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A review by roksyreads
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
5.0
Let me tell you about my experience reading Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles. I've encountered the story of the Trojan War many times over my 7 years of study in classics. Of course, this was primarily in the form of the Iliad. I was looking forward to reading this a second time, having so enjoyed it the first time. By the end of the first chapter, I was hooked on the writing. This is the most beautifully written book I've had the privilege of reading since Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind and, more recently, Samantha Shannon's The Priory of the Orange Tree.
Now, I'm not an emotional person when it comes to reading books or watching movies. When my friends are sitting beside me bawling their eyes out during a film, there's not a tear in sight on my face - I'm usually sitting there trying not to laugh at them as I pass tissues. The closest I get is maybe one little tear welling but not falling. Basically, I'm Officer Earl Devereaux from Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.
That is until I finished The Song of Achilles.
For the last, say, 30 pages - maybe more - I was an emotional mess. Even knowing what happens, even knowing how the story of Achilles and Patroclus ends in the ancient tradition, even having read this for the first time only 7 months ago, I couldn't stop tears from streaming down my face.It wasn't Patroclus' death and Achilles' mourning, nor even Achilles' death. It certainly is heartbreaking that while their ashes are united, Patroclus remains stuck as a spirit; he begs for his name to be inscribed with Achilles', but those who could resist his plight. But no, it's none of those things that makes me bawl. It is because Achilles' mother, Thetis, the one who hated Patroclus from the very beginning, comes through for her son's lifelong companion and lover:
'I have done it,' she says. At first I do not understand. But then I see the tomb, and the marks she has made on the stone. ACHILLES, it reads. And beside it, PATROCLUS.
'Go,' she says. 'He waits for you.' (pp. 351-2)
She doesn't simply relent - she could ignore Patroclus for eternity if she wanted to. No, she chooses to unite them in their afterlife - she chooses <b>love</b>.
So, to Madeline Miller, thank you. I am reminded more forcefully than ever the power of ancient stories. That such a story of trials, love, and mourning can still resonate some 3,000 years after it was first told in the oral tradition is truly epic.
Now, I'm not an emotional person when it comes to reading books or watching movies. When my friends are sitting beside me bawling their eyes out during a film, there's not a tear in sight on my face - I'm usually sitting there trying not to laugh at them as I pass tissues. The closest I get is maybe one little tear welling but not falling. Basically, I'm Officer Earl Devereaux from Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.
That is until I finished The Song of Achilles.
For the last, say, 30 pages - maybe more - I was an emotional mess. Even knowing what happens, even knowing how the story of Achilles and Patroclus ends in the ancient tradition, even having read this for the first time only 7 months ago, I couldn't stop tears from streaming down my face.
'I have done it,' she says. At first I do not understand. But then I see the tomb, and the marks she has made on the stone. ACHILLES, it reads. And beside it, PATROCLUS.
'Go,' she says. 'He waits for you.' (pp. 351-2)
She doesn't simply relent - she could ignore Patroclus for eternity if she wanted to. No, she chooses to unite them in their afterlife - she chooses <b>love</b>.
So, to Madeline Miller, thank you. I am reminded more forcefully than ever the power of ancient stories. That such a story of trials, love, and mourning can still resonate some 3,000 years after it was first told in the oral tradition is truly epic.