The Song of Achilles

I've always been fascinated by the battle of Troy. There are so many different ways to tell that story, yet this one is completely new to me. Rather than following Achilles, this one follows in the first-person from Patroclus point of view, digging into his complicated relationship with Achilles. While the movie Troy does a great job of telling many things, it portrays Achilles much differently than Homer does in The Illiad. “The Song of Achilles” leans closer to Homers telling, shedding light on the secret affairs, dark prophecies and battle of egos.

This is literally a song of Achilles, all from the point of view of a doting, soft Patroclus - Achilles' childhood friend then lover. He waxes poetic about Achilles throughout the book and it gets a little grating, especially because it's all in his narration and he never actually says these things to Achilles himself.

Patroclus life is hard from the jump with a hateful father and a distant, insane mother (described constantly as simple or stupid). After he accidentally kills a nobleman's son over some dice he was given, he is sent into exile to Achilles' father's palace. The reason he ends up here is a little confusing if you don't already know the details of the legend, but it saves him in many ways. Achilles is quick to make a friend of Patroclus, probably out of curiosity as Patroclus is a very quite, broken child, reeling still from the accidental murder. Only after a few years and they're best friends does Patroclus risk a kiss on Achilles, but Achilles has gay panic and runs off - and, while they remain friends, they never speak of it. It's not until they're 16 and off training in the mountains with the ancient centaur Chiron that they finally come together as lovers. Achilles' demi-god/sea nymph mother Thetis is constantly meddling in their lives, thinking she's saving Achilles from his fate. She's described as something like the mermaids in Harry Potter and Patroclus is understandably afraid of her. It's her fault that Achilles' ends up in another kingdom, disguised as a dancing girl. There's a time jump here between them on the mountain and then Patroclus finding Achilles in this situation and I missed the why's and how's, but it's mostly Thetis' meddling. They're still found by the Greek generals and forced into service after Helen is "kidnapped." The middle of the book is mostly spent on ships or camping trying to get to Troy to fight and is honestly Boring. I don't think I would have kept going if I was reading this myself and not half-listening to the audiobook while working.Now, if you're like me and most of your knowledge of this comes from the 2004 Hollywood film "Troy" then this is where you'll start to recognize things - only it's from Patroclus' (Garret Hedlund's) POV so you see more of what Agamemnon and Achilles and the Spartans, etc. were up to outside the walls of Troy instead of the Trojans' side of things. The story of Troy with Paris, Hector, and Helen is actually pretty boring to me, because it's just a bunch of stupid adults acting like children and the gods putting their hand in things they shouldn't give two shits about, but seeing the other side kept me a little more engaged. The only issue is that since it's from Patroclus' POV who doesn't really fight until they breach Troy so you have to get through him being a camp wife for way too many chapters. He makes friends with the stolen Trojan women and doesn't do much else. At this point, I wish the book switches between Achilles' and Patroclus' POVs so we could get a little more action and see what's going on during the battle but alas. In the first battle of Troy, Patroclus has enough time to stare at the glistening, straining muscles of his boyfriend killing Trojans with a spear instead of doing any actual fighting himself. This is where the title of the book really lives up to itself and it gets a little nauseating. After this, instead of fighting, Patroclus is sent to the medical tent and it's interesting to hear how battle wounds may have been treated in these times. He was taught by Chiron in herbal medicine as well as fighting during his time in the mountains so this serves him here. This becomes his role in the camp as the years go on. Besides this brief stint in a single chapter, there's a whole lot of sitting around though. I guess that's why the war goes on for 10 years.It's at this point that you realise there's still a whole quarter of the book left and you despair.Almost everything after that point is politics and Achilles being a big baby guided by revenge until he's finally dead himself. The last quarter of the book is still from the now-dead Patroclus' POV but he's this floating spirit waiting for Achilles and then who's left to bury him, watching everything happen around him, only able to talk to demi-humans like Thetis. This is "canon" from the original Iliad but after over 7 hours of the book, I was ready to give up the ghost (pun intended).

