The modern American writer Donna Tartt has written only three novels over 25 years of her career. But her every book invariably became an event in the literary world.
Writer Biography
Future writer Donna Tartt was born in the small town of Greenwood , Mississippi. She was born on December 23, 1963. At the age of five, the girl wrote her first poem. The child was fond of literature in earnest. Therefore, it is not surprising that after graduation, Tartt decided to get a philological education.
In 1986, she graduated from Bennington College in Vermont. For several years, she tirelessly honed her writing skills, studying all aspects of the English language. Donna did all this to fulfill her only dream - to become a writer.
Debut novel
In 1992, Donna Tartt finally published her debut novel, Secret History. The very first edition was released in the amount of 75 thousand copies, which was an unusually large number for books by novice writers. But the publisher did not invest his money in vain. The first print run was sold out instantly, and the public demanded more. To date, the book has been translated into 24 languages. She has dedicated readers around the world. In Russia, the novel was first published in 1999.
What is so surprising that Donna Tartt wrote? The Secret History has an unusual structure. The story begins at the end of the plot. For the reader, this is an important detail, because this book is a detective story with a seemingly classic murder and crime detection. But everything is not as simple as it seems at first glance.
Although the author immediately revealed the identity of the killer, the whole intrigue of reading comes down to the fact that it is completely incomprehensible how the previous events turned around, that the tragedy described at the beginning of the book happened.
The main character
The main character is Richard Peypin. Donna Tartt worked especially hard to work out the personality and character of the young man. The Secret History tells of a nineteen-year-old boy. He wants to go to a prestigious university, but his family has many financial problems. Nevertheless, Richard receives a grant to study at a higher education institution in Vermont (in this plot, Donna Tartt took a little from her own biography).
A peculiar point of no return for the protagonist came at a time when he learned about the existence of a small group of students who enthusiastically studied the Greek language. Acquaintance with them becomes the plot of the whole plot, the culmination of which was the ending of the book opening.
Features of the Secret History
The narrative style chosen by Donna Tartt is also non-standard. The books of the writer have always been distinguished by an extraordinary filling. In her debut, Tartt decided to communicate with the reader with the help of peculiar memoirs, the author of which is the main character. Richard recalls what is happening as if he himself transfers his own impressions to paper.
The writer used her entire talent to immerse the reader as deeply as possible into the world of the novel. Donna Tartt immediately became famous for this skill. “Secret History” ... Reader reviews of this book and reviews of professional critics allow us to form the opinion that in reality the audience is offered not a novel, but a kind of diary of the protagonist. Richard really without any taboos shares his impressions and experiences associated with starting his studies at the long-awaited University of Vermont.
Short story
Five friends appear in Richard’s circle. They all differ from each other in character, which makes the plot only more interesting and rich. Francis is a touching and romantic young man. Henry is calm and eccentric at the same time. Bunny is a fun and soul company. The last two are the twins Camilla and Charles.
His friends also had a mentor, Julian, a professor and teacher of the Greek language. He plunged the guys into the ancient world. The history of ancient European civilizations was the subject that Donna Tartt herself loved. Reviews from experts about her debut novel are full of praise. According to them, The Secret History is not only an excellent fiction, but also a guide to the ancient culture, full of mysteries and secrets. Even the title of the novel is a reference to the work of the same name by the Byzantine chronicler of the VI century.
Denouement
Students succumb to the mystical atmosphere inspired by Professor Julian. At some point, the craze gets out of hand. Four friends in a fit of fanaticism kill the fifth comrade, and the sixth becomes an accidental witness to the deed. This is where the main action of the novel begins and its climax.
