4.35 AVERAGE

adventurous medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book has been on my TBR for 5 years and I’m glad I finally hit it. While I do feel like poor Patroclus got the short end of the stick in terms of characterization, I can definitely see how this book led to the current renaissance of classical retellings of the classic canons. 

warning - MAJOR SPOILERS + this is a messy review that's just me rambling about random things, it's not necessarily insightful:



this book took me on such a journey from the start to the end! the front part of the book had so many cute and fluffy moments, it made me so happy to read about it all. one of my favs was definitely when patroclus told achilles that "[he] almost did not come, because i did not want to leave [his mother's lyre behind]" and achilles replied with "now i know how to make you follow me anywhere."

the writing throughout the whole book was gorgeous! i'm so glad i got to read more of madeline miller's writing especially after finishing circe a while ago. you could really see the changes in achilles' character if you thought about it, from the start of the book to the end. and when patroclus died, i was shocked bc i had never read about the myth in detail before, and wasn't expecting patroclus to die before achilles

Một con số 4 hoàn chỉnh cho một tác phẩm khai thác tối đa tiềm năng của một nhánh sử thi Hy Lạp.

Tình yêu của trường ca Achilles như một bản hoà tấu có đôi phần đơn độc - hay nói đúng hơn là dưới ánh mắt đang đắm chìm trong cảm tình của Patrolus dành cho Achilles, nó đẹp, nó rung động, khiến những cơn sóng cũng phải đánh vào bờ vì tò mò, mở ra ngàn bọt mắt để dõi theo, e thẹn lén nhìn đến vỡ vụn rồi biến mất.

Khai thác khá đúng tiềm năng, lẫn khía cạnh của mỗi nhân vật, kèm với lời văn mượt mà (cảm ơn rất nhiều đến với dịch giả Jack Frogg - VN) , khiến tôi như đám chìm lại với những câu chuyện Hy Lạp, thứ mà tôi đã quen thuộc và biết trước kết quả.

I thought the last chapter and comparison to Cleopatra was interesting. I loved the early chapters and the Chiron chapters. Everything about the war… meh
emotional informative sad
andreanadia's profile picture

andreanadia's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

I got very bored.

Found it boring and very long

Did the story drag on? Yes. But so did The Iliad and The Odyssey. Thought this was still a great story, and refreshing to see it told from a different perspective. Great build to this mythological story.

reread and my feelings are still just as hurt

Spoiler I just want them to be happy :(