Donna Tartt Tsh - Tumblr Posts
I'm sorry I swear I really was trying not to reread tsh for the 4th time this year.
“Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.”
— Winston Churchill
Macaulay twins & Thackeray
A nod to Vanity Fair in chpt. 2 makes not much sense at first, though for Richard it must’ve been rather alarming — Rawdon Crawley played cards to fleece his comrades.
However, this association may be a clue to understanding what is happening around the Macaulay twins in Book 2.
The parallel between Charles and Rawdon becomes more clear in retrospect, closer to end of the novel.
Both from respectable families but empty-headed, moneyless and dependent on relatives, they spend time drinking, gambling and screwing around. Both have debts — tend to be overly jealous — get arrested — get involved in love scandal with a rich rival — are ruined but ready to fight — end up in exile.
Yet, the only important thing here is Rawdon's relationship with his wife.
At her brother's elbow Camilla played the role of Becky Sharp in marriage with Rawdon: an attractive young couple that works in tandem, using their charm and wit to take advantage of wealthy friends, and exploiting affections of others to live a better life.
Francis gave some insights into this symbiotic relationship, describing it as 'they like to present a unified front but I don't even know how much they care about each other' (chpt. 8).
When Camilla abandoned this unified front, for Charles it was a betrayal as if she used to be his business partner, not just a lover or family member.
The most notable link to Becky is the role of Clytemnestra, performed by Camilla as well, and the symbolic meaning of it in both novels.
Like Clytemnestra, Becky Sharp is an archetype of a predatory female in disguise of false innocence. Strong-willed, cunning and bold, she’s a skilled actress and manipulator, still unable to predict the consequences of some of her actions.
At some point Camilla makes it clear to Richard that drunk Charles abused her, but Richard is surprisingly angry with her. He questions how Camilla got her injuries, because he feels that something's wrong (chpt. 8).
This situation looks quite peculiar in view of the analogy to Vanity Fair.
Camilla's counterpart, Becky Sharp, complained to her patron Lord Steyne that she experienced all sorts of injustice from Rawdon Crawley (VF chpt. 52). It sounds false, because Rawdon could’ve been a bully with other men, but with Becky he was a meek, submissive husband. All her complaints had only one purpose: to be pitied for her own benefit.
It's unclear to what extent this analogy works, but it may explain why Camilla wanted to put a distance between Richard and Charles. If she lied to Henry, or rather manipulated him, she wouldn't be glad to be exposed: just like in case with Bunny, Richard still was an alarm bell, the first person to whom the one can confide.
Thus she had to neutralise him. And thus she was unable to reconcile Charles and Henry later.
I dare say, Henry had seen what was going on, but he was glad to get rid of the third party in their love triangle anyway. Even Richard doubted his 'good' intentions.
Rawdon Crawley said about his wife: "if she's not guilty, ... she's as bad as guilty" (VF chpt. 55). It might illustrate Charles's point of view as well. Like Becky, his sister didn't want to bet on a losing dog. But even if Camilla had no evil intentions, the consequences of her actions were awful — she opened a Pandora's box.
According to Thackeray, “it is the unwritten part of books that would be most interesting”. And Donna Tartt used this principle full on, leaving all crucial events in shadows, but giving some hints to lead and mislead her reader through carefully constructed cultural references.
Which also can be just some Metahemeralism.
The kids yearn for the aesthetics. This comes back to bite them in the ass.
rip henry winter you wouldve loved being a hater
When I read The Secret History for the first time in my life, I was 21 years old and so was Henry.
I re-read it once a year every autumn.
This year when I will read it, I will be 23. Then, one day it will be 24..25..26..27 or however long I can continue my annual tradition of re-reading TSH before the responsibilities of life catch up with me.
I will grow old, but Henry Winter will never age. He will be 21 forever, frozen in time, in death, and in my heart.
I know all fictional literary characters tend to do this, but it feels like a different kind of heartbreak, nonetheless. You grow old while all of your favourite characters remain trapped in the pages which you have to abandon with time.
Richard: You know those things will kill you, right?
Henry, pouring another glass of whiskey: That's the point.
Camilla, smoking a cigarette: We're trying to speed up the process.
Bunny: *Nods while eating raw cookie dough*
Henry, setting down a card: Ace of spades
Camilla, pulling out an Uno card: +4
Bunny, pulling out a Pokémon card: Jolteon, I choose you
Charles, trembling: What are we playing?
The professors house from Narnia is how I imagine Francis’ country house
donna tartt by gilles peress, 1993
how i remember that one scene in the secret history:
henry: don’t say fuck.
charles: oh yea? well fuck fuck fuck, you be fuckin my sister every night right? mhm. clock it.
richard: so when i was young my father beat my mother. lol sometimes he beat me too.
Is somebody gonna match my freak? (Acting out scenes from my silly little books in my room)
Me and who?
straight friend groups be like : "jock", "blond", "smart", "nerd", "quirky", "girl"
queer friendgroups be like: "nothing in my soul if not obsessive", "redistribution of matter", "cubitum eamus", "a kiss for your jailbird brother", "murdered", "heavily romantisised"