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literaryfae's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I have read The Song of Achilles thrice now and I’m still amazed by how beautifully crafted the storyline is. While the basic blueprint for the story had been pre-plotted by The Illiad, The Song of Achilles manages to be a standout in its own right.
Madeline Miller seems to really understand the art of writing. She manages to create a world in this novel where everything matters. Words and actions of the characters at the start of the book which may have seemed inconsequential are brought back later on and tied together perfectly.
Miller is also a master at invoking emotion in the reader. I grew up obsessed with Greek Mythology and have therefore known the story of Achilles (and subsequently Patroclus) since a young age. Even on my first read, I opened this book knowing how it would end. Yet Miller’s words still manage to make me cry, even now on my third read.
Madeline Miller seems to really understand the art of writing. She manages to create a world in this novel where everything matters. Words and actions of the characters at the start of the book which may have seemed inconsequential are brought back later on and tied together perfectly.
Miller is also a master at invoking emotion in the reader. I grew up obsessed with Greek Mythology and have therefore known the story of Achilles (and subsequently Patroclus) since a young age. Even on my first read, I opened this book knowing how it would end. Yet Miller’s words still manage to make me cry, even now on my third read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Rape, Child death, Grief, Death, Infidelity, and Blood
Minor: Cannibalism
pasanov's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
An amazing retelling of the story of Achilles and Patroclus, Madeline keeps going strong after Circe, I can't wait to read more of her work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Genocide, Cannibalism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Murder, Violence, and War
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, and Sexual content
_4reha's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
y’all this book is crazy good and so fucking beautiful, usually i dont care about books like song of achilles and thought i wouldn’t really like it but no, this was literally 🧑🍳💋 y’all need to go read it rn, just trust me on this cus i frl thought i wouldn’t like it or wtv but nah.
the last few chapters though >>>> 💔
the last few chapters though >>>> 💔
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, War, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Cannibalism, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Torture
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Cursing
mblanke's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Homophobia
Minor: Cannibalism and Kidnapping
annavarney's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Such a beautiful book. Very descriptive. Slow start but it builds to a beautiful ending. The last couple chapters really are heart wrenching. I will probably reread the last couple chapters over and over again for the rest of my life.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, War, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Cannibalism
megan_j's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I thought people were exaggerating when they said how sad this book was - THEY WERENT. Very rarely does a book make me cry but this one did the trick, and also kept me up all night. It is literally the saddest thing ever. The end of this book really saved it for me, all the way through I was floating between a 4 and 4.5 rating simply because there are SO MANY CHARACTERS. And they have SO MANY different names, and I get that it’s all the mythology and stuff but I found it sooo hard to keep track at times and who I should actually be keeping track of and who is going to important to the story that I need to remember later on. Overall it was beautifully written with wonderful characters. Read if you want to cry!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Death, Gore, Medical trauma, War, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Murder
midnacine's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
With the exception of the tenses changing being a little weird, this was incredible. I understand why it's so hyped up and I absolutely loved it. So many emotions, especially in the last third. What an amazing read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Sexism, War, Death, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Rape
Minor: Cannibalism, Cursing, Child death, Death of parent, Incest, and Pregnancy
pigeonpersona's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm glad I got around to reading this one. A beautiful telling of the lives of Patroclus and Achilles before and during the Trojan War. The first couple hundred pages were good but not great, and I felt like there could have been more moments added to make me grow to like the characters more. However, it was nice to have Patroclus as the narrator, as you could always feel his love for Achilles. I think I cared more about Patroclus' feelings then I cared about Achilles.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Child death, War, Violence, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Vomit, and Sexual content
Minor: Cannibalism
froginhat's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, War, Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Slavery, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Outing, Kidnapping, Infidelity, and Stalking
nicole_schmid's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
[read in the German translation by Michael Windgassen]
As I feel like this myth is sufficiently common knowledge, I will not use the spoiler tags, so if you do not know the myth, proceed with caution.
This was a very interesting read, though off to a bit of a slow start. The story offered background information and cultural details which deepen your understanding of the actual myth, such as the fact that the theft of the slave which causes Achilles to stop fighting alongside the Greeks actually was a grave insult to his personal honour. It also put (at least my understanding of) the myth into a different light by not Patroklos not being an accomplished fighter in his own right. I always pictured him as being a slightly weaker fighter than Achilles, thus enabling him to impersonate him without anyone noticing. The twist thatPatroklos could not fight at all and only managed to accomplish his feats because of divine intervention was surprising, but welcome, even though I definitely understand some readers being disappointed - the story is not a good power fantasy anymore.
