Once Again Thinking About The Fact That I Really Want A TSH Series Adaptation.

Once again thinking about the fact that I really want a TSH series adaptation.

Would it suck? Most likely, yes. It would be extremely difficult (impossible?) to show Richard's unreliable narration. And there are so many little things, interactions and details which actually make the story what it is, that it would take a lot of time to cover them all on screen, even with a series – so, much of it would probably have to be cut out, and the overall thing would be affected by it.

Still... I think that it could be done. It would in no way compare to the novel, because of course it wouldn't, but I'm sure it has the potential to be something very good.

Especially since it could give the same feeling of the book through visuals. The atmosphere being colorful and warm when Richard first arrives at Hampden, only for it to gradually become darker and colder as the plot unravels (Bunny's murder being the event after which the shift becomes more evident), along with the characters becoming progressively more unsettling and less aesthetic – which is really how it felt to me.

one day i will render it

I do have an explanation for this actually!! I first saw it being mentioned in one review of TSH I saw on YT, which I will link as soon as I'm able to find it again.

The Secret History was written by Procopius of Cesarea, a Greek historian who lived from 500 AD to 565 AD, so at the time of Justinian's empire. He got to accompany Justinian's general during his war campaigns, and so he was commissioned most likely by Justinian himself to write about the wars (History of the Wars) and his deeds in favor of the Empire and its subjects (Buildings).

The thing, though, is that since Procopius had written his works on Justinian's behalf, it's believed that many of his accounts in regards to Justinian and his court were not exactly true. Especially since historians actually found some discrepancies between Procopius' words and those of other historians, as in him attributing Justinian merits for things he hadn't actually done and so on. He also presents the Emperor and the people surrounding him in a way that's very idealized to the point of sounding exaggerated.

But then Procopius wrote another work, The Secret History, which actually he had published after his death, in fear that he could have angered Justinian and possibly be sentenced to death had it come out during his life. In The Secret History, Procopius talks about Justinian in a totally opposite way of how he did in his previous works – as opposed to idolizing him, he paints him as cruel and even incompetent in ruling. He claims to expose all the secrets, personal lives, scandals, rumors, everything bad he knows about Justinian, his wife and even his general, to show how they actually were and his actual thoughts about them, which he was forced to hide in his other works.

(It's also debated if The Secret History itself has to be considered accurate, because it's believed that it could have been just a safety measure for Procopius to use to distance himself from the court had Justinian's government been overthrown, to show he wasn't actually loyal to him and not get in trouble with the new ruler, so we don't know for sure, but anyways.)

How all of this connects to TSH by Donna Tartt is that the way Richard talks about the Greek class is pretty much exactly the same as Procopius. For most of the book Richard treats them as superior, tries to hide their faults and justify their actions, and tries showing them as he saw them at first – good people he admired. Only for the illusion to slowly break during Book II, in which inevitably things start being shown as they actually were, and Richard becomes as disillusioned with them as Procopius did with Justinian.

Of course this is just what I found so if anyone knows better feel free to correct me or add things!!

Yesterday I found this book, its set in the late Roman Empire and there is no way it isn’t related to The Secret History.

Which actually reminded me of this one fanmade trailer which is the absolute coolest thing and lives in my head rent free

Once again thinking about the fact that I really want a TSH series adaptation.

Would it suck? Most likely, yes. It would be extremely difficult (impossible?) to show Richard's unreliable narration. And there are so many little things, interactions and details which actually make the story what it is, that it would take a lot of time to cover them all on screen, even with a series – so, much of it would probably have to be cut out, and the overall thing would be affected by it.

Still... I think that it could be done. It would in no way compare to the novel, because of course it wouldn't, but I'm sure it has the potential to be something very good.

Especially since it could give the same feeling of the book through visuals. The atmosphere being colorful and warm when Richard first arrives at Hampden, only for it to gradually become darker and colder as the plot unravels (Bunny's murder being the event after which the shift becomes more evident), along with the characters becoming progressively more unsettling and less aesthetic – which is really how it felt to me.

oh.... mister winter hello....

(tsh spoilers warning.)

one of the aspects of the secret history that makes it so timeless is the discussion of beauty, and how it alone is not sufficient in importance. valuing beauty above all else is a battle humanity insists on waging and never wins. yet, we continue to struggle with it quite obsessively. this destructive, fatal urge to be beautiful, to obtain what is beautiful, to only uplift and worship the beautiful. like richard, we do it at any cost, though we know better. it does not change anything. it never does.

because like with the book, even though we know at the beginning bunny's fate and that we are about to meet murderers, we still fall for their beauty. the gorgeous descriptions of fancy clothing, sophistication as formidable as a storm cloud. stunning intellect and striking features, from the princely to the angelic, inspiring devotion, conjuring awe.

and we fall hard. we fall for francis's countryside mansion, its surrounding nature and memories golden and ceaselessly warm. we fall for the sunday dinners in the quirky, welcoming home of the macaulay twins. the brilliance of henry winter. the allure of money and power and status; the comfort and freedom it inevitably grants, like some godly hand offering one the whole world. it enchants richard, making him believe he could have it, too. that he could abandon suburbia, its restrictive, monotonous curse; the abusive home, void of the vitality that this class appears rich with. we, like him, want the same otherworldly carelessness, liberty; that ability to only do what one wants to do.

but their beauty conceals cutting selfishness, and barbaric elitism that julian, their professor, only heightens. (you'll recall he even had a lecture where he says that the poor man and the rich man are not equal in any regard). suddenly "doing what you want" unearths a new meaning. like the greek gods they study, the class believes they are above the laws of common men. so they commit a murder to cover up a murder, displaying what georges laforge says at the end: "beauty – unless she is wed to something more meaningful – is always superficial."

because the beauty of the class was surface-level, unaccompanied by a greater love for justice or truth or compassion, the spoiled core living beneath pours out after the ugliness of what they had done. though their appearances saved them from the police and jail, providing social privileges, it rotted the foundations of their souls. they thought the worst fate was one of a prisoner, but they were wrong, as they realize too late, the worst thing to be is a murderer. (this is amplified by the allusions to "doctor faustus" in the epilogue). so henry dies, becoming a corpse, like the ones he created; francis suffers from intense anxiety attacks and tries to replicate on himself the deaths he witnessed; camilla turns into a ghost of herself; charles becomes an alcoholic and an abuser, as though housing the wrath of the dead. what once was beautiful decays, now horrific, hideous.