Madeline
The Song of Achilles is not a typical book I would read. It is a magic filled Greek journey surrounding the lifetime of two boys. That being said, I kept seeing it everywhere and it doesn’t hurt that I share a first name with the author, Madeline Miller.
Premise of The Song of Achilles
The book of The Song of Achilles stars with a young boy, Patroclus, who is born into royalty during ancient Greek times. Because he is small and slow when active and his mother is simple, his father has no interest in his son. So, when he accidentally kills another boy, he is cast off and exiled to another kingdom.
It is in this kingdom that he meets Achilles. At first him and Achilles become best friends and very quickly, they become lovers. As the journey continues, they are later sent off to a bloody war, with his lover in tow that turns into a magic filled Greek journey. Achilles’ mother is a goddess. Achilles is to be the best warrior that ever lived and therefore, he was to practice his skills alone and is brought through the journey of war and concurring.
Reading The Song of Achilles After The Bride Test
I read The Song of Achilles directly after I read The Bride Test. These are two very different books. Different in writing style. Different in story line. And very different in era the story is set. The Song of Achilles is a magic filled Greek journey, where The Bride Test, is very much Chick Literature.
My Experience With Fiction Of This Era
All those movies that came out in the 2000s about Rome and Greek life, think Spartan and 300, do not interest me. Which is no surprise because except for the ripped men, I don’t think I was their demographic.
In addition, I picked up a book a little over a year ago. I had loved The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough and decided to pick up another book of her’s, The First Man in Rome. I did not like this book for a second. I cannot even pretend I liked it and that was one of the reasons it took me till now to pick up anything that is of Roman or Greek era.
Final Thoughts
This is not my kind of book. I enjoyed it and I look forward to reading Madeline’s Miller’s book before this, Circe; however, this will be after reading quite a bit of lighter reads.
