Stephanie Fachiol’s Reviews > The Secret History > Status Update

Close enough, welcome back, “Crime and Punishment”

Look, I have a feeling that Donna Tartt is not exactly a New Age Hippie based on her philosophical conclusions in this novel, but she also is WAY too familiar with the 80s college drug scene

The winter break section is haunting and deserves more recognition

The persistent dreamlike haze over the story, especially in the lakehouse scenes, is phenomenal

Hobey ho let’s go

(Rereading a classic standalone to catch up on my hopeless-looking Goodreads challenge)

“The hypothermia sequence is chillingly well-written” - Tom Swiftie’s review of Chapter 3

Man I forgot how much Tartt dislikes Californians

The post-Dionysian ritual Camilla confesses to Richard has a ring of Homeric barbarity, but it also points to the same spirit that compelled the Athenians to dedicate a statue to the Unknown God. The tragedy of this story is that the students rightly realized the superficiality of their surroundings and aimed to pursue the true and the beautiful--while failing to put any thought into the meaning behind beauty.

Me: Tell me you went to college on the East Coast without telling me you went to college on the East Coast

Donna Tartt: *gestures at the general ambience of her genius novel*