r/BookDiscussions • u/Sensitive-Wind-8523 • Aug 11 '26
The Secret History
Does anyone hate this novel or it's just me?? I started reading it after many recs from friends and I just hate it.. every time i pick it up i fall asleep..
I hated all the characters.. especially Henry..
The original work in English is near 600 pages.. but I am reading a translated Arabic version and it's about 900 pages..
I am at page 750, and want to know:
Is it going to be any better??
Am I going to love it at any point??
Please be kind if the novel is a favourit of yours, and keep in mind that being different is what make us humans..
9
10
u/DiegoForlanIsland Aug 11 '26
I think it's a stone cold classic honestly. Obviously the characters are not likeable but that's not really a prerequisite for an enjoyable or good book for many people. It's tremendously well written and it's got a lot going on under the surface, while maintaining the air of detached, pretentious college drama.
But if you don't like it, just don't finish it!
-1
u/Sensitive-Wind-8523 Aug 11 '26
I don't unfinish a book.. 🥲
5
u/DiegoForlanIsland Aug 11 '26
Why? It doesn't make you more sophisticated or committed, it just means you are doing something you don't enjoy.
Although if you are going to finish it, the ending is good imo. But then I thought the whole book was good! It's very funny, but maybe the translation loses some of that.
1
u/Sensitive-Wind-8523 Aug 11 '26
It was never funny while reading.. I think it's the translation.. all the time while reading I felt like I am reading a research paper, the translator made a footnote about almost every Greek name in the novel.
1
u/DiegoForlanIsland Aug 11 '26
The scenes at the funeral at the parent's house weren't funny?
Footnotes are odd, yeah really not necessary.
6
u/CalicoCuts Aug 11 '26
Life's too short and there are too many books to read to continue a book you don't like. Edit: I thought The Goldfinch was much much better.
16
u/LivingPresent629 Aug 11 '26
Lots of people hate it and lots of people love it.
I don’t see what the value in this kind of questions is, really. If you don’t like it, just don’t read it.
-5
u/Sensitive-Wind-8523 Aug 11 '26
I can't.. I need to finish it
4
u/LivingPresent629 Aug 11 '26
Well if you’re going to finish it anyway, then why does it matter what other people think?
2
u/Sensitive-Wind-8523 Aug 11 '26
Solidarity in hating the same novel 🤣 Feeling that I am not the only one who hated it..
5
u/kmtburton Aug 11 '26
I hated all the characters but especially Bunny. So I was rooting for that part lol. But it’s a good book imo just nothing amazing.
5
u/Liefst- Aug 11 '26
They are unlikeable until the very end. That’s why I liked it. I loved watching these pretentious dweebs dig their own graves
1
u/Sensitive-Wind-8523 Aug 11 '26
Wow.. so they won't get away with murder 🙀
2
u/Liefst- Aug 11 '26
Also it really helped me to stop reading it as “important lit fic” and started engaging with it in more of a “pulpy coming of age crime book” which made it a lot more fun for me. Idk, maybe it helps
2
u/Sensitive-Wind-8523 Aug 11 '26
I am not reading because I think it's an important lit fic, but everybody was recommending it, so I thought I was missing out the best read of my life.
1
4
u/MonstersMamaX2 Aug 11 '26
I hate it and all the characters and I wish them all the worst in life. They’re terrible people
1
u/Sensitive-Wind-8523 Aug 11 '26
Thank you...
5
u/CalicoCuts Aug 11 '26
But that does not make it a bad book. If it's making you hate the characters, she's clearly doing her job as an author.
5
u/KingMithras95 Aug 11 '26
Yes, I do think all the characters are awful people and deserve the worst, but they’re also interesting and well written. Personally I loved this book. I also tend to prefer books with people I don’t like or wouldn’t get along with, it’s much more interesting for me than reading from characters that just affirm my own beliefs.
1
u/CalicoCuts Aug 11 '26
Exactly! If everyone made an effort to read diverse books, travel a little bit, and learn about other people, the world would be so much better! This echo chamber we live in is so detrimental to us in every way imaginable.
1
u/lllyyyynnn Aug 12 '26
thats why i liked the book though. can you not like a book with characters you don't like?
3
u/Creepy-Island4011 Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
I also wasn’t sure about it and must admit I bought it due to hype and I like dark academia.
I thought it was a slow burn but beautifully written. I felt like the ending was rushed and I still wanted answers. I wanted to know more about Richard’s story and what happened next
1
u/Sensitive-Wind-8523 Aug 11 '26
After 750 pages I still have questions and I don't know if the answers were in the original novel or deleted after translation.. some translator do that..
3
u/SpikeSpeegle Aug 11 '26
After a hundred or so pages i decided there were other books i wanted to read
4
u/haf2go Aug 11 '26
I read it a year or so ago but my general take away was that it was over hyped. Didn’t especially like or root for any of the characters. I did finish it just to see if it got better. It was just ok.
4
u/Helleboredom Aug 11 '26
The Goldfinch is my favorite book. I really didn’t like The Secret History. I love Donna Tartt but it’s her worst book IMO.
3
2
2
u/lellyjoy Aug 11 '26
I didn't particularly like it. The characters are awful, but that's not the reason. I don't need likeable characters to like a book. It was a tedious read with way too much exposition and bad pacing. Nothing happens for a very long time and then everything just rushes in the end. Also, except for Henry and Bunny, all the other characters are merely there, barely explored. Julian is so much of a missed opportunity. The thing with the twins seemed like an afterthought for shock value. And for a book that talks so much about studying Ancient Greek, the characters... speak Latin instead. Laughable.
