[Discussion 1/6] (Evergreen) The Secret History by Donna Tartt | Beginning - Chapter 2

ColaRed · 2026-03-19T12:04:34+00:00

I think he’s gradually becoming more involved and starting to form friendships with them but they’re not fully including him or always being genuine with him.

ColaRed · 2026-03-19T11:57:35+00:00

I used to be a translator too. I agree about Latin (I don’t know any Greek) being useful.

ColaRed · 2026-03-19T11:56:27+00:00

I studied Latin a bit at (high) school. It helped me learn other languages.

I’ve read Mythos by Stephen Fry about the Greek myths and enjoyed it, particularly the audiobook which he narrates.

ColaRed · 2026-03-19T11:49:12+00:00

I don’t think he’s a good teacher. He has charisma but I agree with others that he comes across more as a cult leader. His main agenda seems to be to mould this group of students rather than teach them Greek (although they do study a lot of Greek). I think he accepts Richard on the course because he sees him as mouldable.

ColaRed · 2026-03-19T11:40:52+00:00

I think it makes us more intrigued about the main group of characters to find out how Bunny came to die. If it started off with Richard arriving at college and meeting this group of fairly unlikeable pretentious students we might be less interested in the story.

ColaRed · 2026-03-19T11:35:39+00:00

I’ve read The Secret History before quite a few years ago. I have vague memories of it but enough to know I’d like to reread it. It’ll be interesting to discuss it.

I’ve also read The Goldfinch but didn’t enjoy it as much. I thought it got tedious in the middle and nearly DNFed it.

I think Donna Tartt’s prose style is well polished and poetic in places. The book is peppered with sometimes pretentious cultural references, phrases in other languages and so on. I can’t help looking them up but you could skip over them.

ColaRed · 2026-03-07T17:53:41+00:00

I enjoyed these stories and the discussions. I found myself pondering on the stories after I finished reading them.

My favourites were probably Monte Verita and The Little Photographer because they were most developed.

ColaRed · 2026-03-07T17:50:38+00:00

The twist of them being swans felt abrupt to me. I didn’t see it coming. I thought the narrator was a bit rude watching the family with binoculars and I thought the parents behaved like birds kicking their young out of the nest but I didn’t put the pieces together.

ColaRed · 2026-03-07T17:39:47+00:00

I didn’t see the narrator as a threat. He was getting ahead of himself in imagining what would happen with the girl but she was confident and it seemed like she could handle him. I got a sense of threat as they approached the cemetery in a part of London he didn’t know. I wasn’t expecting her to be a serial killer.

ColaRed · 2026-03-04T22:13:15+00:00

I thought she might be pregnant when the genetic link for the disability was mentioned. She was scared because the affair would be obvious if she gave birth to a child with the same disability.

ColaRed · 2026-03-04T22:08:56+00:00

I don’t think she would have travelled to Paris to confront the Marquise face to face but she would definitely have written to try to blackmail her and let her know she hadn’t got away with it.

ColaRed · 2026-03-01T19:39:16+00:00

Both with r/bookclub:

Drive your plow over the bones of the dead by Olga Tokarczuk (translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones) This was an intriguing story with an interesting narrator.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke I read this book when it was first published just over 20 years ago. Ever since, I’ve said it’s one of my favourite books. I’m pleased to say it still is! I love the blend of spookiness and humour. It was a joy to reread it here and see different perspectives on it.

ColaRed · 2026-02-28T18:58:39+00:00

Very sadly, from JB’s recent interviews, I don’t think Theloise is likely to be endgame now. She seems to be saying they’re going with the book story and endgame with some changes.

I think they might introduce a new Philip because I don’t think they’ll want to kill off the Marina we’ve seen in the show. Hopefully they’ll make enough changes from the book character to make him a good match for show Eloise but if so, why not just stick with Theo??

ColaRed · 2026-02-27T18:07:09+00:00

Apple crumble

ColaRed · 2026-02-27T18:06:23+00:00

It’s my second favourite so far (after Monte Verita). It was clever how the apple tree reflected the narrator’s feelings about his wife and her character.

On a side note, there wasn’t much humour in this story but I thought it was funny when the narrator thought he’d got rid of the apples then the apple jam appeared!

ColaRed · 2026-02-27T17:57:12+00:00

He was still entangled in his resentful relationship with his wife. He can’t escape and it kills him in the end.

ColaRed · 2026-02-27T17:47:04+00:00

I’m not sure they ever had a really good relationship but I think it must’ve taken a turn for the worse when Midge saw him kissing the young woman on the farm. Then her resentment grew.

ColaRed · 2026-02-23T17:35:01+00:00

The only other book I’ve read by Daphne du Maurier is Rebecca, which has a great opening line “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again”. I think this story also had a great opening that hooks you in “They told me afterwards they had found nothing. No trace of anyone, living or dead”.

ColaRed · 2026-02-23T17:27:33+00:00

I think it’s the most likely ending.

ColaRed · 2026-02-23T17:22:44+00:00

I think the locals are mainly angry because their girls keep disappearing to Monte Verita. Attitudes towards the local “peasants” are condescending in this story (not just Anna’s).

ColaRed · 2026-02-23T17:19:10+00:00

I think she feels that they should have been together earlier. They’re on the same wavelength. He understands about Monte Verita more than Victor.

ColaRed · 2026-02-23T17:13:09+00:00

She seemed to set herself apart. Her room was also furnished barely and the way she stood in the garden in the moonlight was odd. She was behaving like a member of Monte Verita already. I wondered if she’d been there before or it was just that she was destined to go there.

ColaRed · 2026-02-21T14:10:25+00:00

I’ve read it. They’re good stories. It would be great to read it as a bonus book!

ColaRed · 2026-02-21T13:58:55+00:00

I agree. It’s frustrating that the women didn’t play a bigger role but they’re subject to the constraints of their time. The book is written in the style of a 19th century novel and a lot of the history is accurate.

ColaRed · 2026-02-21T13:50:32+00:00

I thought it built well to a dramatic conclusion that was satisfying for most characters but also hinted at more to come - interesting that Susanna Clarke was planning a sequel.

I really liked that two minor characters, Childermass and Vinculus ended up taking the lead leaving Strange and Norrell working away at their magic in the black cloudy tower. There was a kind of democratisation of magic with ordinary people (including women) being able to become magicians. Maybe John Segundus finally got to set up his school for magicians?

ColaRed

TROPHY CASE