and I thought the ending was superbly plotted and beautifully written.
An excellent book and highly recommended.
Thomas mcLaughlin
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Best book ever, read it a couple of times. There are no words to describe how great this novel is.
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I loved this book. It had a marvelous mix of plot, suspenion, research and fantastic characters. The book is very well written and is most intriguing! Read it if you haven't!
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I think this book is a study of people's reactions to remorse; after Bunny's death the lives of the whole group just seem to disintergrate: Charles' drinking gets out of control, Francis gets ill, Camilla drifts away from her brother and the whole thing culminates in Henry's suicide.
Do you think the fact that the group study classics is directly responsible for all the dreadful things that happen? I think their exposure to accounts of war, murder and out of body experiences warps their judgement and leads to their ploting the death of Bunny.
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Thank you, my love. Once again you have picked out a book for me to read, that touched my very soul. It proves that you really know me. How could I ever doubt you(Wuthering heights, Dorian Gray, The Master and Margarita, The Silmarillion) Sometimes it really is a wonderfull, magical life...N
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it's art. it's like when you watch a painting by odd nerdrum, and find that it is bautiful, disgusting, honest and disturbing, and afterwords the world has a different shade. that's art
karen_kristiane@hotmail.com
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I wanted to like this book, and for the most part I did. It just seems to me that Donna Tartt was being overly ambitious and pretentious, writing about emotions she hadn't experienced and things she really only had a very superficial grasp on. It's a very entertaining, but very immature book. It actually seems as though it's written by someone Richard's age.
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I think that the book was good in the begining but just kind of sizzled out at the end so i didnt really care that Henry killed himself. It's like she started writing it and it was amazing and then ahe got bored
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This book is amazing. My favorite, except for maybe Alice in Wonderland or something. The Greek students are some of the most finely-wrought characters I've come across. There are very few real-life people whom I relate to so strongly.
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I read The Little Friend before i read The Secret History, and i have to say that Ms Tartt's writing style did not diminish nor improved--it evolved, because she writes too beautifully to change into something much better. A change of this kind, in my opinion, is simply impossible.
Liz, Philippines
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Well, I had decided to make an unfortunate decision to do this book for my book analysis in school. I had a question about the plot, and I thought to myself "Well gee, who better to ask than the beautiful people at the Donna Tartt shrine!?" So everybody, get ready to analyze. Oh yeah, this is a spoiler, so don't read unless you've finished the book. Do you think that the climax is when Julian finds the letter, or when Charles is in the hotel room with the gun? I would love it if I got some opinions.
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This book is a comedy of manners with angst. Dark study of social pathology in our times and colleges.
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Awesome. Not much more you can say, the characters were great. I never like endings and this book just settled everything the way I would have left it.
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Awesome. Not much more you can say, the characters were great. I never like endings and this book just settled everything the way I would have left it.
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A fantastic book! I'm so glad I read it, it's definitely one of my favorites! What I love about the book are the characters. They are all so real. There are things you love about them and things you despise about them, which is how I feel about many of my friends. I just love this book. Donna Tartt is a bloody genius!
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I'm on page 103 and felt compelled to look up Donna Tartt on the Net. This rates as one of the most compelling and certainly beautiful reads in a long time. I just read David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars and this is beautifully written, lots of lush imagery - but Tartt's use of descriptive language is on a whole other rich, complex level. And it could be dry, but it isn't. After all it's about a bunch of bizarre Classics students but Tartt's careful and brilliant orchestration of subject, description, characterisation and language makes for an irresistible combination. She has such an acute sense of pace and mystery. I am totally drawn in and wonder where it's going to go. I'm amazed by comments by readers who say they 'like' certain characters. That hardly seems the point. Whether we like them or not seems irrelevant and they don't appear to be cast as they are for that reason. They are just fascinating, like jewels. And also, from my perspective, having this quality of elusiveness, otherness. They are eternally youthful. I think that's intentional, part of Tartt's skill to have them trapped in some snapshot of that time at that point in their lives. The whole book has a very cinematic quality and I too have been thinking of this, imagining it as I read, of who would be cast, where it would be set, who might direct. It would have to be done with very great skill, so someone visually very dextrous and sophisticated. I guess the protagonist would have to be someone handsome - as he apparently is - yet he is also pretty grungy, in terms of character a bit tentative and provisional, so I think Adrien Brody is a good choice, but probably best that the actors should be unknowns since that's kind of who these characters are - unknowable in some ways.
