Review: Madeline Miller's The Song Of Achilles book by Fourth Dimension Club

Madeline Miller retells the story of the greatest Greece hero "Achilles" from the point of view of his best friend Patroclus while sticking true to the Greek legends. The Song of Achilles, Miller's debut novel, was released in September 2011. The book took her ten years to write.

Author:

Miller was born on July 24, 1978 in Boston and grew up in New York City and Philadelphia. is an American novelist, whose debut novel was The Song of Achilles. Miller spent ten years writing the book while she worked as a Latin and Greek teacher. The novel, set in Greece, tells the story of the love between Achilles and Patroclus.

The Song of Achilles won the Orange prize for Fiction, making Miller the fourth debut novelist to win the prize.

After graduating from Brown University with a bachelor's and master's in Classics (2000 and 2001, respectively), Miller then went on to teach Latin, Greek and Shakespeare to high school students. She also studied for a year at the University of Chicago's Committee and Social Thought toward a PhD and from 2009 to 2010 at the Yale School of Drama for an MFA in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism. As of May 2012 Miller lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts teaching and writing.

Review:

Taking inspiration from Iliad, Miler passionately written the love story of Achilles and Patroclus. The story starts with Patroclus and sticks with his point of view through out the novel and ends with him. We all heard or read about the great stories of Greece, Persia, Sparta and the famous Troy war. Reading this modern retelling brought back the nostalgia of my childhood remembering all the epic heroes and gods of the Trojan war.

To be frank, I never heard of Patroclus or the love angle of Achilles before picking this book. It's quite refreshing to learn about the friendship and love story of these two. The writing is beautiful and crisp through out the book making us to turn each page impatiently. It may feel a little slow and boring at the start but the pace speeds up and makes you to cling to it till the last.

“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.”

Through out the book Patroclus praises and worships Achilles and his well built body. The romantic discussions between them make you smile and blush a little. It's written beautifully, the relationship between them, their funny plays and quirks.

“We were like gods at the dawning of the world, & our joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other.”

We all know how the story ends, Achilles ends up participating in the Trojan war and at last dies in the hands of Paris, son of King Priam and making the prophecy true. But what about Patroclus ? What about the love story ?

Well, you should read the book to enjoy it and experience the beautiful heart ache it leaves you with.

The climax is well written and it leaves you with a shade of bitter taste and at the same time unlocks huge barricade in your heart. I felt really happy that I picked this book and went through all the familiar names while revisiting the beautiful and legendary land of Greece and Sparta.

In the darkness, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out of the sun.”

I recommend you to pick this book and enjoy it with a hot tea or coffee. A rainy day is perfect for this beautifully written book.

My rating : 4/5

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