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A review by kt2e56
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Beautifully written. There is no doubt about Madeline Miller’s skills as a writer. I actually think from a technical standpoint, she’s one of the most gifted writers we currently have. She has just such a way with words and even as someone fairly well-versed in Greek mythology who knows how this all ends, I was hooked as if this was a cast of characters I’d never heard of before.
I read Circe first and I found it to be much, much more relatable due to my own personal history and experiences but this book was just as spectacular. I love that this was all told from the point of view of Patroclus. He’s compelling and it’s lovely to see his own story fleshed out. His love for Achilles is touching but I think Achilles eventually becomes so unlikeable that it’s hard to see what Patroclus still sees in him and why he still so readily would give up everything for him.
And Achilles himself is seen as complex here! Which is fine! Complex is good and I’m glad that he wasn’t always the attentive, loving, nurturing boy that Patroclus fell for and believed in. I think the story of Achilles here (and eventually Pyrrhus although he’s a much more extreme example) is a fascinating look at masculinity. Achilles is beautiful and sensitive and kind. He loves music and pretty things and nature. We see this throughout. But it isn’t until he starts demanding the treatment he believes he deserves and stamping out all that’s beautiful and tender about him that he could be seen as great and powerful by the world around him. He believes he’s entitled to greatness and he reaches a point where he really buys into his own hype and doesn’t care who he’s harmed as long as he gets what he believes he deserves as this pinnacle of masculinity, the best of the best. He can only become a hero by embracing cruelty and he’d rather be a hero and be remembered by everyone than remembered only by his love, Patroclus: the only person who ever really knew him at all.
I’ll be thinking about this book for awhile. It’s hard not to. It’s so rich and textured. I’m giving this a 4.5 instead a 5, only because I started to grow a bit numb from reading cruelty after cruelty and atrocity after atrocity but I can absolutely recognize that that has nothing to do with Miller’s skill as a writer, and has everything to do with my own personal preferences.
I read Circe first and I found it to be much, much more relatable due to my own personal history and experiences but this book was just as spectacular. I love that this was all told from the point of view of Patroclus. He’s compelling and it’s lovely to see his own story fleshed out. His love for Achilles is touching but I think Achilles eventually becomes so unlikeable that it’s hard to see what Patroclus still sees in him and why he still so readily would give up everything for him.
And Achilles himself is seen as complex here! Which is fine! Complex is good and I’m glad that he wasn’t always the attentive, loving, nurturing boy that Patroclus fell for and believed in. I think the story of Achilles here (and eventually Pyrrhus although he’s a much more extreme example) is a fascinating look at masculinity. Achilles is beautiful and sensitive and kind. He loves music and pretty things and nature. We see this throughout. But it isn’t until he starts demanding the treatment he believes he deserves and stamping out all that’s beautiful and tender about him that he could be seen as great and powerful by the world around him. He believes he’s entitled to greatness and he reaches a point where he really buys into his own hype and doesn’t care who he’s harmed as long as he gets what he believes he deserves as this pinnacle of masculinity, the best of the best. He can only become a hero by embracing cruelty and he’d rather be a hero and be remembered by everyone than remembered only by his love, Patroclus: the only person who ever really knew him at all.
I’ll be thinking about this book for awhile. It’s hard not to. It’s so rich and textured. I’m giving this a 4.5 instead a 5, only because I started to grow a bit numb from reading cruelty after cruelty and atrocity after atrocity but I can absolutely recognize that that has nothing to do with Miller’s skill as a writer, and has everything to do with my own personal preferences.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Trafficking, and Outing