Shush! I’m Recreating a Bacchanal Here: The Book List

Another day, another edition of the book list.

So we descend into the cloistered world of Vermont, at a college that’s defined as top-notch and yet admits students that are sub-par or never graduated high school. Published in the early 90s and written by Donna Tartt, The Secret History came as a recommendation after I did a search on Barnes and Noble.com for Paullina Simons’ Red Leaves, which I read way back in the mid-90s. Defined by many outlets as a murder mystery, The Secret History seemed to me to be anything but. There is a murder, of course, but we know right away who did it. We don’t know why they did it, but the reader builds to that purposefully. It is a tragic story, not easily defined by the labels used in the publishing world or in pop culture. The motifs of a Greek tragedy stand out, and given how entwined its characters and plot are with the classics, it can almost be defined as a Greek tragedy out of time.

Centered on six students at Hampden College who are classics students under the engaging Julian Morrow, the book was Tartt’s first novel and a bestseller. Richard Papen, a transfer student from California, is the novel’s narrator, and sixth and final member of the group, joining it after helping the others with a particularly difficult Greek translation. With some advice from the students (Henry, twins Charles and Camilla, Francis, and the terribly annoying yet doomed Bunny [Edmund]), the narrator impresses Julian in their first meeting as potential professor and student, and is given entry into the classics program from which he had previously been denied entry since the program was full according to Julian.

Upon his admission to the group, Richard is privy to a world where lofty intellectualism and privilege dominate even as a couple of members are not as well off in both areas as the others. The group’s dynamics are convoluted, incestuous, and ultimately murderous, but there is an almost alarming appeal to being part of a group so dedicated to their area of study that they actually try to recreate an ancient mystic ritual, the bacchanal (and, uh, mess up badly in the, uh, execution of it, and leads to all their subsequent troubles). Tartt’s writing is splendid, though having seen how far some people can take their studies, she did not have to convince me that such dedication to authenticity exists.

The very weird and delightful thing about Tartt’s writing was that I wasn’t exactly sure, at first, what time period the students were supposed to be in. It’s written in a very pseudo-Victorian-into-Modern literary style, and while that might normally turn off this medievalist, it worked for this novel. I finally came to realize what the time period was when choice drugs were introduced and some music was discussed—at first I thought that it was the 1920s, then the 1960s when references to hippies were mentioned, and finally came to the 1980s as lines of coke sprung onto the stage. However, Julian’s students, being so focused on the past, gave an air of times past—and it fit perfectly with their relatively oddball personalities and field of choice.

I disagree with a few reviews out there, primarily on the character of Henry. Henry, because of his role as leader of the students, was said to be a very sinister character—I differ in my opinion of him. Of course, as instigator of the bacchanal and the events that stem from that night, he is not an innocent character. He is not redeemable, either, but he is sympathetic. He cared for his friends—as evidenced by a few instances involving Camilla and Richard—but his obsession with bringing the past to his time leads to a corruption of the same friends and a needed downfall. His is a character richly developed but swathed in shadows—you never truly know Henry as his conversations with Richard seldom border on the intimate. However, even after all that happens, you sense love and something like respect emanating from the other students towards Henry. There is something otherworldly about him, and you can’t help walking away wishing you knew more. Unreadable and formal, Henry’s accomplishment of being able to let go leads to disastrous results for all involved; he is not justifying it, but is pleased that he has, finally, lived.

Tartt’s novel is the type of novel I always wished to write, but am unable to do so. Suffused with knowledge, amazing characterization and a sound plot. Alas, I’m not that terrific of a writer. However, those who can’t, read.

And continue to read I shall, as I’m now tackling Lynda Mugglestone’s Lost for Words: Hidden History of Oxford English Dictionary. So far a very engaging and scholarly work, I couldn’t help giggling like crazy when I read about instances of letters of the alphabet being completely lost. There is something very tickling about James Murray writing incredulously to Frederick Furnivall about the letter “Q” missing and asking if Furnivall will at least start a hunt for it. I’m sure Dr. Murray did not find it amusing at the time at all, though.

All right, then! Onto the book list!

Finished:

1) Love Is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
2) Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Loveby Dava Sobel
3) Helen of Troy by Margaret George
4) Writing Ann Arbor: A Literary Anthology Edited by Laurence Goldstein
5) You Suck: A Love Story by Christopher Moore
6) Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story by Christopher Moore
7) The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 by Christopher Moore
8) Radio On: A Listener’s Diary by Sarah Vowell
9) Evolving God: A Provocative View on the Origins of Religion by Barbara J. King
10) The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Re-read:

1) Vertical Run by Joseph R. Garber

Currently Reading:

1) Lost for Words: Hidden History of Oxford English Dictionary by Lynda Mugglestone

Waiting To Be Read (Already Purchased, Got as Gifts, Borrowed from My Boyfriend, or Otherwise Accessible without the Use of Funds, But Not an Assurance That I Will Read These Before I Buy More Books):

1) Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro by Zachary M. Schrag
2) College Girls: Bluestockings, Sex Kittens, and Co-Eds, Then and Now by Lynn Peril