Turns out you don't have to be ... highly versed in the mythologies to be able to appreciate this book fully. There's a lot of reference to it and other classic literature though, and some of it, although not unheard of, I had to Google to make sure I follow the exchange of dialogue but that wasn't so bad.
What's disappointing is the experience of reading the book. I'm not sure if it's because a) I have read a lot of positive reviews about The Secret History; b) the book is in a lot of to-read lists (to-read-before-you-leave-your-20s, top-100-books-to-read-before-you-die, etc); or c) it was referred to me by someone I hold in high regard when it comes to literature and the arts that made me expect a lot from this book. I guess all of it and that made it bad because from the very beginning I kept thinking "okay, this book will blow my brains out ... any minute now ... just a bit more ..." You get the drift.
That's not saying I didn't enjoy reading the book. I did. See the four stars? The story is full of intrigue and drama and the prose is simple. It didn't seem pretentious or snobbish which is how I find some mythology/psychology/philosophy-based fiction. I find some writers (and readers!) are so into the genre that they think in the following manner: i-so-love-[insert genre here]-so-im-so-going-to-love-this-book-and-anyone-who-doesn't-is-below-my-intelligence-level. I think at times a book can make a reader think "I'm not worthy of this book". That's not the case with this one. It did not make my tiny brain inferior. Lol. That's a plus for me.
As for the story, there is so much to talk about but the thing that stuck out for me is the relationship between the main characters. If anyone is worthy of the status "it's complicated" on Facebook, it's these people. I mean, what do you think of the relationship between Henry and Camilla? Between Camilla and Charles? Between Charles and Francis? I think it's disturbing and almost taboo yet it seems perfectly natural. It wasn't shocking. Maybe I was looking for shock value but then again I can't expect to be shocked because the writer pegged the main characters to be obscure from the very beginning.
I will have to get back to this book to re-read. Sometime in the future. It's one of those stories one needs to re-analyze and see if you still feel the same.
===
UPDATE: Apparently I already read this book back in 2004 and I just didn't know the title. It was an old old copy with no covers or anything and apparently, I REALLY liked this book back then hahaha! I guess that was why I only gave it four stars, it sounded like I've read it somewhere before. Derp!
