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A review by allbutterbiscuit
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
5.0
I had been in a reading slump when I read this book and immediately got pulled in by the writing. "The Iliad" was probably my least favorite of the books I had to read for high school English class because so much of it felt like a play-by-play of a sportsball game (please don't come for me, classics majors) where characters you don't know or care about are spearing each other to death. All you get to relate to them is their lineage and which gods are rooting for them. Out of all the spear tossing, I did remember being shocked by Achilles' heinous war crimes after defeating Troy and thinking something must have seriously broken him. I read "Song of Achilles" as the story leading up to that moment, which gives a compelling interpretation of the characters and their motivations.
Patroclus and Achilles both had daddy/mommy issues but dealt with them in very different ways. Patroclus was a perpetual disappointment to his father, a mean and small man who did not protect his own. This led him to hold love above all else. Achilles was disappointingly mortal and a reminder to his mother of her darkest moment. He chose to seek the image of immortality she created for him, and only fully realizes the cost when he loses Patroclus.
I also like that the book explored different forms of love through Achilles and Patroclus, Chiron and Briseis. I'm a sucker for the gathering figs and swimming in the sun with Chiron in his rose quartz cave Pelion training sequence chapters of this book. Every time a trumpet appeared, emotional pain ensued.
Achilles' choice made me reflect quite a bit. At first blush, eating bread on an island surrounded by my loved ones seemed like the obvious choice compared to dying in battle. I wanted to shake him and tell him to be less stupid. It's how I felt when I first read about Orpheus as he's tempted to look back at Eurydice. But Miller does a good job making Achilles' choice believable, and I get why he went to war the same way I now get why Orpheus turns around. Beyond the central love story, the acceptance of your true nature and fate feel like major themes that tie this book together.
Patroclus and Achilles both had daddy/mommy issues but dealt with them in very different ways. Patroclus was a perpetual disappointment to his father, a mean and small man who did not protect his own. This led him to hold love above all else. Achilles was disappointingly mortal and a reminder to his mother of her darkest moment. He chose to seek the image of immortality she created for him
I also like that the book explored different forms of love through Achilles and Patroclus, Chiron and Briseis. I'm a sucker for the gathering figs and swimming in the sun with Chiron in his rose quartz cave Pelion training sequence chapters of this book. Every time a trumpet appeared, emotional pain ensued.