A review by susiepops
Circe by Madeline Miller

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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

4.0

CIRCE BY MADELINE MILLER 

RATINGS : 4 / 5
 
T/W: Rape, Violence, Blood and Gore
may contain spoilers


After a 2 month long reading slump, Circe got me back on track. I was worried of being disappointed after reading "The Song of Achilles", but Miller, did to let me down, and she just might be my new favourite author. 

"How do you bear it?" "We bear it as best we can." 

Circe is a child and she remains one for a long time, constantly battling with her intrusive thoughts, jealousy, and insecurity along her troupe of lovers, but her character arc is immersive, impressive and un-glorified. She is subtle, patient and hardworking, and everything leads up to a satisfying ending. It is uncanny how often the course of the story is hinted throughout the book, and yet the ending feels so comforting, warm and somehow left me utterly dazed, all at the same time. 

 "Of all the mortals in the world, there are only a few the Gods will ever hear of. Consider the practicalities. By the time we learn their names, they are dead. They must be meteors indeed to catch our attention. The merely good : you are dust to us."

Our Protagonist / narrator, Circe - "The weak outcast", is an exiled sorceress. While we follow her around, we find ourselves jumping from one greek hero to another, a legend to another, and the part she plays, either as a participant or a spectator. Unlike other narrative styles, Miller here tried to portray the perspective of gods with time and how insignificant mortal lives truly are, through her fast pace narrative. This also gives her an advantage of introducing a unique ensemble of iconic legends like, Jason and Medea along with the enigmatic Argonauts, or Daedalus and Icarus, or Ariadne and Theseus and the unholy Minotaur, among others. And I must have have gone back to read every legend referred in this book out of curiosity, and just like that I got more out of this one single book than I expected. 

" But in solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me"

And lastly, I would like to thank Madeline Miller,

For Circe is exiled, and I am at home, isolated, but the comfort and solace I was able to find in her and Miller's words - honouring, the forgotten characters, has me dumbstruck, while I eagerly wait for her next book. 

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