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New England Autumn... time to pick up The Secret History again

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TSH spoilers:

I feel like we as a fandom do not talk about Henry’s symbolism in TSH enough. Like, that dude is the literal embodiment of death, and I just think it’s so damn cool. I mean, his whole obsession with language and literature stemmed from the fact that he almost died in a car accident. And then every death we see in the book (the farmer’s, Bunny’s, and his very own) is directly at his hands. The others were accomplices, sure, but Henry’s the one who takes action every time. And in Francis’s failed suicide and Richard’s near death in the epilogue, they both see Henry, not Bunny or Charles or what have you.

Henry is not only obsessed with death, he IS death. He’s the reaper who’s friends toy with their mortality all the time through drugs and booze. The reason they all admire him is not only because of his size and stature and brilliance; it’s because he’s dangerous. If beauty is indeed terror, than he’s the most beautiful of them all. They all have the life preservation skills of a fly, so of course they love Henry. And of course his actions constantly bring them closer to danger and death.

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One of the most important things for me in The Secret History, is the comparison between the Dyonisian and Apollonian roots.

I shall starty rumbling with providing their descriptions, according to Nietzsche and his The Birth of Tragedy:

Apollonian represents all types of form or structure. It is about rational thought also.

Dyonisian covers the forms of enthusiasm and ecstasy. It is drunkenness and madness.

How I see it represented in TSH?

Well, not really hard to point immediately one thing - the Dyonisian ritual itself. That is what we talk about, when we say «Oh, that's some Dyonisian type of shit here». This ritual is all about loosing oneself in order to see THE Dyonis. It's brutal, its ruthless, it's even bloody. All 4 of them end up covered in literal human blood of the man they killed.

The whole dynamic of the group is also rather Dyonisian. Henry indeed tries hard to be all that rational and cold-blooded person, but at the end of the day, he's the one who got so excited after learning about the ritual, that he decided to took it upon himself to try.

The group? They agree to try. Rather they're all intimidated by Henry, or interested themselves. After the ritual they did quite awoke their primal instincts, that are so Dyonisian.

Each of them even is a person who does not oppose any desires. Bunny? Oh please, he is a litteral embodiment of Dyonis. The twins? Yep, guilty as charged, though Camilla tries to hold back (or Richard just romanticises her, hm?). Francis? Sorry love, but yes, that's what money and an absent parent did to you.

Opposed to this world, very small and limited in population I must say, is literally everthing around them. And everyone. Our lovely Richard not-so-reliable-narrator Papen is the epitome of the Apollonian. He is rather reserved person, who took control of himself to get into the college And after everything that happened he gathered himself to actually finish the education. His hometown, Plano, is a very structured place, as we gather along the way. The Papens are like that too, pure resemblance. And Richard tries so hard to leave it behind him and loosen himself a bit. Dropping out of the medical college? Check. Going to study humanities? Check. Joining a questionable Greek class? Check. Becoming an accomplice to murder? Count him in!

Richard is enamoured by the idea of letting go, but he will never let go of that Apollonian part of him. It is just in his upbringing, one cannot easily get rid of it.

The thing about the Dyonisian and Apollonian is that they do quite work together, however the clash may be destructive. Richard, who actually got associated with all of the group, who portrais everything we know about the Dyonisian, is mentally destructed in the end.

Francis, Camilla and Charles also did have at least an ounce of Apollonian, so they're alive, yes. But good Lord, are they destroyed.

But still, the clash is also the source of creativity. Richard's repentance is incredibly beautifully formulated and written.

We don't really get the look on what the others have created, maybe (a series of novels from Camilla sounds nice, actually), but I sure hope that the clash created something extraordinarily amazing for them. They got their punishment already, let them live.

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Donna Tartt is a genius and I feel like tsh fandom has it kinda wrong

while reading The Secret History there’s a specific passage that has stuck out to me every time and it’s pages 510-512. Richard essentially stops the story to reflect on Julian as a person, as a real person. 

the writing here is beautiful but something about it seems important. 

to sum it up, Richard comes to the conclusion that Julian’s problem (fatal flaw if you will) is that he ignores bad things to focus on good things (paraphrasing obviously). Specifically Richard keeps talking about Julian’s fascination with beauty. 

Now if you just decide to trust Richard you could be like “yeah ok makes sense.”

but why the fuck would you trust richard

The most famous quote of the book comes from (as far as I can remember) the only scene in which we get an in depth look into what the hell actually goes on in the classics class. 

“Death is the mother of beauty,” said Henry. 

“And what is beauty?”

“Terror.” 

“Well said,” said Julian. “Beauty is rarely soft or consolatory. Quite the contrary. Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.

so he’s literally doing the exact opposite of what richard said lol

he’s not ignoring horrific parts of things he’s embracing them as the fundamentally driving force of their beauty. 

So richard is wrong (and no one is surprised) 

there’s more passages of julian basically being like “violence and death is hot!” but we don’t need to go over that it’s pages 38-39. 

I think this is particularly interesting because it shows that even in reflecting over julian in hindsight richard is still, in a way, under his spell.

When you read the book under the premise that julian is an extremely privileged man who spreads his beliefs of tragedy being beautiful, to privileged youth who have never experienced such tragedy and are people longing for a sense of beauty, this all makes a lot more sense.

