Amazon.com.au:Customer reviews: The Secret History

Top positive review

Touched a nerve with me - absolutely stunning

Reviewed in Australia on 9 July 2014

I read this book after already being familiar with The Goldfinch and The Little Friend.
I am a classic scholar myself (rather been one 25 years ago) and the book has special appeal for me.
Tartt's books are not an easy read but they are why literature is such a marvelous art.
Her books make me wish I could read them again as for the first time...

3 people found this helpful

Top critical review

All critical reviews›

How can Penguin put their name to this

Reviewed in Australia on 17 April 2022

So the look and feel of the book is cheap and nasty. The text is aligned to the right, so you have to practically break the spine of the book to read the text. Absolute rubbish production. But for 8 bucks, you get what you pay for.

Sort by

Filter by

Filtered by

3 star, Verified purchasesClear filter

1,276 total ratings, 364 with reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From Australia

Sue

different

Reviewed in Australia on 27 June 2014

Verified Purchase

Intriguing book. Kept one guessing till the very end. Very different which made one want to read on and find out what happens next.

Helpful

From other countries

Mr. M. Walsh

A Solid Three

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 October 2018

Verified Purchase

Here's my review: the epilogue felt earnt. This was because the book felt so very bloody long.

It's not a bad book - but it's pretty anemic fare when you look closely. You'd think that ancient Greek would provide a charming and interesting motif. You'd be wrong. Like most of the book, it's thin set dressing for a medium-interesting melodrama that doesn't really go anywhere.

It's nicely written, but not so much as to ever make you stop and marvel.

The characters are strangely thin. The plot seems poised to set them up as being profound, but then fumbles it. I did wonder if this was a thematic point, but I don't really think so, on reflection. The characterisation is also somewhat....bloodless. Again, I don't really this was deliberate *enough*. Meaning: I think it was deliberate, but serves no overarching purpose, like you'd hope.

It's fine. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it.

60 people found this helpful

Londongirl

Disappointing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 December 2018

Verified Purchase

This book was far too long. I couldn’t relate to the characters and it just lacks something. I wouldn’t describe it as a thriller. I almost gave up but did finish it begrudgingly. I kept hoping there’d be a big twist but *spoiler alert* there wasn’t. I had read The Little Friend and, although also very long winded, really enjoyed it. Oh well. Don’t think I’ll be reading another Donna Tartt book anytime soon. The reason I still have three stars is she is a good writer in so many ways. The ways she describes even the mundane is amazing. Just a shame she describes the mundane so often 😫

18 people found this helpful

Monica

Goes on a bit...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 May 2021

Verified Purchase

Had to give this 3 stars because it got such good reviews from other people. There is a story here, but it's swamped by endless circuitous conversations. Might make a good film, where one could actually see the young people - I have to admit I kept having to remind myself that they really were young. There is no real definition of character so sometimes it seems that only the chatter is real and the personalities are swimming vaguely underneath it all.

I'm not sure whether I'm going to finish this. I started jumping about halfway through.

2 people found this helpful

An okay read, but personally not a remarkable one

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 April 2021

Verified Purchase

Though I had heard so much about this book beforehand, unfortunately, it just wasn’t what I was expecting.
I think I was drawn to this mainly because of the academia/ancient Greek element but personally, I feel this fell flat.
Though I think the writing style is good, especially considering the length of the book, I just couldn’t gel with any of the characters.
Although it was an okay read, and one I did see through to the end, but I didn’t find it spectacular.

2 people found this helpful

Gemma

A modern day Greek tragedy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 March 2021

Verified Purchase

⭐: 3.5

📖: Opening: Bunny is dead. His friends have killed him. Then: the chain of events. After: the effects. (And throw in lots of references to the Classics, Greek and Literature).

💭: This is a difficult book to review because I did enjoy it but I don't really know why. I can understand why it is referred to as a modern classic. Although this book was written in the 1990s it reads as if it was written much earlier. Rather than the overall story, I enjoyed the way it was written and the depth of the characters.

If you like books where you can read a quick chapter and stop, this one isn't for you. The book is over 600 pages and there are only 8 chapters! I can imagine lots of people give up on this one.

I could picture the school setting and pompous characters studying Greek, taking drugs and drinking far too much. Lady Macbeth's out damned spot also frequently popped into my mind.....And I disliked Bunny!

Marios

Probably the most boring and self-indulgent book I've ever had the displeasure to read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 April 2022

Verified Purchase

Don't get me wrong, the descriptions and atmosphere portrayed by the writing style draws you in deeply. After the initial fairy dust settles down and you're ready to dig in to the 'meat and potatoes' of the story, you discover after 500+ pages of slow-paced and characterless narration that you are indeed eating burnt toast and you just want it to be over.

3 stars for the writing style and atmosphere building
-2 stars for nothing really happening and main character is more like a ghostly observer than an actual human being.

One person found this helpful

lynn michell

Fabulous first half

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 July 2022

Verified Purchase

A tale of two halves. The first half is fascinating, tantalising and engrossing. After the killing, the narrative loses its purpose and its tension. There are long anecdotes by other characters that add nothing. I have read this book three times, and twice stopped at the end for Part One after skim reading for a while. It's a classic - up til then.

GELM

Ambitious but ultimately unsatisfactory

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 July 2019

Verified Purchase

Intriguing premise but not really living up to its potential. Unsympathetic characters and drawn out, rather clunky plot twists. Occasional flashes of brilliance (hence the 3 stars) , showing how good this could have been but ultimately boiling down to a rather adolescent exploration of the lives of a bunch of narcissistic and pretentious aesthetes one struggles to care for / about.

2 people found this helpful

Partick Potter

Too much effort for the return

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2019

Verified Purchase

I found myself admiring this book more than enjoying it.

The writing is astonishingly good. But the plot and characters (with the exception of Henry) are not strong enough to sustain what is a dense read.

This book requires a significant effort to get to the end but does not, ultimately, provide sufficient reward for that effort.

One person found this helpful

Need customer service? Click here

‹ See all details for The Secret History

5 star		56%
4 star		26%
3 star		11%
2 star		4%
1 star		3%

The Secret History

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

The Secret History

Top positive review

Top critical review

Filtered by

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From Australia

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

From other countries

The Secret History › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

The Secret History

Top positive review

Top critical review

Filtered by

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From Australia

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

From other countries

The Secret History

›

Customer reviews