The Secret History in Pop Sugar's Annual Ultimate Reading Challenge

Feb 10, 2015 Jill Bonham rated it liked it

3.5 stars for me. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't like the book better, based on all the good reviews. First of all-what I liked. The writing was beautiful. I highlighted a lot of passages that had really great imagery. For example..... "As I lay on my side, staring at a pool of white moonlight on the wooden floor, a gust of wind blew the curtains out, long and pale as ghosts. As though an invisible hand were leafing through them, the pages of the Parmenides rippled back and forth". The 3.5 stars for me. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't like the book better, based on all the good reviews. First of all-what I liked. The writing was beautiful. I highlighted a lot of passages that had really great imagery. For example..... "As I lay on my side, staring at a pool of white moonlight on the wooden floor, a gust of wind blew the curtains out, long and pale as ghosts. As though an invisible hand were leafing through them, the pages of the Parmenides rippled back and forth". The writing has a gothic feel to it, it reminded me of when I read Rebecca, and I felt a bit seduced by it. Even though you know what happened from the beginning the book has tension and mystery to it. Richard, our narrator is a bit of an outsider so you feel like your not really getting the whole story. Also, it's one of those instances where you don't know how reliable our narrator really is because of his biases and naivety. The worst part (best part) is how as the reader, you become sympathetic to the characters, even after the horrible things they did. It is interesting to think , what would I have done at a young impressionable age, under the influence of such strong personalities? And then there is Henry. Is he good? Is he bad? For the majority of the book I actually felt he was good. he was that one friend you have that takes charge, makes sure everything will be all right. Stays calm, says the right thing. Makes you feel safe. It wasn't really until the last 10% that I started to think maybe he was a psychopath. Maybe he wasn't just taking charge, he was actually manipulating everything and everyone. Then there is Julian. Is he good? Is he bad? I was a bit disappointed in the development of this character. The book description had me thinking this group was led, influenced, coerced by this teacher, when in fact, he wasn't directly involved in pretty much the entire plot. And at the end, he is portrayed as sort of sinister and potentially evil, which wasn't really supported in the book. Finally, I've read reviews saying the book was about how these young elitist kids who didn't care about what they had done. How they were selfish and had no morals. I thought it was more about how they broke down and were ridden by guilt and remorse and self destructive behaviour because of what they did. They thought they were saving themselves, but in reality, they were punished by their regret. (except for Richard, who seemed to not carry as much guilt because he was only peripherally involved-which kind of bugs me)

Now for what I didn't like. The book is slow and parts would drag on and on and a few times I grew bored and wasn't sure if I wanted to go on. I didn't like all the drugs, alcohol, and talk about it all. curiously, these were also what I didn't like about The Goldfinch. although there were a lot of things I enjoyed, and it does make you think about the morals of things, I don't think I would recommend to friends, and I don't think I'll read more from this author. ...more

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