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10 Times Camilla and Henry Were Obviously a Couple Before (anyone knew) They Were a Couple

Page numbers are from the April 2004 Vintage Contemporaries paperback published in the U.S.

10. There was a brief silence after she had finished; rather to my surprise, Henry winked solemnly at her from across the table. (p. 38)

9. “Henry, I wish you’d put me down. I’m too heavy for you.”   He smiled at her. There was a slight chip in one of his front teeth I’d never noticed before; it gave his smile a very engaging quality. “You’re light as a feather, he said.” (p. 98)

8. “What do you and Henry need a secret code for?”   “It’s not a secret.”   “Then why didn’t you tell me?”   “Charles, don’t be such a baby.” (p. 248)

7. Henry took the box from her and struck one himself; it flared up high and strong and she leaned close to it, one hand cupped around the flame and the other resting upon his wrist. (p. 309) Note: This is such a favorite of mine because it seems like such a tiny thing, but there’s a section break right after this—so we’re meant to focus on Camilla’s hand resting on Henry’s wrist, and on the act of lighting someone’s cigarette for them: an action that’s totally casual and yet remarkably intimate.

6.  Henry was distracted. The FBI had paid him another visit the night before—what they wanted he didn’t say—and he was talking on and on in a low voice about Schliemann’s Ilios…   …She hadn’t been there when I brought Charles home, and she looked like she’d just got out of bed herself; tousle-haired, no lipstick, wearing a gray wool sweater that came down past her wrists. (p. 369) Note: We find out later from Charles that Henry was so distraught that morning because he was “almost sure he was going to be arrested.” Charles also says that Camilla had no idea that Henry (and Charles himself) were in so much trouble. I very much doubt that: It’s almost certain that Camilla was with Henry all night. Was this the first time they slept together? I don’t know, but just two pages later, we get this:

5. “Leave me alone,” he muttered, seizing Camilla by the wrist and trying to push through to the door. (p. 371) Note: There’s only one other time Henry has been physically protective of Camilla, and that was at the lake when she cut her foot—a scene that Tartt obviously considered important enough to spend nearly four pages on. But is Henry shielding Camilla here, or reaching out to her as a lifeline? Either way, it’s a visible continuation of whatever went on between the two of them the night before.

4. “…I’ve heard her talking on the phone.”   “And saying what?”   “Oh nothing, but like two or three in the morning, whispering, you’ve got to wonder.” (p. 399)

3. “Do you suppose Henry’s all right?”   “Oh, he’s fine,” said Camilla, busy with knife and fork.   “How do you know?”   She paused, the fork in mid-air; her glance was like a light turned suddenly into my face. “Because I just saw him.”   “Where?”   “At his apartment. This morning.” (p. 425-426)

2. The twins weren’t like Henry; if they were home, they would generally answer the phone. But no one did answer, I dialed again and glanced at my watch. Eleven-twenty. I couldn’t think where Camilla would be that time of night. (p. 428)

1. …it wasn’t that though, but something else, indefinable, that somehow had changed since I had seen him last…   Henry glanced up. “Salve, amice,” he said, and a subtle animation flickered in his rigid features, usually so locked up, and distant…   “You look well,” I said to him, and he did. (p. 429)

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No no hear me out.

You can draw lots of parallels between Julian Morrow and Lord Henry Wotton

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I suppose it’s time to talk about Henry Winter. Or at least, how Henry’s part in The Secret History ends. I’m going to put this behind a cut to avoid spoiling anyone who hasn’t finished the book yet. This is going to get very long and snooty and pseudo-intellectual so either skip it altogether or go put on some tweed, make yourself a cup of tea, and light a candle or a…pipe, or whatever.

Keep reading

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I have never understood anything quite like the first line in chapter one of The Secret History. Richard is right, we are fatally flawed, almost to the point of it becoming lethal, but what he doesn't tell you is how long it takes you to realize it for yourself.

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Yes yes, we all admire and appreciate and imitate Faulkner. It's all fun and games until you actually have to read his book

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academic validation is nice, but nothing fuels my superiority complex as much as reading media reviews by people who completely missed the point

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If I hadn't read The Secret History I would be mentally stable. But I choose being hot over my mental stability.

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When Donna Tartt dies I will research everything about summoning ghosts. And after I meet her, I will beg her to tell me what Henry whispered to Camilla before he died. I don't give a shit if she haunts me for the rest of my life for it. I WILL make a deal with the devil. Donna please tell us *sobbing*

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Albert Camus has been one of my favorite readings during my youth, and actually, he's still.

The brilliant illustrator and cartoonist R. Sikoryak,- created some excellent sharp cartoon parodies from world literature, - and one of these is Action Camus, - a really singular superheroe.

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Ah, that time I said "The Secret History won't ruin my life, I'm different."

And then the minute I finished the damn thing, I went and got myself a glass of gin.

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Just think about the fact that Henry rented the most expensive hotel room for Camilla, gave her a false identity and moved in with her, just so she would be away from her abusive brother.

And let's not forget the fact that he carried her bride style while her blood dripped down his pants and he did not care one bit.

And then people ask me why my standards are so high.

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you: murder

Henry Winter, actually an intellectual: Redistribution of matter