Unpopular opinion: I finally get why people hate the ending of 'The Secret History'

I spent the whole meeting last Tuesday arguing that the final act was brilliant, until Sarah from my group pointed out a single line on page 487 that I'd completely misread. Now I see the protagonist was just a coward all along. Anyone else have a book where one detail flipped your whole view?

3 comments

3 Comments

abbyf7913d ago

Coward? That's a lazy read. The whole point was the moral fog they lived in. That line on 487 just shows he finally saw the trap, not that he was weak. Sometimes not acting is the harder choice. The ending works because it's messy, not clean.

margaretc4213d ago

Messy endings are fine, but calling a clear failure to act "the harder choice" feels like a cop out. He saw the trap and still chose to stay in it.

charlieh7413d ago

That fog is what stuck with me too.