Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this. It's been over ten years since I read this book and I had the same reaction. A friend of mine told me about the book when she was about halfway through it, telling me it was just fantastic. So I ran out and bought it instead of waiting for her to finish it. We both finished it around the same time and felt the same way. It was like: What the hell happened to this book? I don't recall the details anymore other than feeling that the "secret" was forecast so strongly that I already knew what it was by the time it was revealed. Plus the writing became incoherent, whereas the earlier parts were tight. Still, I run into people that think this is the best.book.ever.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for replying. You see, I have no major or anything in literature and kept thinking "You've got to be missing something here. How can you not see what's so outstanding about this?"
It's reassuring to see that I'm not so alone with my gut feeling here. For me the thing about the secret referred to two things: Julian, Mr. Enigmatic and the night of the initial murder when the farmer was killed. I expected to get a little insight into what happened or to learn about Julian's motivations. It's hinted that he supported the kids' idea in recreating their own Bacchanalia. There's a lot left unsaid and, in my opinion, a great opportunity passed by. I think the second half could have been as great as the first one but now that you mentioned it, I finally realize what's wrong with the final third: it's really rushed and incoherent.
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It's reassuring to see that I'm not so alone with my gut feeling here. For me the thing about the secret referred to two things: Julian, Mr. Enigmatic and the night of the initial murder when the farmer was killed. I expected to get a little insight into what happened or to learn about Julian's motivations. It's hinted that he supported the kids' idea in recreating their own Bacchanalia. There's a lot left unsaid and, in my opinion, a great opportunity passed by. I think the second half could have been as great as the first one but now that you mentioned it, I finally realize what's wrong with the final third: it's really rushed and incoherent.
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