In this work, the detective is thoroughly mixed with thriller and suspense. Donna Tartt loved and loved all these genres in one book. The Secret History, reviews of which prompt you to read the full version of the work, is not just entertaining reading. It is exciting! Comments boil down to the following: a book is read in one go. Someone even called the novel "Crime and Punishment" in the North American manner. Many people agree that, despite the fact that the book is full of allusions, quotes from ancient Greek literature and other postmodern techniques, the text is easily perceived, largely due to the fact that the narrative is easy. There are those who compare reading with watching a movie in the cinema, the events happening with the characters, their feelings, throwing, passions are so vividly and vividly reflected ... According to fans of the writer’s work, the plot of the novel even resembles cult films by the director Hitchcock, in which the main characters suddenly lose their lives or become witnesses of terrible events.
"Little friend"
Tartt is known for the fact that, unlike many colleagues in the workshop, he rarely publishes new books. Novels with her name on the cover appear on store shelves every 10-11 years. Exactly such a period after the release of The Secret History, the writer finally finished work on her new creation. It received the name "Little Friend" and was published in 2002.
Unlike the previous work, there is no familiar storyline that is characteristic of the novel as a genre (including the debut of The Secret History). And even the detective storytelling elements, at first glance the most important, eventually fade into the background. So we can say with confidence that the writer decided to test herself in a new creative dimension. In this decision, the author guesses the love of the experiments that Donna Tartt constantly conducts. The "little friend" takes the reader to the beginning of the 70s.
The main character is a little girl Harriet. She early lost her brother, who died under tragic circumstances. This event is just a prologue to the novel written by Donna Tartt. “Little Friend” is a book that does not tell about solving a crime (as is customary in detective stories), but showing the growing up of a child in tragic circumstances.
Harriet is growing up
The Harriet family did everything to remove her from the dangerous outside world, which had already taken her brother's life. Because of this, the girl has to grow up in the company of painful relatives. Tartt, as always, described in detail and masterfully the experiences of her heroine throughout the novel, which only enhances the absurd effect of what is happening in the book.
Harriet, forcibly dragged into her cramped little world, is trying to find a way out of her childish energy and curiosity. Finally, she decides to undertake an investigation into the death of her brother. But the main thing in the book is not even that. The denouement comes at the moment when the girl grows up and finds herself face to face with the same outside world, from which she was hidden by frightened relatives. Therefore, this work can also be attributed to the genre of an educational novel or a novel of growing up. From the first to the last page of the book, Tartt skillfully shows how the inner child Harriet dies, who has to face unexpected problems outside a cozy house with books and the memory of her departed brother.
"Goldfinch"
The third and last novel of the writer for today - “Goldfinch” - was published in the USA in 2013 (and a year later appeared in a high-quality translation in Russia). What did Donna Tartt offer her readers this time? "Goldfinch" received reviews again enthusiastic. Reviews and a warm welcome from the public suggest that the American writer once again achieved well-deserved success. In particular, the book received the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for 2014.
The author chose the name as a reference to the famous painting of the 17th century Dutch artist. The canvas by Karel Fabrizius plays an important role in the fate of the protagonist of the next Tartt novel.
According to the plot, Theo Decker woke up after a terrible explosion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of New York’s main cultural attractions. The dying old man gave him a ring and the very same picture of Fabricius with the order to take it out of the building. Now Decker needs to decide what to do with the famous canvas. To do this, he will have to visit many places in the world - from Holland to gambling Las Vegas.
In this book, Donna Tartt returned to many of her favorite artistic techniques. "Goldfinch" (reviews of the novel are ambiguous, but most are still positive) makes a strong impression. The reader has the opportunity to follow how the fate of a person, a teenager, changes when he is left without the care of his relatives. Street, modern society with its realities and vices ... Where can fate lead him? Someone did not accept the novel: what can be pleasant in describing the formation of a drug addict? Yes, the idea, they say, is interesting, but the story is boring and somewhere long, full of philosophical thoughts and long dialogues. Someone penetrated to the depths of the soul, to the tips of the nails. The comments of the latter can be summarized as follows: a good, deep, high-quality book written in an easy, captivating language.
Be that as it may, the success of sales clearly demonstrates that the recognizable style of the American writer is still in demand among the reading public around the world.