Well, that's enough. I have to keep reading.
Kylie
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i really love the book! its my favorite book! its so real and sad. i want to read something else like that bok soon.
*finnish girl*
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The Secret History was the most enjoyable read i've ever had. Hilarious and terrifying at times, I could not put this down. The immoral characters is what makes this book so gripping, and perhaps why it can be so scary. it is after all worrying how attached you get to the cold blooded killers in this novel.
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Simply sublime! This is a gem of a book. The last time I felt this kind of profound connection to literature was when I read "Catcher In The Rye" by J.D. Salinger. It is a book for the ages and beyond!
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Great book!!! Just got a bit tired of all those people getting drunk and stoned all the time (A)
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great!!! One of my favourite books ever!So sad and so real
T from Greece
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The book was great, but I think the conflict was over-resolved. I mean, she says what happens to every single character including the minor ones. I don't care about that detective guy, I just wanted to find out about everyone else! Also I noticed a couple of grammatical errors and stuff, but I'm just picky about that. But I did totally fall in love with the characters, especially Richard. Bunny annoyed me though, so I was glad when they killed him, I also really like Francis and Camilla, and Henry to some extent. But Charles just kept getting weirder and weirder. Poor guy. Anyway, this book was a good break from reading musty old 1800's literature >_<.
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I picked up this book with interest two terms into my Classics degree at Cambridge and was delighted to discover how Tartt identifies the harsh, insistent, joyful motion of Ancient Greek. Well-plotted too, and I felt real affection for the characters despite their dubious sense of morality.
Allegra, akph@hotmail.com
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Absolutely one of my favourite books, mostly i love Charles, Henry, Fran and Milly! In a movie, I'd cast Adrien Brody as Francis and Jake and Meggie Gyllenhall as the twins. Ian McKellen would make for an amazing Julian! Cilly from Germany
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Great book, hauntingly pleasant concepts. Get over the immorality please, if you're focussing on that you're missing the point. Characterisation is a bit timid in spots, which left me cold on the protagonist on occasion, but hey, a woman writing a guy is never easy. Great language and the expansion into greek/french etc is impressive.
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I'm one of those who constantly have books recommended to them, and, as such, tend to never get round to reading said books. The Secret History, thankfully, was forcefully given to me by a trusted fellow-reader just last week. I haven't been able to focus well since.
As someone the same age as the characters and also studying in the humanities, I can understand the dangerous appeal of exclusive academia. This book is frightening, delicious and very, very beautiful.
How will I reconcile myself with reality now?
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my mind was swiped in the grief, hate, love, confusion and passion of this beautifully written work of art.
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Teacher recommended to me in the tenth grade, I have yet to discover a greater book than this. Changed my entire perception on what reading should be. I hope Donna Tartt releases a masterpiece like this again someday!
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i read it. i liked it. i'm moving on.
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the bestest bestest book on earth! i would just looooove to see it on stage...
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I have read and re-read this book in attempt to find some flaw in Tartt's genius, but there is none. Every page is breathtaking, every word perfectly chosen. Each character is a complex masterpiece in itself. I challenge anyone to find a character like Henry in any other work of fiction.
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I fell in love with all of them especially Bunny, I was so into the book they were like my friends even in my dreams. But the end was so sad ...
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This is definately one of my favorite books.
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The only book I own in three copies.
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The Secret History offers a gripping plot concurrent with vivid detail and enigmatic characters. Definitely a Modern Classic.
Tom Shirley, Devon
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fabulous!
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Phillip Seymour Hoffman would be a PERFECT Bunny!
