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The Song of Achilles: A Novel
Автор: Madeline Miller
Читает Frazer Douglas
Описание
The legend begins...
Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia to be raised in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. "The best of all the Greeks"-strong, beautiful, and the child of a goddess-Achilles is everything the shamed Patroclus is not. Yet despite their differences, the boys become steadfast companions. Their bond deepens as they grow into young men and become skilled in the arts of war and medicine-much to the displeasure and the fury of Achilles' mother, Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals.
When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece, bound by blood and oath, must lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.
Built on the groundwork of the Iliad, Madeline Miller's page-turning, profoundly moving, and blisteringly paced retelling of the epic Trojan War marks the launch of a dazzling career.
Обзоры
Utterly terrific novel, rewarding both emotionally and intellectually.
This book is beautiful and well-written. The author is well-versed in Greek history and mythology, and brings it to life so well, full of the divinity and super powers the old tales contain. It is also a beautiful love story between two men, albeit a tragic one - which you’ll know if you know the story of the Trojan War. I loved the way the author tells the story from Patroclus’s point of view, presents the story of the Iliad from just a little slice of it.
Rather a Hollywood version of Greek history
A nice retelling of Achilles story, but with Patroclus as a main character too. The story is kind of ruined though with the last 70 pages or so that feels so rushed it almost feel the author was tired of writing the story. Too bad, as the story was nicely told before reaching that point.
Not quite as polished and fully realized as Circe, Miller's later novel, but gripping and peopled with compelling, dynamic characters all the same.
Madeline Miller has novelized the story of Achilles, son of human and goddess, legendary warrior, and tragic hero with the requisite tragic flaw. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author is able to take a classic story and illuminate its timelessness. Timeless themes include: Courage, coming of age emotionally and sexually, homosexuality, love, parent/child conflicts, honor, kindness, and yes, of course, destiny. Worth reading!
The Trojan War gets a fresh retelling through the voice of one of Homer's secondary characters, Patroclus. The book explores and expands on his relationship with Achilles from their meeting as young teenagers through the end of the war.The story is a bit predictable due to being an adaptation of course, but the author's additions and twists aren't that hard to see coming either. Still, Patroclus makes for an engaging narrator, and Odysseus always charms during his short supporting scenes. I'll probable check out [book:Circe35959740] just to see if there are more Odysseus bits.The character glossary at the back was surprisingly fun, if only to see how many of the characters from The Iliad got their own spin-off stories starting even in ancient times. Branding, franchises and merchandising have been around forever.
This was more romance novel than a retelling of the story of Achilles and the Trojan War. There was just so much of Patroclus mooning over Achilles that I could take. The writing was fine, but I was bored by a lot of it and really preferred the author's "Circe".
This modern retelling of The Iliad is exactly what a non-Greek classics reader (like me) can appreciate. While I have never read – or cannot recall reading – The Iliad, I have retained enough knowledge of the gods and the story from a junior level mythology course I took back in Uni many, many moons ago, a course I barely scraped through as the subject matter failed to appeal to me. Thankfully, Miller has a gift for presenting Greek mythology in a way that I found captivating to read. Telling the story from Petraclus’ POV, and focusing more on his relationship with Achilles (and keeping the petty antics of the gods more in the background) helped to focus my attention. Yes, the story still has its share of war (hard to write out the 10 year siege of Troy!), death, violent bloodshed, lust and betrayal – can’t really tell a Greek mythology story without those elements being present – it is the focus as a love story that tempers all the “stuff” that I find so annoying about the myths.While the story has not enticed me to want to read more Greek (or Roman) mythology, I look forward to reading more stories penned by Miller.
