Athena

❝Hi. It's me. The pathological people-pleaser.❞   she/her | A.R.M.Y | Dreamer | PROcrastinator | Swiftie | Kdramas | Bookworm |

[rockrosethistle]

Despite the biblical allusions absolutely LITTERED throughout The Secret History, as far as I can tell, the actual devil is brought up only three times throughout the whole book.

Every time, it's in reference to Henry.

The first time is when Richard is talking to that girl at a party and brings up the greek class. She tells him she heard that they "worship the fucking devil." Who's in the greek class? Henry.

The second time is at the lake just before Camilla cuts open her foot. Henry is described as "Satan, listening to the wild ravings of a desert prophet."

The last time is when Mr. Corcoran (?) says "speak of the Devil" in reference to Henry entering a room. This phrase is used no where else in the entire book.

This is coupled with the fact that Donna Tartt went out of her way to have Richard state "the Greeks have no devil." They do. It's Henry.

[daviddcorenswet]

richard papen choosing to almost freeze to death rather than asking for help was the most relatable thing he ever did. in this essay i will

[rockrosethistle]

Underrated portion of TSH: the scene where Richard and Francis tag team wrestle a stray cat into a towel while Charles cheers them on, and then hand the cat burrito to Charles and say “don’t let it get away.” And Charles immediately lets it get away, and Francis almost crashes his car and then the cat shits on Richard.

[irixri]

richard at the beginning of the book: omg we are gonna be friends forever!!!!!!

richard at the ending: omg we are gonna be friends forever…..

[at-the-end-of-all]

when donna tartt in the secret history said “even more terrible, as we grow older, to learn that no person, no matter how beloved, can ever truly understand us” i fell to the floor and started sobbing and bleeding everywhere

[mercutio-of-escalus]

still thinking about how donna tartt executed the concept of having no moral binary in her characters so well. when you first read the secret history your desire is to place henry, francis, and camillia in the right. and that would work, except that henry is so obessed with the aesthetic of perfection and of the intellectual that he has lost his moral compass altogether. francis is so attached to his wealthy, comfortable lifestyle that he'd rather sacrifice his own well-being and desire in order to maintain it. camilla knows the implications of the wrongdoing that she and the others have committed, but she doesn't change her behavior or try to solve the situation, because that would disrupt the order she is trying her hardest to maintain. ultimately, they are all iredeemable, both for their own faults and for their participation in bunny's murder, and that's exactly what makes the novel as thematically nuanced as it is.

[thaliasthunder]

there's a moment in every girl's life when she decides to entrust and devote her entire existence to a fictional character, just like the lord demands. i think that's really beautiful, nature working its ways <3

[tarttisart]

I looked up what ferns symbolized because Donna makes such a point of including them surrounding Bunny's death - Henry saying, "Why, looking for ferns," before pushing him, Bunny's mother receiving ferns after he's died, and so forth, and I am completely breathless at knowing that they symbolize ETERNAL YOUTH. no wonder they surround Bunny's death - he will be twenty-four forever. This, paired with Bunny's declaration at the beginning of wanting to "live forever," is absolutely chilling.

[thaliasthunder]

"would you still love your favorite character if they did [cruellest shit you've ever heard]?" baby you dont wanna know how far my love would go for that mf

[vielaesque]

comedy peaked when francis and camilla tried killing a wasp but failed, so charles slapped it dead with a bible in the middle of a memorial service for their friend whom they had just killed.

[to-the-moon-and-neverback]

The secret history becomes 10 times funnier when you realise that it took place in the 80s. I mean imagine how pretentious they must've looked looking like

in a society looking like

No wonder why no one else spoke to them

[brilliantbookend]

Re-reading books is great and good until it’s The Secret History by Donna Tartt and you realize that within Julian’s first lecture we are witness to he speaks of Tiberius, a flawed Emperor held in disdain by his people, partially on the account he followed Augustus- a savior, a god. He spent his life striving to life up to his predecessors name and when he couldn’t, he indulged his perversions in an effort to feel something, but ultimately “died, old and mad, lost in the pleasure gardens of Capri: not even happy there, as one might hope, but miserable.”

Re-reading books is great and good until it’s The Secret History by Donna Tartt and you realize that just like Tiberius tried to follow in Augustus’s footsteps, Henry tried to follow in Julian’s. You see Richard’s focus shift from Julian- who was at first a savior, a god- to Henry, a flawed student of his who, at his end, is held in disdain by the majority of his closest friends and is lost in the indulgence of his own perversions- his attempts (and, arguable, success) to finally live without thinking.

Re-reading books is great and good until it’s The Secret History by Donna Tartt and you get to the part where Richard asks Henry in his dream, “are you happy here?” And Henry responds, “Not particularly” and you realize that Henry, like Tiberius, had never known peace or happiness in life and certainly not in death and you were warned about it in Julian’s first lecture.

[welivetodream]

Richard's unhinged energy is the most entertaining part for me beside the murders. Like the guy is an inspiration for chaotic people. He lies about his family life, pretends his rich father has business in oil (who irl has a petrol pump), lies to his part time employer to get money, goes on a 90s teen movie shopping spree, takes any free item from Judy, lies about going to a prep school, lives on a diet of wine and more wine, takes any pill anyone gives him, joins a cultish greek gang, lets Bunny die an aesthetically pleasing death and not to forget.....does cocaine in the parking lot of Burger King.

[pinkbowmuse-deactivated20250104]

the book worm urge to buy all the pretty classic covers of all the books you want.

[mercutio-of-escalus]

reading books like the secret history is always such a wild ride, because i'm fully aware that it's a criticism of aesthetic hedonism and the elitism of academia, and then i'll read a line like " if we are strong enough in our souls we can rip away the veil and look at that naked, terrible beauty right in the face; let God consume us, devour us, unstring our bones. then spit us out reborn" and i go absolutely fucking feral.

[the-four-pillars-of-welton]

the secret history is so wild. like there's a hundred different analysis essays you could write about it and it's meaning and whatnot. but there's also a genius who thinks of elaborate ways to kill someone but didn't know or believe that the moon landing happened. they pull off the murder of their classmate and don't get caught. they try to hit a wasp with a prayer book during said classmate's funeral service. the unreliable narrator does cocaine in a burger king parking lot. said unreliable narrator lives in a hippie's house that has a hole in the roof in a vermont winter and doesn't realize it's literally killing him. the absolute hilarious unhinged energy from this book is overshadowed by a writing style where the most batshit things seem almost mundane. i love it.

[bubmyg]

the army who yoongi got the entire venue to sing happy bday to last night shared her experience n tell me why it made me tear up this tour has been full of so much genuine love and joy for the artist and the fans it makes me soooo happy :’-)

[bubmyg]

cred. :’-)