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sublime
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Emocionante! Elaborado! Inteligente! Sagaz! Muito bom! Faz lembrar-nos de qućo relativo sćo os acontecimentos que nos cercam e de qućo chocante pode ser o "descobrir-se"...
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An extremely haunting read...i cannot stop thinking about it and the characters have been carved into my mind. it's depressing but the best book ever!
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This is my favourite book of all time. I reread it every year!
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I absolutely loved that book. I couldn't stop reading it, and when I had finished it I had to read it again right away. It became my favorite book, with S.E. Hinton's "The Outsiders".
Like someone said in the previous message, this book changed my life.
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i read it a couple of months ago and as soon as i finished it i turned it around and started to read it again i love it as it makes me see the world differently
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'The Secret History' is an invigorating read. No other novel has vividly conjured in palpable detail the temptations and excesses that results from knowing a twilight past. Tartt deftly combines classical-medieval myth and lore with tightly-drawn suspense, producing what is probably this decade's most intelligent literary thriller.
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It's been so many years since I've read this book. But the memory is still quite fresh in my mind. I loved it then. And I still do. The Secret History is a book that really gets you involved very deeply. When I read it, I felt like being part of the story all the time. Donna Tartt is a genius to me.
G., Vienna, Austria.
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Great book, but hardly an epiphany. I'm not denying the presence of a genius, but a flawed one- genius aeger, one might say.
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It's my absolute favorite.
Sam from Holland
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The Secret History was the cause of many mind-orgasms for me...it's been hard to pick up another book since I finished it.
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hi, i've read the book for the first time -it's fantastic, incredible. i loved the descriptions of the people involved in the history. i'm sure i'm going to read it again.....
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Every character is lovable in their own way. I really enjoyed this book. its so erudite but yet full of feeling.
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The Secret History is a brilliantly written novel. It seems to appeal best to those of higher scholarly inclination and ability. If you have only read this book, pick up the audible version read by Ms. Tartt for a completely spellbinding experience.
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this book changed my life. wow. i'm quite thrilled that i find so many other positive reflections of the book. it feels good to know that others like it as much as i do.
the only thing i can do to describe what i think of it, is to agree with the sentence above. this book changed my life. it has; not only it is a breathtaking story and writing, it has also inspired me a lot...to cease life..and have not even finished it yet! well, there's no time for this anymore, i have to return to my reading....=) best wishes to everyone /Miriam, Sweden
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hemmm , what should i say ?
well i red the book years ago ,picked it up in a library
the pictures are still fresh in my head ~
i'm terrible with names , but could never forget Donna's name , like today , i'm busy as hell , but still manage to Google it out !
something about it , sadly never met any one who came across the book :) , great to know many enjoyed it as well
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absolutely amazing. never read anything quite as perfect as this. everyone should read it- doesn't matter if they like it or not, they just HAVE to read it.
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I am fourteen and both an avid reader and writer; this is possibly the only book that i have loved so much that i find it possible to criticize without killing the magic
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I do like the tart style. It's a pleasure to read. She uses almost forgotten words.
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My Favourite book Ever!
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Few authors write like poetry; those who do, only write that way in parts of the story. Ms. Tartt has, unlike many other authors succeeded in writing the entire book that way.
I think the book (although I'm not finished reading it) is very, very, good.
Like others above, I think it's hard to describe how good it is.
One of my favourite books, so far, and I don't think this will change when I'm finished reading it...
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It is indeed one of the best books I have ever read (and that have been thousands). I am eagerly awaiting a new book by her,
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Reading "The Secret History" was the first time I'd ever, truly, found myself unwilling and unable to let go of a book. I was transported by this work of art, and I will be sick to my stomach if I ever learn it is to be destroyed as a film. I hope it remains untouched, forever, for future generations of America's diminishing Reading Class to discover.
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whe you finish this outstanding piece of work you miss the them all. henry winter is one of the greatest people in literature.
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simply unbelievably good. I am looking for Henry everywhere. --- an avid reader with an MA in English literature
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I love this book i am only about 36 pages in and i can't stop reading it! It seems to be the best book I have ever read. Thank you Donna for such a GREAT book!
