By Donna Tartt
[Truly deserving of the accolade Modern Classic,
Donna Tartt's novel is a remarkable achievement - both
compelling and elegant, dramatic and playful.
Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a
group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college
discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from
the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they
go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are
changed profoundly and for ever.]
Apologies for the lack of posts last week, I decided to take an unexpected break.
I went home for a few days on Wednesday night until Saturday, saw some family and packed up my room (it's getting new carpet put in there) and then Sunday I literally watched the majority of season 4 of The Walking Dead!
Fun times.
Anyway, I've been doing grand on my reading goal so far this year but this one was one of the last I read at the tail end of last year.
I found myself wanting to read something different for a change as I always tend to stray towards fantasy or YA. My dad suggested this to me one time when we were in Foyles.
I was hesitant at first because - obviously - this was out of my usual comfort-zone-genre, but I quickly grew to love it.
There's no beating about the bush, the murder victim and the murderer(s) are stated in the first few pages which begs to differ, how the hell was this over 600 pages long? But it gripped me more than I thought it would.
To start with, Richard as a protagonist was a fantastic character. I empathised with him when everything started to fall apart and really felt like I could relate with him even though I've never had to deal with anything he had to go through. He wanted so bad to join this illustrious group of students studying the classics, yet when he finally got in, he had no idea what he was letting himself in for.
The other five main characters were quirky and strange but they grew on you as their characters developed. I particularly liked the twins - Charles and Camilla. I even liked Bunny for the most part, even if he was quite a detestable character in the end.
The plot was refreshing, clearly told from a future Richard looking back on his time at school, recounting his tales. There are obviously the odd little bits left out as he was also left out of them at the time. But I have to say, the ending caught me completely off guard. I don't know how I thought it would end but it certainly wasn't what I expected.
A surprisingly great read and one I would definitely re-read time and time again.
☽
[Truly deserving of the accolade Modern Classic,
Donna Tartt's novel is a remarkable achievement - both
compelling and elegant, dramatic and playful.
Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a
group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college
discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from
the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they
go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are
changed profoundly and for ever.]
Apologies for the lack of posts last week, I decided to take an unexpected break.
I went home for a few days on Wednesday night until Saturday, saw some family and packed up my room (it's getting new carpet put in there) and then Sunday I literally watched the majority of season 4 of The Walking Dead!
Fun times.
Anyway, I've been doing grand on my reading goal so far this year but this one was one of the last I read at the tail end of last year.
I found myself wanting to read something different for a change as I always tend to stray towards fantasy or YA. My dad suggested this to me one time when we were in Foyles.
I was hesitant at first because - obviously - this was out of my usual comfort-zone-genre, but I quickly grew to love it.
There's no beating about the bush, the murder victim and the murderer(s) are stated in the first few pages which begs to differ, how the hell was this over 600 pages long? But it gripped me more than I thought it would.
To start with, Richard as a protagonist was a fantastic character. I empathised with him when everything started to fall apart and really felt like I could relate with him even though I've never had to deal with anything he had to go through. He wanted so bad to join this illustrious group of students studying the classics, yet when he finally got in, he had no idea what he was letting himself in for.
The other five main characters were quirky and strange but they grew on you as their characters developed. I particularly liked the twins - Charles and Camilla. I even liked Bunny for the most part, even if he was quite a detestable character in the end.
The plot was refreshing, clearly told from a future Richard looking back on his time at school, recounting his tales. There are obviously the odd little bits left out as he was also left out of them at the time. But I have to say, the ending caught me completely off guard. I don't know how I thought it would end but it certainly wasn't what I expected.
A surprisingly great read and one I would definitely re-read time and time again.
☽
