You Belonged In The Library, As Much As Any Book.

Forgive me for all the things I did, but mostly for the ones that I did not.

- The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Sometimes it feels like I've got a war in my mind / I wanna get off, but I keep riding the ride / I never really noticed that I had to decide / To play someone's game, or live my own life / And now I do / I wanna move / Out of the black (out of the black) / Into the blue (into the blue)

- Lana Del Rey

So I noticed something about the stories in Sweet Sorrows.

The first and the last are about the pirate and the girl, the ancient love story (Once, very long ago…Time fell in love with Fate). Then there’s the Acolyte. The Zachary, the son of the fortune-teller, and the main narrator when the book is in the present (and the only one for this section of it). Then the dollhouse (something someone else mentioned was a little like a constantly growing Harbor itself, and which comes back when the bees do.). Then the Guardian story, which includes Dorian. Then our introduction to Elenore, then the inhabitants of Harbors (people like and including Allegra), then the Keepers (Now there is only one), then Simon, the man lost in time.

Introducing us to the main players. So I wonder, what if the Acolyte who sang the full month was Rhyme?

This was THE scene!! The way Barbie was afraid of being perceived as “ugly” and trying to avoid aging just for her to see people in the real world and understand what it really means. The way she softly says “you’re beautiful” and the woman plays along with her by saying “I know”. The way it was her first good experience with someone in the real world. Everything about it was just perfect

Do y'all believe in soulmates? Do y'all believe that there is one perfect person for everyone?

that one scene where ruth shows barbie what it's like to be human and it's just scenes of humans at birthday parties... humans dancing... humans playing in the park... humans doing mundane and everyday things and having FUN meant so much to me. the fact that it didn't include extraordinary things that only a few people accomplish in their lives but rather things almost every human as experienced, or a FEELING that almost every human has felt - joy, happiness, love - was so beautiful and important. you don't need to be the president or a nobel prize winner to be barbie, because barbie isn't about all that. yeah those are things that several barbies HAVE been and it's not impossible to be them, but stereotypical barbie is just... barbie. and she's enough as barbie. she doesn't need to be anything else. she doesn't need to win an award to be happy. she can just go to the gynecologist with the same smile. she's just barbie and that's everything. and who's barbie if not all of us.

"Well, of course I’ve tried lavender. And pulling my memory out, ribbonlike and dripping. And shrieking into my pillow. And writing the poems. And making more friends. And baking warm brown cookies. And therapy. And intimacy. And pictures of rainbows. And all of the movies about lovers and the terrible things they do to each other. And watching the ones in other languages. And leaving the subtitles off. And listening to the language. And forgetting my name. And feeling the dirt on my skin. And screaming in the shower. And changing my shampoo. And living alone. And cutting my hair. And buying a turtle. And petting the cat. And traveling. And writing more poems. And touching a different body. And digging a grave. And digging a grave. Of course, I’ve tried it. Of course I have."

– Yasmin Belkhyr

midnights is actually just folklore dressed up as 1989

With The Secret History, I think the first time you read it, you shouldn’t analysis it at all. You need to truly be blinded by the beauty and characters before you start to read into it and understand the criticism.

That being said, I think people who completely ignore the messages being sent by that book are missing out entirely as the blindness you first feel only becomes significant once you realise that Tartt completely manipulated you into becoming just like Richard.

I would love to read all of their POVs.

I would KILL to read TSH from Bunny’s POV. It would make for the perfect Greek tragedy and a killer thriller. Imagine reading his descent into insanity and paranoia. Imagine Italy from his perspective; his secret, almost sinful confessions to Julian; his pillow talks with Marion. I want to feel Henry’s betrayal and Bunny’s unease. I would eat that shit UP