| Book Musings..... | |||
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Wednesday, January 29, 2003 ( 12:48 PM ) Jeanne The Secret History by Donna Tartt I read this after reading Tartt's newest book The Little Friend, the long awaited second novel which took her ten years to write. I missed The Secret History as I was living outside of the States when it apparently became a smash hit. Tartt is an exquisite writer and an incredible inventor of characters that live and breathe and exist full blooded in my imagination. Despite knowing from the very beginning of the novel the whodunnit of the murder(s) this book has as its heart, Tartt manages to keep you guessing on various fronts and builds the tension and guilt among the key characters beautifully. That said I sometimes find her precociousness a little cloying. I think this is a big part of the reason she made such waves as she can throw classical references and ancient and romantic languages around with ease. Even in The Little Friend a book that was far removed from the academic setting of The Secret History she shows us her very classical leanings. I kept thinking of how like the privileged, aristocratic young prodigies in The Secret History she must be. It is a true testament though to her talent as a writer that while I found her verbiage sometimes over the top and top heavy as well I couldn't put this down until I finished it all and I enjoyed the process. # |
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