I was a bit disappointed by the ending, however. Before you ask, yes, it did make me cry, that's not the problem. During whole sections about the Trojan War, Agamemnon and (to a lesser degree) Odysseus and Diomedes are made out to be the antagonists. Agamemnon kills - sorry, sacrifices - his daughter, using marriage to Achilles (who is unaware of the duplicity) as the pretense to lure her to the altar he kills her on. During the war, he uses every available chance to slight Achilles in some way. He refuses to return his own slave Chryseis, a priestess, to her father even though every rule of Greek culture literally tells him to do it, which in turn brings a deadly illness/an irate Apollo shooting deadly arrows to the Greek armies. Achilles, with the help of his godly mother, manages to avert the crisis by returning Chryseis to her father. In turn, Agamemnon takes his slave Briseis, which apparently is a grave insult to him and against basically every rule of conduct. Of course, Achilles would then stop fighting for a man who slighted him like this.
It is true that both Achilles and Patroklos are, after their deaths, insulted and separated by Achilles' son and he is made into an antagonist by that. That's why we learn that he died as a result of his greed and hubris - his "karmic" punishment. But if Miller had the time to explain Phyrros' end, why did she not mention Agamemnon's death? (His wife and her lover kill him in revenge for him killing his daughter.) It would have punished the main antagonist of the whole novel, if I might call him that, and would have been more fitting than Phyrros' story, I think.
I missed Achilles' invulnerability, leaving only the Achilles heel as his weakness. But I actually have no idea if this is in the Iliad or originates from some other myth, so maybe it actually is accurate.
Something else that could be criticised, but that I actually appreciate, is that Achilles and Patroklos have been turned into completely 100 % gays who therefore did not systematically rape and abuse female war slaves (= innocent farmers' wives and daughters who had the misfortune of living in villages too close to Troy) like all the other Greeks nor come into any situation where they might be forced to participate in other similarly sexist, but normal and commonplace practices which we today would call (war) crimes. I also liked that Miller pointed out the inherent sexism and misogyny of Ancient Greece and how no woman at all was safe from sexual violence, not even goddesses (see: Thetis).
Over all, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Greek mythology or knowing more about Ancient Greece. It offers a believable glimpse into the past (with the odd interference of gods) while providing background information dearly needed to actually understand what is happening. The myth is told with enough twists to the original that it does not simply copy the original into a different POV and modern language and so that it stands on its own feet.
As I feel like this myth is sufficiently common knowledge, I will not use the spoiler tags, so if you do not know the myth, proceed with caution.
This was a very interesting read, though off to a bit of a slow start. The story offered background information and cultural details which deepen your understanding of the actual myth, such as the fact that the theft of the slave which causes Achilles to stop fighting alongside the Greeks actually was a grave insult to his personal honour. It also put (at least my understanding of) the myth into a different light by not Patroklos not being an accomplished fighter in his own right. I always pictured him as being a slightly weaker fighter than Achilles, thus enabling him to impersonate him without anyone noticing. The twist that
I was a bit disappointed by the ending, however. Before you ask, yes, it did make me cry, that's not the problem. During whole sections about the Trojan War, Agamemnon and (to a lesser degree) Odysseus and Diomedes are made out to be the antagonists. Agamemnon kills - sorry, sacrifices - his daughter, using marriage to Achilles (who is unaware of the duplicity) as the pretense to lure her to the altar he kills her on. During the war, he uses every available chance to slight Achilles in some way. He refuses to return his own slave Chryseis, a priestess, to her father even though every rule of Greek culture literally tells him to do it, which in turn brings a deadly illness/an irate Apollo shooting deadly arrows to the Greek armies. Achilles, with the help of his godly mother, manages to avert the crisis by returning Chryseis to her father. In turn, Agamemnon takes his slave Briseis, which apparently is a grave insult to him and against basically every rule of conduct. Of course, Achilles would then stop fighting for a man who slighted him like this.
It is true that both Achilles and Patroklos are, after their deaths, insulted and separated by Achilles' son and he is made into an antagonist by that. That's why we learn that he died as a result of his greed and hubris - his "karmic" punishment. But if Miller had the time to explain Phyrros' end, why did she not mention Agamemnon's death? (His wife and her lover kill him in revenge for him killing his daughter.) It would have punished the main antagonist of the whole novel, if I might call him that, and would have been more fitting than Phyrros' story, I think.
I missed Achilles' invulnerability, leaving only the Achilles heel as his weakness. But I actually have no idea if this is in the Iliad or originates from some other myth, so maybe it actually is accurate.
Something else that could be criticised, but that I actually appreciate, is that Achilles and Patroklos have been turned into completely 100 % gays who therefore did not systematically rape and abuse female war slaves (= innocent farmers' wives and daughters who had the misfortune of living in villages too close to Troy) like all the other Greeks nor come into any situation where they might be forced to participate in other similarly sexist, but normal and commonplace practices which we today would call (war) crimes. I also liked that Miller pointed out the inherent sexism and misogyny of Ancient Greece and how no woman at all was safe from sexual violence, not even goddesses (see: Thetis).
Over all, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Greek mythology or knowing more about Ancient Greece. It offers a believable glimpse into the past (with the odd interference of gods) while providing background information dearly needed to actually understand what is happening. The myth is told with enough twists to the original that it does not simply copy the original into a different POV and modern language and so that it stands on its own feet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, War, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Grief, Homophobia, and Rape
Minor: Child death, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Pregnancy, and Cannibalism