Personal Response

To say that I was reading this story for an AP Lang project, I rather enjoyed it a lot. The plot was wonderful and there were always new things that kept me wandering what could possibly occur next. The prologue of the story immediately had me hooked because I knew that sooner or later Bunny was to die. I didn't know why or how, so I was forced to read the book so that I could solve the mystery.
Strangely, I don't have a favorite character in the novel. I feel like all of the characters had something that made me really like them, but they also had a negative aspect that made me want to jump in the book and give them a good talk. If I were to pick a favorite character I would probably say Richard. I think I really like him because he is the narrator, so my entire perspective is his perspective. Despite some flaws in his personality-lying, too much interdependence- I felt like he was one of the most realistic characters. He seemed like a normal teenager who would suddenly get so enticed in this Greek world that he'd lose himself (which is exactly what happened.)
My least favorite character would probably be Henry. However, I don't like him simply because I wanted a chance to understand his character and delve into that mysterious mind of his. I enjoyed how Henry was very intelligent and the planner of the group. On the other hand, I didn't like how he treated Richard. This is mainly because I knew as much as Richard knew, so I was left in the dark also.
Tartt did a wonderful job at incorporating her audience into what she did. She created suspense at the perfect times, just when I'd be ready to put the book down for the day. I especially remember one instance where it was late and I was closing the book, then I happened to see that Richard was going to pass out in the snow. Naturally, I kept going and got very little rest that night. Even though the characters had negative aspects about them, I enjoyed reading about them. I loved how their personalities fit together and they because of that they seemed like they perfect group of friends. If Bunny were just a little bit more snobby or if Henry wasn't mysterious enough it wouldn't have created the effect that it had on me.
The only thing that I didn't enjoy about the novel was the non-reality that showed at times. That group of students drank and smoked and partied all of the time. I'm not in college, but I know that that stuff rarely happens in real life, especially the drinking. The fact that they were all drunk every single day and rarely had sober moments took away from the reality.
Despite these little doses of fantasy, I overall marveled the book. It saddened me when Henry died because he was held on such a pedestal; it was like seeing a king die. The fact that Francis tried to kill himself also made me sad because I didn't want him to suffer either. In a strange way, I didn't feel emotion when Bunny died. He was such a mean person, it really didn't matter to me.
I would definitely read other books by Tartt if they are as good as this one.