I've seen so many people telling that the book was amazing, slow yet very interesting and the sort of book you like to read on cosy autumnal days. I started it, yet fearing to be bored by it if nothing really big was happening in this story. I run from books that takes ages to start and are just too slow. Well, this book has a really slow pacing, it takes its time. And somehow, it’s amazing this way. I could not tell you why, it’s just good. Very good. I understand now what the other were saying about this book. 

The Secret History is set in Vermont, starting during fall. The setting is beyond what I was expecting. There is a certain atmosphere to it, right from the beginning. We follow 6 students taking only Greek classes. They seem like the elite, yet, despite being privileged, they felt more like outsiders. And then one day, something happens. Something that changes everything, yet very little. 

 

 

The protagonist, Richard, tells us the story from his older point of view. We are taking back into the past during his student years. He automatically feels like an outsider himself to the group, being the last one entering this little clan, yet he also belongs. He is quiet, trustworthy, loyal. He doesn’t take much place to be honest, he is just there. He is accepted by the other, but they don’t take him in in everything. It is quite disturbing, with a sort of moral superiority. Richard feels like he is younger, less experimented and not as rich as the other. And by this, it feels like he could never belong. 

In this book, the line between right or wrong is sometimes blurred. Some actions and speech could revolt you, but the way everything is described, you just keep reading until you can’t stop reading the bloody thing. It is outrageous, but you love it. They treat each other like best friends, brothers or like garbage. Everything is disturbing, yet somehow very quiet. 

This book is hard to describe, but it is one of the best I’ve read this year in terms of writing and plot. It’s now a classic, and I really understand why this book received so many praises.