Overall, I definitely wouldn't have finished this book if I had been reading it on my own. It's like a really dense high fantasy novel. The best parts are the small moments of interaction between our two main characters but those are only sprinkled in-between long bouts of battle and politics. This is a book that doesn't really fit into one genre - it's a romance, a military epic, high fantasy, and a coming-of-age tale at different moments. It's also ridiculously long and since I already knew the basic plot and how it ends, I was pretty bored through whole chapters. I'm not big on Greek mythos and that's kind of required. But it's definitely well written and Miller obviously knows her stuff (she has a MA in classics so yeah) so it will surely please people interested in all of that, as attested by the high rating and awards.

I listened to the Audible version narrated by Frazer Douglas. I'm pretty picky with voices which is why I don't really get through audiobooks easily but Douglas' voice was very nice and engaging. Note that there are graphic and sexually explicit scenes, both M/M and F/M, so not one you'd really want to listen to while in the office.

Madeline Miller’s second book, Circe, is a book I really liked. I blew through it in a single day, because it was one of those books I just could not put down. I liked the ethereal, aloof, otherworldly character of Circe, whom I thought was very well-written as a character not-quite-of-this-earth. The whole thing felt strange, foreign, peculiar, which seemed appropriate. In The Song of Achilles, I learn that this is just how Madeline Miller writes her protagonists. And although very appropriate for a half-goddess recluse mystic, it’s less appropriate for an ancient twink. There is some good gay longing in this book, though. From Chapter 5:

“He was like a flame himself. He glittered, drew eyes. There was a glamour to him, even on waking, with his hair tousled and his face still muddied with sleep. Up close, his feet looked almost unearthly: the perfectly formed pads of the toes, the tendons that flickered like lyre strings.”

I have respect for the boldness of spirit and enterprising nature that it takes for a NYT best-selling book about Ancient Greek fan-fiction to give Patroclus from the Illiad a foot fetish. Like Cirice and Lavinia, this is a feminist re-telling of something plucked out of the world of classical antiquity, re-writing Achilles and Patroclus as kind of sympathetic pre-allies for their treatment of Briseis and their burgeoning throuple status. Despite some highlights and some genuinely emotionally charged moments, I generally didn’t like this book. It’s written to be so flighty, so aloof, and so unearthly. It feels too light.

Updated Review
I absolutely have no rational reason for not having read this book till now. It's been on my TBR for more than an year, I own the book in three different formats and I knew I would love it. So, I really don't know what was stopping me, except maybe that I didn't want my heart to be broken. And I also recently watched the TV show Troy on Netflix, so I decided to read the book finally while some of the characters names were still fresh in my mind.

I am one of those readers who likes my books to be written in a simple way, poetic language and purple prose doesn't really work for me and I have DNFd quite a few books for being written that way. However, this book was a pleasant surprise. The author's writing is the definition of poetic but I fell in love with the beauty of it. The development of the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles, the tenderness and unconditional nature of their friendship and love is just so all encompassing that I felt every single emotion that they felt. While the first half deals with this progression, the second half was about the Trojan War. However, the author manages to finely balance this and provides enough action to keep us on the edge of our seats but the relationship is always at the forefront.

I frankly have no words to describe the characters. Patroclus is such a good person and after having been exiled by his father, his whole life literally revolves around Achilles. He does everything he can to ensure Achilles gets the honor and fame that he wants, whatever the consequences might be for himself and his love. I loved him right from the get go and seeing Achilles from his perspective, it's difficult not to fall in love with him too. However, we also see the change in Achilles, how he can't really escape his fate and how much role his own hubris plays in his downfall, but through all of it, Patroclus's love for him never wavers and that kind of love is only possible in myths.

I am sorry everyone, I have no clue what I am writing here. I think I just don't have words to review how much I loved this book. This book is an embodiment of knowing what the ending is but still reading the book because the journey is magical. I cried and cried towards the end and had to take a break from reading for a couple of days because I couldn't get it out of my head. If you enjoy mythology or a great love story, then I highly recommend this one. It might be a Greek tragedy, but I promise you, the experience is worth it.