The Song Of Achilles became a part of my TBR list right after I finished reading Circe. I loved Circe and it is one of my favorite books of 2018. I also enjoyed The Song of Achilles, but not nearly as much. For the ones out there who love greek mythology, this is a book that covers Achilles’s life told from Patroclus’s point of view. It is more or less accurate, and covers a lot of details from the early lives of these two princes. This is a story about one great friendship that turns into something more, a lot of challenges, a lot of doubts, and a lot of choices to be made during a time of war. The story is very fast paced, and I was skipping through the pages as fast as Achilles was killing Trojan warriors. From their childhood, to their growing up, to their adventures and the war, this book will never keep you calm, because every chapter something unexpected happens. Well, sometimes not too much, as I know the story, but even still, I was surprised a lot. A thing that bothered me a lot throughout the whole book was the inaccuracy at some points, and hiding information. Now, we all know that Achilles was immortal. And we all know the story that his mother Thetis, a goddess of water dipped his body into the water in the river Styx. However, she was holding him by the heel, so his heel was the only place where he was vulnerable. This will be the reason of his death, when Apollo would direct Paris’s spear into Achilles’ heel. Now - if this is such a common fact, and everybody who heard about Achilles knows it - why wouldn’t the author include it in the book. It wasn’t mentioned once.. Not once… I found this really upsetting. Moving forward to the characters, we have Patroclus presented as the weaker one, the coward, the person that is mocked by everyone, not loved even by his parents and unworthy. ( Another point that bothered me is that this is not entirely true - according to Homer, Patroclus was apparently wiser than Achilles) On the other hand, we have the opposite - a wise, brave, strong and handsome man, loved by everyone, immortal and a son of a goddess. We have a perfect example for a leader. While fate connect these two to meet from their very early years, they also build a love relationship which they try to hide it at first. This relationship will cause them hatred from Thetis (Achilles’ mom) and will prompt them to make choices that might not be necessarily good ones. Now, Homer never mentioned a pederasty in his works between these two, but Miller does. And I am not sure how I feel about it. Not about the fact that they are gay, but the fact that this is Achilles. All in all, I enjoyed this book. It is a great retelling of the story and a great time capture of the past. It wasn’t anything special, and I didn’t feel heartbroken in the end, but it was definitely worth reading it. I give it three stars - ★★★.
Told by Patroclus, Achilles lover. The story is of Achilles through Patroclus' admiring eyes. It starts with the two as young children in school together, through their training with Chiron, to the 10 year war in Troy, where their mythology legends end as documented. Miller has a way of making Greek Mythology come alive, far more interesting than the books I was forced to read as a child. I read this after Circe which I gave a star more, but still greatly enjoyed just the same. If you want to reacquaint yourself with Greek Mythology but in as a positive experience, read these books. I can't wait for her next one.
I listened to the audiobook. This was an entirely absorbing account of the loving relationship between Achilles and Patroclus from when they were boys throughout the ten years of the Trojan War (although it did induce blushes from time to time when listening in public with headphones on). Miller made these characters complex and real people who developed and became their own men over time. This also reminded me why the story of the Trojan War is such an enduring one (and Odysseus remains my favorite character). The only thing that puzzled me is why she omitted the legend of Achilles' heel, since she does not shy away from including the supernatural, with the gods and the centaur Chiron appearing in the book.
As a trained classicist, Miller has done a remarkable job of writing a prequel to the Illiad focusing upon the homosexual relationship between Achilles and Patroclus which is only hinted at in the Illiad. Engaging and well written, the story is a nuanced telling of a blossoming love between Achilles, the Greek hero, and his boyhood companion, Patroclus, an exiled prince. The novel also explores the love for a child by parents and the rare love between a king and queen in arranged marriages. A prose narrative told from the perspective of Patrolcus makes for an interesting and novel conceit.
The Ancient Greek myth of Achilles is beautifully brought to life for a modern audience through the narrator, Patroclus - Achilles' lover. I'm looking forward to reading more by Miller.
This is a pretty amazing retelling of the Iliad. It was interesting to see things from Patroclus's point of view. And I surprisingly learned a few things that I hadn't already known from other versions of this story. This was by far the best one!
I only picked this up because I saw one of my friends on here talk about it a lot and they seemed to have really loved it, so I just thought 'why not'. I was kind of hesitant because it's not really my genre, I don't usually read mythology, but when I read the first sentence it sucked me in. I just could not put it down.
