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4.35 AVERAGE
4.35 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really thought I would like this more :,) it was a captivating story, but I never felt like I completely connected to the characters— and thus could not really feel for their tragedies. The writing style and focus made it hard to picture images in my head and so I could not “see” how this story played out. Despite the story being from Patroclus’ point of view, by the end of the book I still didn’t have a clear picture of what Achilles looked like ;-; there was also a few plot holes (*thetis’ debt?)
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, War
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Kidnapping
I cried for the last hour reading this. And I've been crying since I finished.
I love retellings of myths, but I have never read one that captures the anguish of war, and the pain of being raised to be brilliant, with no other possible life in front of you quite like this book did. How utterly devastating.
I've read the Iliad many times, and I'm actually currently reading a translation of it that I haven't read before. So I knew what would happen. I knew, but it did not make the pain any easier to bear.
The characters felt so real, their pain so exact, their joy and growth and ultimately their weaknesses jumped out of the page. They felt like people who you could believe in, because they were neither good nor evil. And isn't that the ultimate cost of war? Soldiers fight. Inocent people die. And in the end, there is no real victory, for everyone has lost so much, nobody returns home the same as when they left.
Chiron captured the absolute tragedy of it best.
I love retellings of myths, but I have never read one that captures the anguish of war, and the pain of being raised to be brilliant, with no other possible life in front of you quite like this book did. How utterly devastating.
I've read the Iliad many times, and I'm actually currently reading a translation of it that I haven't read before. So I knew what would happen. I knew, but it did not make the pain any easier to bear.
The characters felt so real, their pain so exact, their joy and growth and ultimately their weaknesses jumped out of the page. They felt like people who you could believe in, because they were neither good nor evil. And isn't that the ultimate cost of war? Soldiers fight. Inocent people die. And in the end, there is no real victory, for everyone has lost so much, nobody returns home the same as when they left.
Chiron captured the absolute tragedy of it best.
"There is no law that gods must be fair, Achilles," Chiron said. "And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth, when another is gone. Do you think?"
review du 22/06/2019
"I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world."
Je savais que ce livre allait me détruire avant même de le commencer. Je connaissais déjà l'histoire de la Guerre de Troie, d’Achille et de Patrocle, et des héros grecs en général : elle n'est jamais heureuse. À chaque fois que je tournais une page, j'étais dans l'attente d'un nouveau malheur. Madeline Miller ne m'a pas déçue.
Le Chant d'Achilles est bouleversant, poignant et addictif. Les personnages sont mis à nus à chaque épreuve et leur morale n'a de cesse d'être testée. Si Patrocle est un modèle de bonté et de pureté, Achille est bien plus "gris" : d'un côté, il est soutenu par son fidèle amant, et de l'autre il répond aux exigences de sa mère, la cruelle Téthis. On lui a promis la gloire, voire l'immortalité, en échange d'une vie courte : il est destiné à mourir à la guerre. Il est le meilleur des Grecs, le meilleur des héros, le plus rapide et le plus fort, mais il a une faiblesse.
"I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world."
Je savais que ce livre allait me détruire avant même de le commencer. Je connaissais déjà l'histoire de la Guerre de Troie, d’Achille et de Patrocle, et des héros grecs en général : elle n'est jamais heureuse. À chaque fois que je tournais une page, j'étais dans l'attente d'un nouveau malheur. Madeline Miller ne m'a pas déçue.
Le Chant d'Achilles est bouleversant, poignant et addictif. Les personnages sont mis à nus à chaque épreuve et leur morale n'a de cesse d'être testée. Si Patrocle est un modèle de bonté et de pureté, Achille est bien plus "gris" : d'un côté, il est soutenu par son fidèle amant, et de l'autre il répond aux exigences de sa mère, la cruelle Téthis. On lui a promis la gloire, voire l'immortalité, en échange d'une vie courte : il est destiné à mourir à la guerre. Il est le meilleur des Grecs, le meilleur des héros, le plus rapide et le plus fort, mais il a une faiblesse.