Initial thoughts
I'm too busy weeping right now...😭😭😭😭😭
RTC when I'm able to...

Madeline Miller has such a way with language. She makes epic legends both true to their roots, and completely accessible for a modern audience. Part of that is due to the intensely personal connections she draws within these stories. Coming to care about a character, then watching him grow up and fall deeply in love, then seeing the horrible challenges the world sends against that love - it connects much more viscerally than Homer does.

Ultimately this didn't reach 5 stars from me because I wasn't always keen to see what happens next. I guess that's due to a prophecy that comes out about halfway through, and on a meta level because I know the story of the fall of Troy. When I read Circe, I knew the beats from the Odyssey, but there was still a lot of mystery about where the story would go from there. Here, we all know pretty much what's going to happen.

I will say though, that Miller uses a pitch-perfect technique to tie the story together at the end, and I can't deny getting a little weepy (in a good way) at the very end.

Y'all... this story is so beautiful. And beautiful doesn't even feel like the right word. I haven't completely processed this story but I immediately want to read it again. The last 30 or so pages are full of the most gut-wrenching things I've ever read. I ugly cried for a while after finishing this and the last time this happened was when I read The Green Mile last year. 

Name one hero who was happy...They Never let you be famous AND happy... I'm going to be the first

I had a good time with this one. I think the best choice that Miller makes is definitely centering the book on Patroclus rather than Achilles. Doing so means we get this lack of understanding of Achilles himself which results in a sense of otherness from him giving him that feeling of being “more than” and slightly above humans like Patroclus. This choice did surprise me at first as I had assumed it would’ve been from Achilles POV and then towards the last few chapters was surprised that we stuck with the Patroclus POV.

Another benefit to the focus on Patroclus for me was that when you get to the section of the book that focuses on the battle of Troy, it’s a lot more grounded and smaller scale that you’d expect, focusing more on individuals at camp rather than the battle itself which I appreciated.

Following the stubbornness of Achilles and watching him struggle with the idea of his death and being remembered could be frustrating at times but you always understood where is was coming from and it kept things compelling throughout for me.

It’s impressive just how quickly Miller was able to make me hate Pyrrhus though. Pops up for the last chapter or two and is insufferable the whole time.

I was reading this book on the T when a girl came up to me and said that The Song of Achilles was one of her favourite books; she liked it so much that she even got a tattoo of it!

I was hesitant to read it at first because I read Madeline Miller's Circe and thought it was kinda meh, but I'm glad I finally read this because this turned out to be such a wonderfully written re-telling of the Iliad. 10/10 would recommend!

I was reading this book on the T when a girl came up to me and said that The Song of Achilles was one of her favourite books; she liked it so much that she even got a tattoo of it!

I was hesitant to read it at first because I read Madeline Miller's Circe and thought it was kinda meh, but I'm glad I finally read this because this turned out to be such a wonderfully written re-telling of the Iliad. 10/10 would recommend!

5/5 stars “We were like gods at the dawning of the world, and out joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other.”

For the past three months or so, my heart has been longing for a book such as this. I wanted a fictional book that an action-packed history lesson, but also had LGTBQ themes. Books like this seem pretty hard to come by, and I can only read Rick Riordan's book so much before I had to force myself out of the YA category. I knew I had to get my hands on the Song of Achilles pretty soon. So the second I saw this for only $4 on my local bookstore's Bargain Book section, it was in my basket and ready to go home with me. It only took me a month to make time to read it, which is pretty quick compared to some of the books I have sitting on my bookshelf.

The writing had me sucked in at the first sentence. I instantly longed to know everything about Patroclus and impatiently awaited the appearance of Achilles. When they finally did meet, I then had to wait for the romance to bloom. And as I waited, I became overly attached to every character.