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Wow, you people are like hack book reviewers! Certainly a brilliant book, but definitely full of people you really wouldn't want to meet in real life. For the movie, I'd cast Jack and Meg White as Charles and Camilla and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Henry, as that's who I saw in my mind's eye as I read it. But lay off the repeated readings, there ARE other worthwhile books out there, and you are in danger of turning into one of the characters!
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I was fascinated by her brillant way of describing a behaviour, a scene...in french, the right word for her book will be "saisissant"
eva, from france
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This the most interesting and incredible book ever. It's fantastic. Donna Tartt really has talent. She is great. There are no words to describe this book. It's the best book I've ever read in my life.
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I'm 15 and I loved it. Donna Tartt mixes psychology with pure wit and her style is so...refreshing. A great plot washed down by details and eccentrcities that are so original, and so so sublime.
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fantastic experience reading this book, don't often read novels but Donna tarrt has changed that.
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Ingenious storytelling, I find myself suspicious that, this tale could only reside in the imagination and not in the world of flesh and sand. Too real, just incredible.
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this book was written with love and i love it
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A bit pretentious, dragging, and overrated ... the characters are all self-indulgent stereotypes and she's basically just masturbating on paper instead of carrying the story forward.
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i can't believe nobody has mentioned how horrifying this story actually is or how the characters are awful, amoral people in a moralistic tale. The book is undoubtably compelling in it's style but I found it difficult to come to terms with the characters, as thoroughly unlikable as they are.
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One of the best books I ever read!
Breathtaking from the first page to the last.
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A very real story with such emotive undertones of grey and brown.
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I keep this book by my bed and most nights pick it up, open it at random and read. I almost always find something I have forgotten and never tire of it. As a writer I hope that Donna's style, if not her exceptionally high standard, will sink into my subconscious and improve my own writing.
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i'm french and my english is very bad but i think this book is a real sucess and he represents the greatest literature of the US. After i'd read this book, the other book was very poor without any interesting story.
sincerly, nicolas, french fan and admirator of donna tartt
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read it about 5 times in 2 months..
words can't describe this.
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At the time of publication, I read the book three times within six months. I've read it a few more times since, and will read it again. Words are not enough to say how brilliant this book is.
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The question is, though: would Henry, Charles, Camilla, or Francis have read such a book?
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best ever
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I even read it to prepare for my exams, the mind of a scholar, you know
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I read the book and experienced what is called an 'Aha-Erlebniss'. It is not fiction, but non-fiction. I know a group of people who identify perfectly with the caracters in the book. It is unbelievable how many comparaisons with real life there are.
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Fantastic! Called in sick and read it cover to cover in one sitting!
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I absolutely love it. I don't usually read books twice but this is likely to be an exception.
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The first book Ive read where I have trouble articulating why I loved it so much. It is a masterpiece. Brilliant
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I read the book in Dutch, but I want to read it in English too. Nevertheless, the Dutch version is also amazing! The secret history has everything what a book makes incredible. By the way, the dutch version is called: "De verborgen geschiedenis"
greetings Tom (Holland)
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The characters are so tangible that you feel personal relationships with each of them. This book has become a wonderful friend.
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A book I plan to come back to again and again...
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Again breathtaking
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I have read it at least seven times. It gets better every time.
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Both Donna`s books are inspired and to be treasured.
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brilliant
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I have read The Secret History countless of times. 20, at least.
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fucking fantastic!!!! the best book in the world
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I always come back to it.
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I first read it ten years ago when it was first published, and haven't found a better book yet!
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I have lost count how many times I have read this book. Definitely over 20. It is my favourite book.
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I have nothing to say...just to feel
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i read it last summer, and started again this summer. it's becoming a tradition
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I'm addicted to it.
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in 2 1/5 months...i thought i was alone in my obsession till i found this wonderful site!
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It is a book I pick up quite often though I don't necessarily start at the beginning every time.
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my favorite book
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only read it once, but I want to read again!
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I pick it up and read different sections every now and then.
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This book changed my life.
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Donna Tartt Shrine | The Secret History
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