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| Plot Summary of The Secret History |
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"Richard Papen arrives at Hampden College, Vermont, and is quickly seduced by an elite group of five students, all Greek scholars, all wealthy, self-assured, and highly unapproachable. As Richard is drawn into their inner circle, he learns the secret that binds them to one another...a secret about an incident in the woods one night where an ancient rite was brought to brutal life...and led to a gruesome death. Years later Richard reflects on the lengths they were willing to go to keep their secret, eventually leading to the downfall of them all."
CM, Resident Scholar
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"At Hampden College in New England, Californian student Richard Papen decides to study to Classics. The Classics course is taught by well-connected erudite Julian who teaches fatherly a small group of hand-picked students. This clique of students is made up of wealthy trust-funded Henry, rich homosexual Francis, possibly bi-sexual Charles and his pretty twin sister Camilla and Bunny who blags money off them all. Richard is weakly accepted into the group but it isn't until he discovers a terrible secret about the others that he is finally absorbed into the group. The secret is that during a re-enactment of a Greek Bacchanal the others have got so terribly drunk and drugged that during wild hallucinations they have accidentally murdered a local farmer on his own land. Bunny too discovers their secret and begins to taunt them with their guilt to such an extent that the others decide to do away with him. Richard is party to Bunny's cliff top murder and soon begins to suffer the clawing guilt of his murder with the others. The book describes wonderfully the dark awkwardness the murderers suffer in their guilt during the manhunt for Bunny and at his funeral. "
John Marcel, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Secret History |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1980's-1999
Kids growing up/acting up?
Yes
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Wild kid(s)?
- committing crimes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- student
- scholar
Age:
- a teen
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- student
- scholar
Eccentric/Smart/Dumb:
Yes
Eccentric:
- emotionally unstable
- dumb
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an average amount
- a substantial amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 7 ()
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Mountains/Cliffs
Yes
Small town?
Yes
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
Unusual Style:
- a lot of flashback and forwards
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
- significantly more descript than dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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