The first half was an easy five stars for me, and I thought the rest of this book would be pretty much around the same rating. Then the middle part happened, up until almost the end, when I felt like nothing new was happening. They fought. A year past. They fought some more. I was getting so bored, skipping over paragraphs in search of something exciting to happen. I was almost on the verge of putting this book down and finishing it a week or so from now, and if it wasn't for the characters I loved so much, I probably would have. The rating went down from 5 stars to 4. I wasn't sure if the book could redeem itself.

But, as you can tell by my rating, the book did. I'm at a lost for words to describe that ending, but it made my heart feel so many things. I don't think I have ever-or will ever-reading a conclusion quite like that. And I loved it. I loved every minute of that ending. It easily brought the rating back up to the 5 stars this book so humbly deserves, and made the middle of this book worth the agony.

My heart is still broken though. I don't know if I can ever find a way to heal it.

This might be the first page-turner I've read in a long time, I legit had to pace myself to enjoy it longer. The romance is passionate and real, the mythmaking is exactly the kind of pulp I'm into. I'm embarrassed to say that this is the first book I've read that predominantly features an LGBT romance, but I'm happy to say it won't be the last

this is what i wanted out of the percy jackson series tbh

blasted through this in a day unexpectedly because it was pretty much impossible to put down. despite knowing the story by heart, i was completely entranced by this story and how the author retold it. btw, i totally knew patroclus and achilles were gay when i took a greek mythology class and i'm really glad madeline miller is affirming my suspicions

I really love Miller's writing style. She manages to make things feel epic, but still focuses on small moments. There's a distant detachment at the description of certain scenes, and then very personal, emotional stories.

The characters are well known and play towards their archetypes, but she adds in little twists and depths to them that make them come to life. I particularly love the way that she depicts Odysseus both here and in Circe.

Reading this after Circe though, I did not find it quite as compelling. While the central romance is certainly core to the story, it's not really engaging during the middle section, though it is well paid off in the end.

At certain points I just couldn't put it down though, the urgency of the battle scenes and the desperation of the characters really come though. I'm excited to see what Miller decides to do next.

Greek tragedies are something else, aren't they? For all the talk of glory, there is little triumph. At one point in this story, Achilles tells Patroclus that he's going to be the first hero to do the unthinkable - be happy. As the reader, we are cursed in knowing that that will not be case.

The story of Achilles, in all his glory, arrogance and beauty, is told from the point of view of his lover, Patroclus. From an exiled prince to the companion of a godling, Patroclus is loyal but not uncritical of Achilles. Relentlessly, he fights for him - to remain by his side when his sea nymph mother tries to separate them, to maintain his honor when Achilles' own hubris threatens it. Even when a prophecy foretells of Achilles' short life, he never gives up on him. I was worried for a bit that this was the kind of story where a mediocre man spends all his time admiring and following around a greater man. And that is kind of how it goes for a bit. So I was grateful when, though late in the story, Patroclus starts coming into his own. He's not a great soldier, nor is he a clever strategist or politician. He is merely a good person, and as the Trojan War wages, he and many others begin to acknowledge that. This growth is not insignificant - in the first half of the book Patroclus can seem selfish, small-minded, and not always the smartest. But while greatness weighs on Achilles and twists his good heart, Patroclus grows in the face of it. That's a journey that we don't often get to see.

This book is sensual and loving. It reminded me a lot of the Red Rising series in its sincerity, which might have something to do with the Greco-Roman influences in Pierce Brown's writing. I appreciate the fact that Miller doesn't try to make you understand Achilles and Patroclus' romance or even their friendship. Why a beautiful godling would fall in love with a rejected, failed prince - it doesn't matter. I also enjoyed the way she writes the great figures of Greek mythology - Odysseus with all his charm and cleverness, Agamemnon in all his pride. I liked that though this was a very grounded book, the gods were also very present. And I liked that it did not glorify battle, because the point of all this in the end is that while Achilles may have been built for war, it was not who he was. But Patroclus was the only one who knew that.

This is sad though. The war is a miserable one, as we all know, and none of our heroes are spared. But this is a powerful read. Like reading someone's heart bared on a page, it is honest and true.