The Secret History by Donna Tartt

This book seemed promising as it seemed to digress from the usual type of books I've been reading from The List. Thriller, murder-mystery and Ancient Greek.

The Secret History can be (and has been) described as a page-turner. Yes, it was more exciting than typical "Important Book" fare but I was able to walk away partly through it to read other books (The Road, Suite Francaise) that weren't on my list. That fact, I think, is more a testament to the author's writing rather than to my renowned self control (yes, I do exercise it occasionally).

The book reminded me too much of Special Topics in Calamity Physics and that affected my appreciation of it. Admittedly, The Secret History was written over 10 years before Calamity and it's likely to have served as research material for the latter. Nonetheless, I could not help draw comparisons between the two.

History is a murder mystery set in a small college in Vermont and revolves around Richard (poor boy on scholarship from California) and his new friends (eccentric classmates from a very small, exclusive ancient Greek class).

Yes, the writing was quite good, character development was extensive (albeit unconvincing in some) and the pace was well set. However, the book had a tendency to ramble, the plot had inconsistencies here and there, and the central characters were not at all likeable (not that they have to be, really, but I like to root for my characters).

All in all, a good first effort from a writer. It still leaves me wondering why this (instead of a number of other better books) was included in The List. Yes, it's better than ordinary fare (The Nanny Diaries, for one. God help me, I broke down and read the damn book because of the upcoming movie starring Scarlett Johanssen. Book was BAD.) but nowhere near the best.