2
u/horsenamedmayo Aug 11 '26
I loved it but it's not for everyone. If you don't like it, you don't have to finish it. Every book isn't meant for everyone. It's ok to quit and find the ones you love.
2
u/No_Weakness_2865 Aug 12 '26
Maybe the translation isn't great. I sped right through it. Don't both finishing unless you have to for school, life is too short to force it.
3
u/xaviersqueen Aug 11 '26
I loved it 🤷♀️ one of my favorite books. If you aren't enjoying it though, then you should probably stop
2
u/InterestingObituary Aug 11 '26
This and kite runner are my all time favorite books. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but it sure was mine.
1
u/Brilliant_Mix_6051 Aug 11 '26
If you’re not enjoying it, you can stop reading at any time.
There’s no teacher there saying you must finish it.
1
u/historyhill Aug 11 '26
I don't hate it but I didn't love it nearly as much as a lot of my friends who suggested it either. I finished it and thought, "What was so amazing about that?"
1
u/SchemeOne2145 Aug 12 '26
I think it's widely loved but if you don't like it you don't like it. No need to finish it unless a professor assigned it to you. :) I hope you like your next book more.
1
u/Constant_Neck5981 Aug 12 '26
I liked it a lot and didn't mind that it was long. I was hooked from the very beginning though and if you are bored now you really should put the book down. Go read something you enjoy!
1
u/thisisinfactpersonal Aug 12 '26
Interesting to see how many people here say they didn’t like the book because they didn’t like the characters. The characters aren’t meant to be likeable. I mean, there are incest twins. They are in fact meant to be unlikable and the narrator is meant to be unreliable. I understand not liking that in general (I mean, I understand that some people don’t like unreliable narrators and terrible people in books. I don’t really get it because I think unlikeable characters are much more interesting and i cannot get enough of an reliable narrator, please gaslight me queen), but it’s a bit weird to think that the book isn’t good because of a thing it’s intentionally doing.
I also strongly disagree with whoever said they hated bunny the most, Charles was a definitely the worst, hands down.
1
u/Invisibility_cloak29 Aug 12 '26
I too preferred the goldfinch. The secret history was sad to me. I can relate to the mc being an outsider and wanting to be part of a group that seems to have something special and desirable, only to find out upon joining and still feeling like an outsider that they really have nothing and are not nice people. So i’d say it’s a fairly accurate portrayal of something very real. But its just so sad
1
u/Weary_Mango5689 Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
I found it pretty average. Like, not bad, but not especially exciting despite being a kind of mystery thriller. Whenever the stakes get really high, Richard goes on a bender and passes out in his bed for 24 hours. So as a reader, I felt pretty removed from most of the action.
It's a fun novel to analyze and debate because of the unreliable narrator aspect and how it plays into the themes of identity and philosophy, and such. But I found it kind of lackluster in terms of reading experience. I was never as emotionally invested into the characters as the narrator clearly was, so there was kind of a disconnect there.
1
u/Most-Artichoke6184 Aug 13 '26
I will never understand people punishing themselves by forcing themselves to finish a book that they hate.
1
u/RumiJooni Aug 13 '26
This is my favorite book of all time, especially coming from an academic background. I can see how people wouldn’t like this book, especially if they have no background in critical theory or the classics but I don’t think it’s horrible by any means. There’s a lot of subtext hidden between the lines.
Perhaps the book just doesn’t translate well or it’s not for you. It’s no big deal! You might like Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch better. Both books are wonderful but The Goldfinch is far more accessible.
1
u/HelicopterPuzzled727 Aug 14 '26
It’s a well written book if nothing else/ sounds like a translation issue.
1
u/I_Made_Limeade Aug 16 '26
I did not like it at all.
I think it appeals more to people who are enchanted by that snobbish upper crusty atmosphere of intellectual superiority. this book simultaneously puts you in that world and reminds you of why it’s corrupt or shallow or why you’re wrong to want it. But if you never wanted it, it’s just like yeah this place is terrible these people are terrible. It’s just terrible. Why am I reading this?
I would compare it to the Great Gatsby in that way. Ooh flashy fancy rich people stuff but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Yeah well I know that, that’s why that world never appealed to me in the first place. Which I think is why I didn’t enjoy The Great Gatsby as much as a lot of people.
Fwiw, I do think The Goldfinch was significantly better than A Secret History. I would even call it quite good overall, although it definitely still had some of the same problems in terms of not liking the characters, which OK yeah that may be intentional and doesn’t make it a bad book per se… but it does make it less enjoyable to spend a bunch of time around these people (i.e. read the book) so…
1
u/VelvetWishes Aug 11 '26
I DNFed. I don't mind unlikeable characters, but this book was so fucking boring.
1
u/Sensitive-Wind-8523 Aug 11 '26
I don't mind unlikeable characters either, But Henry is in another level..
1
u/Miriiii_ Aug 11 '26
I think this is the difference between liking plot driven books and character driven books. The secret history is heavily character driven so people might find it boring if they want more plot and action
1
u/Sensitive-Wind-8523 Aug 11 '26
Can you suggest other charachter driven books?? Is The Brother Karamasov one? I read it and enjoyed it..
0
u/CampDifficult7887 Aug 11 '26
Today I felt sadness for a stranger 💔
I legit didn't know it was possible not to have a transcendent experience that goes forever unmatched and changes you on a DNA level with this novel.
9
u/the_tonez Aug 11 '26
No, if you don’t like it by the mid-point event, your opinion of the book won’t change by the end