I absolutely adored the writing style, it was raw and beautiful and appropriate for a book like this. The entire book is just so quotable, and the fact that it's written in first person is one of my favourite things about it, because mythological books are almost never in first person. I could rave about the writing style all day, it's just so brilliant, even reading the quotes on the goodreads page makes my heart ache. Just the writing makes it absolutely worth reading.
I fell in love with Achilles and Patroclus and even the side characters, they all felt very real, and, being one of the few people who have never read the Iliad I appreciated the details and the character glossary at the end. What I loved most about it was the love between Achilles and Patroclus. I can see why some people might not like it but it was what made me devour the entire book in a few days.
Although it got a bit slow during the second half, it was never boring and it actually brought me to tears a few times. It was so amazing that I could talk about it all day and, even though I just finished it I would quite like to re-read it. Right now.
All I can say is that it is an incredible book.
I absolutely adored the writing style, it was raw and beautiful and appropriate for a book like this. The entire book is just so quotable, and the fact that it's written in first person is one of my favourite things about it, because mythological books are almost never in first person. I could rave about the writing style all day, it's just so brilliant, even reading the quotes on the goodreads page makes my heart ache. Just the writing makes it absolutely worth reading.
I fell in love with Achilles and Patroclus and even the side characters, they all felt very real, and, being one of the few people who have never read the Iliad I appreciated the details and the character glossary at the end. What I loved most about it was the love between Achilles and Patroclus. I can see why some people might not like it but it was what made me devour the entire book in a few days.
Although it got a bit slow during the second half, it was never boring and it actually brought me to tears a few times. It was so amazing that I could talk about it all day and, even though I just finished it I would quite like to re-read it. Right now.
All I can say is that it is an incredible book.
Breathtakingly beautiful.
Yes, this pulled me in like Mary Renault's books used to. No, I don't understand why.
I thought this was a lovely book. It tells the story of Achilles, famous Greek hero and demi-god, and Patroclus, exiled prince and love of his life. We follow them from when they first meet as boys, as they train with the centaur Chiron, and finally through the 10 years of the Trojan War. Throughout all of this, they remain devoted to each other; but Achilles' quest for fame and glory in battle inevitably leads to his downfall (ummm, thousand-year-old spoiler?). The passages depicting Achilles' grief over the death of Patroclus are devastating, and the beautiful moments between them before that tragedy, were wonderful to read. I blazed right through this book, and it seemed to grow in my mind and heart after I finished reading it; I stayed up thinking about the story way past my bedtime.
I greatly enjoyed this take on The Illiad and the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles. It was well written, very well paced, and had just the right amount of intimacy. There was a fair amount of mythology woven in, which I appreciated, giving the story a connection to the original work. This book seemed like it was written by Patroclus, and then by his ghost, and was wonderfully sad.
A great adaptation of the Iliad. Pretty much unforgettable. However, any future reader should know there is nudity and sex, because I didn't know until I read it.
I really enjoyed this one. I wasn't sure what to expect, given the red and gold cover, complete with a manly breastplate. I was a bit worried it might be a love story about gentleman, for ladies! It was not.It was a cracking re-telling of a classic love story. Some of the characters were excellent, I was a big fan of Chiron, Patroclus and Achilles. Achilles was a fully rounded complex sort of chap, torn between wanting to live and love Patroclus,and wanting to become a god/legend. It's got good pacing as well, there is no dragging even though it takes a while to even get to Troy. The book managed to maintain intrigue, even though I kinda knew where we were heading all along.I've always been a big fan of the Greek legends, and this book really made one of them spring to life.
Excellent. Both personal and moving. A very approachable story of characters that are typically larger than life.
Absolutely beautiful!
A beautiful new retelling of the Trojan War, from the point of view of Patroclus, Achilles' closest friend and lover. This is the story of their romantic relationship, and it is also the story of Patroclus watching Achilles become the hero of the Greeks. The gods are real in Miller's version, and she weaves them into the story seamlessly and with startling realism. Miller's prose is fluid and beautiful. The last chapters haunted me for days afterwards. She breathes new life into gods, mortals and heroes. I don't think the Trojan War has ever felt so fresh and exciting to me as it did reading Song of Achilles. A perfect novel, and the best book I have read in a long time. Highly recommended.
