My Review of The Song of Achilles #TuesdayBookBlog #AmReading #BookAddict

The Song of Achilles was o[image error]ur April book club read. Although I like Greek mythology, I was hesitant to read this one. I can never remember all the different myths and boy are there a lot of Greek Gods. Who can keep them all apart? Add in the demi-gods and the characters from the Odyssey and you have a recipe for confusion – at least in my humble opinion.

Not only did I thoroughly enjoy The Song of Achilles, but I also found myself flipping through pages much faster than expected. Miller’s writing has a simplistic quality to it, which pulled me into the story and made reading a delight. She also has a way of sneaking in facts about the myths, which us mere mortals tend to forget, without sounding like she’s the teacher we know she is.

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In The Song of Achilles, Miller has made Patroclus, a minor character of Greek mythology, into the storyteller. Instead of a story about the great Achilles and his fighting prowess, we get a love story. A story about a man who will follow his love anywhere, including war.

[image error]Our book club struggled with Miller’s description of the Trojan War. Although the war lasted ten years and there was incredible suffering, including rape, pillaging, and death, the suffering was glossed over in the novel. Personally, I wasn’t as bothered by this as the others. Miller did not write a story about war. She wrote a love story. And, as a love story, it was beautiful. I did struggle to understand what in the world Patroclus saw in the self-obsessed demi-god Achilles. But that’s how love is. It doesn’t see the imperfections.

Another issue our book club had was the lack of women in the story. Any women in the story are minor characters. They are obviously unimportant except for use as a sacrifice or war prize. My female-only book club didn’t like this one bit. I get where they’re coming from. I do. Really. But I’m fairly certain that most men in those times thought of women in the same way. It’s unfortunate, but this is a story told from a man’s point of view.

I recommend this novel to anyone having even the slightest of interests in Greek mythology.