From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…

The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller

Start date: March 1, 2021

Finish date: March 31, 2021

Discussion: 2021 Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: March 2021 group read for "a book that won the Women's Prize for fiction"…more
[close] March 2021 group read for "a book that won the Women's Prize for fiction"

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What Members Thought

Feb 06, 2020 Lydia Presley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020

I read Circe a few weeks ago. That made me immediately request The Song of Achilles from my library. After finishing it last night I can officially say that I'm a fan.

I've been waiting for years to find novels that do justice to the beautiful stories of Greek legend. Miller not only updates these stories for current times, she does so in a way that doesn't lose the heart of the stories.

I don't have much more to say about it. I'm just a huge fan and the hype that Miller gets is completely deserve ...more

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Mar 09, 2012 Chinoiseries rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mythology, library, orange-prize, 2012

Recent years have seen the creation of several adaptations and spin-offs of the Iliad and the Odyssey. An example worth mentioning: the Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood featuring a pensive Penelope who, from beyond the grave, recounts her life by depicting a different version of Helen's kidnapping and the subsequent war. I also liked the Ilium/Olympos set by Dan Simmons, in which the old tales are played out once more on a future Mars, with the use of (bio)technology.
The Iliad sings of Achille Recent years have seen the creation of several adaptations and spin-offs of the Iliad and the Odyssey. An example worth mentioning: the Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood featuring a pensive Penelope who, from beyond the grave, recounts her life by depicting a different version of Helen's kidnapping and the subsequent war. I also liked the Ilium/Olympos set by Dan Simmons, in which the old tales are played out once more on a future Mars, with the use of (bio)technology.
The Iliad sings of Achilles' heroic deeds and his prophecised demise. In Homer's epic, he is portrayed as a sullen, unwilling and above all self-centered hero. Not so in this adaption, which includes a prologue, then takes us straight to the height of his fame... and to his inevitable death. Through Patroclus' adoring eyes, we see Achilles as a boy, easing into manhood, who readily chooses the fame/early death option over old age and obscurity. The Song of Achilles is a soulmate's plea for understanding, for seeing more in the ill-fated hero than the cockiness and stubbornness that are immortalised on paper. As Achilles' advocate, Patroclus shows us the playful, sensitive and insecure human in him, a young boy who grows to accept the consequences of his choice. Miller has truly done a magical job in capturing the contradictions in his character: on the one hand, he is Aristos Achaion, the best of the Greeks, a skilled and cold-blooded warrior surpassed by no other (half-)human. But on the other hand, his love and loyalty to Patroclus run deep and there is kindness in his actions. The beautiful Briseis, is not a bed-slave but rather a girl saved from Agammemnon's cruel appetites and kept under Achilles' and Patroclus' protection. The terrible events that are to take place are set in motion by a begrudging and jealous Agammemnon. How is the son of sea nymph Thetis expected to react, other than to defend his name and reputation (for which he gave up longevity and happiness, remember)?
Every single page tugged at my heartstrings and, as I rooted for Patroclus' and Achilles' happiness, I kept hoping that somehow the story would end differently, their wretched fates rewritten by one God or another. Of course the author stayed true to the main storyline, but I did find some comfort in the fact that both of them knew what was coming and how they made the best of every remaining minute. Achilles, so it appears, was more human than god after all.

"'Ask her', [Odysseus] said. 'Ask your mother what she knows.'
Achilles swallowed, loud in the silent chamber. He met his mother's black eyes. 'Is it true, what he says?'
The last of her fire was gone; only marble remained. 'It is true. But there is more, and worse that he has not said.' The words came tonelessly, as a statue would speak them. 'If you go to Troy, you will never return. You will die a young man there.'
Achilles' face went pale. 'Is it certain?'
This is what all mortals ask first, in disbelief, shock, fear. Is there no exception for me?
'It is certain.'
If he had looked at me then, I would have broken. I would have begun to weep and never stopped. But his eyes were fixed on his mother. 'What should I do?' he whispered.
The slightest tremor, over the still water of her face. 'Do not ask me to choose,' she said. And vanished."

The Song of Achilles

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Jun 06, 2019 Jess rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019

I enjoyed this book a lot, simply as a piece of storytelling - the characters are compelling, the plot moves quickly, the writing is beautiful. As a translation / interpretation of myth, it's perfect.

However, I had a nagging annoyance in the back of my brain the entire time I was reading it due to how neatly Miller's romance falls in to modern tropes of gay love - love despite everything trying to keep the characters apart, disapproving parents, a 'nobody' character in love with the perfect jock ...more

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Apr 15, 2021 Joanne rated it it was amazing

I wasn't expecting to cry. This was the end of a book journey for me and it cut me. I'm glad I didn't start here, but ended, and ended up still loving the greek journey.
Again - lost myself in the story and angry and frustrated. Amazing ...more

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Jun 04, 2020 Melissa Rochelle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2020, historical-fiction, gods

Escape covid-19 by visiting Ancient Greece! Those wacky heroes and their meddling gods. But seriously, this is such a believable re-telling of a mythological life.

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Nov 29, 2018 Christina, Join Me on Storygraph! rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-recommend, 2018

As a "Latin scholar," we translated the Iliad... or at least the first few pages of it. Having loved my Latin teacher, I was thrilled to learn of this story written by a Classics teacher and I was not disappointed. This story showed so much love for the characters of Patroclus and Achilles that the reader has no choice to do the same. ...more

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