Miller’s book is narrated by Patroclus. She begins with his childhood: snubbed by his father, who thinks him simple, he has a lonely time of it until, after accidentally killing another boy, he is exiled to Peleus' court in Phthia. Here he meets the king's son Achilles and eventually becomes his companion. From there we move into familiar territory: Cheiron’s teachings on Mount Pelion; the court at Scyros; the mustering of the Greeks at Aulis and the voyage to Troy. Other recent retellings of the myth have shown a tendency to focus on the human side of the conflict and to play down the role of the gods. Miller, on the contrary, simply presents us with the myths in all their original strangeness. Cheiron is actually a centaur; Apollo leans down from the walls of Troy and sends his plague-arrows among the Greeks; and Thetis is a goddess rather than a priestess, as Age of Bronze makes her. She was one of the things I liked best about the book. I’ve always imagined the gods and goddesses as being bright and dazzling, but Miller’s Thetis is a dark, vindictive sea-demon, enveloped by the smell of the surf, sharp-toothed and jealous. I actually felt a wonderful wash of dread whenever she appeared on the scene. Despite my misgivings about putting Greek gods on film, I’d love to see what Guillermo del Toro could do with her.Miller obviously has a thorough knowledge of the period, as she has an MA in Classics, but she wears her learning lightly. I like her emphasis on ritual and protocol, and I thoroughly enjoyed her episode on Scyros – Achilles and the daughters of Lycomedes is one of my favourite subjects in art. Indeed, I have to say that I felt there was much more life to the early part of Miller’s book than there is later on, when (like the Iliad itself), it all seems to boil down to lists of names and gory descriptions of spears breaking through bones. Perhaps it’s because she had a slightly freer imaginative rein at that stage - and, let’s be honest, of all the heroes Achilles has perhaps the most eventful adolescence. Two things niggled, though. I felt that the first half of Miller’s book was heavily influenced by Mary Renault’s Fire From Heaven. The feel of Peleus’ court; the growing friendship between Achilles and Patroclus; the very descriptions of Achilles; they all had a strong family resemblance to Renault’s descriptions of the young Alexander and his relationship with Hephaistion. Having said that, Mary Renault is my benchmark for historical fiction set in Ancient Greece and so the very fact that Miller’s book brought her to mind is high praise. But it just all felt quite similar. (It may be that Miller has never read Fire from Heaven, but I’d be extremely surprised if that were the case.)My other concern was the characterisation of Patroclus. It’s fine when he’s a boy and his role consists mainly of rhapsodising over Achilles with greater or lesser amounts of teenage angst – although parts of this do have the breathless feel of well-written fan-fiction. Later, however, Miller would have us believe that Patroclus is a fairly poor fighter and that his time at Troy is divided between helping the medics and keeping the tent tidy. This, I don’t buy. To the society that Miller describes, such a man would be considered little better than a woman and I would expect her Patroclus to be treated much worse than he is. Instead, everything is explained away by the fact that Achilles is ‘looking after him’. To me, this felt false. One minute Miller’s gentle, home-loving soul is doing his best to stay away from the battlefield; the next he suddenly offers to ride out in Achilles’ armour to strike fear into the hearts of the Trojans. In the Iliad, Patroclus is a respected warrior in his own right, referred to with the word 'illustrious' and quite capable of smashing into the Trojans (he was one of the Myrmidons after all!). So that left me a little bit dissatisfied.Bear in mind that I am an incorrigible nit-picker with historical fiction. Overall this was an enjoyable book, incredibly readable and a welcome retelling of Achilles' story.
Beautiful, The best novel I've read it quite sometime. Even though I knew most of what was going to happen I still was thrilled completely. It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel, the writing is wonderful, poetic. A touching love story, very sad, they way the best love stories always are.
Beautiful narration of a love that defied the passing of time!
Absolutely fantastic - read it! Audio version is an excellent way to enjoy this unforgettable story.
An amazing book and great voice to tell the memories of Achilles and Patroclus.