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ly6's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The prose is absolutely beautiful—there's a reason there's so many iconic quotes. I ended up loving Achilles, Patroclus, and their relationship so much, which is a feat because I normally don't care about book characters. The hundreds of parallels and foreshadowing, which makes me die even more inside when I realized the book is Patroclus recalling his memories to Thetis. How the book shifts from past to present tense after his death. How the book is called "The Song of Achilles" despite his love for music rarely getting brought up after the first half, and how the wooden sculpture of a boy playing a lyre that Patroclus made for him gets lost too.
I know some people have their criticisms about how they toned down the horrible things Achilles did and instead added them to other characters in order to glorify their relationship, but I understand why Miller had to do this. I don't think a main character in a book intended for the average and modern audience can ever get away with SA. Achilles is still almost a morally black character with that removed.
Ah, Achilles. I have never felt as mixed of an emotion about a character ever, but he's both incredibly infuriating and so interesting to study under a microscope. I understood why he chose to be remembered after death by strangers over his life because he was brought up to be the <i>Aristos Achaion</i> his entire life. You can see the impact of this since the very first page he was introduced, since we even knew his name. I was also intrigued by how he was grieving over Agamemnon killing his daughter in front of him but the second he kills his first Trojan, he was loving it. It's like he always had an inner monster, his killing machine self inside of him, just waiting to be unleashed despite his cheerful exterior. The way his father told him to dehumanize his victims to kill them but he didn't think at all when he did. How he casually talks about killing Briseis' and Hector's wife's family and how he pressed against Patroclus after he killed 12 people on his first day. It's like his body moves without thinking. But then he sits out of the war and purposely urges the gods to help the Trojans' side because Agamemnon insulted his pride. I'll admit, that's because I want their bad decisions to be mainly their fault. If I pick his brain a little bit, I can sympathize with how he was promised that the war wouldn't go on for too long and that he would be the judge of himself, but then Agamemnon fucked it all up. I think it's interesting how he defended Patroclus against those who don't think he's worthy but then he starts getting more and more egotistical because of praise.
But that's the thing, isn't it? It was always doomed to happen, unless they were different people completely. They would always make the same decisions, no matter how dumb they would be.
Some of my favorite moments:
- Their first kiss and how Patroclus described it as "the fat bodies of bees"
- "Is it not a sort of genius to cut always to the heart?"
- Patroclus kissing a bloody Achilles to let Briseis know they won't hurt her because of the language barrier
- Patroclus begging Achilles and pulling out the "if you loved me" card but Achilles loved his pride more than Patroclus
- Their last interaction was a goodbye kiss and handhold
- Patroclus almost becoming Achilles' alter ego when he donned his armor, maybe because he used to be jealous of him and watched him from afar
- Patroclus climbing the walls of Troy like Sisyphus out of sheer determination to end the war and save Achilles' life, even though he once said it looks so high, nobody could possibly ever climb it
- Achilles' first instinct to realizing Patroclus died was to cut his throat and rip his hair out
- Achilles wrapping Patroclus' corpse in a blanket and putting him on their bed despite them both smelling
- Briseis cleaning Patroclus' corpse, Achilles getting possessive, and him yelling at her
- "There are no bargains between lion and men. I will kill you and eat you raw."
- Achilles wanting to die but his body wouldn't let him until he finally did, smiling as his face struck the earth
- Patroclus haunting everyone's dreams and Achilles' grave because sleep is so similar to death
Thanks to this book for making me fall back into my Greek Mythology phase and consuming every possible media of them. I truly will love them in every universe.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and War
Moderate: Bullying, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, and Torture
Minor: Pregnancy
littlepaw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and War
fakeppy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War
Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Rape, Blood, and Medical trauma
uselesspirateraven's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
oplu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Outing, and War
Minor: Pregnancy
majestictrilobite's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
inkwellimps's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Moderate: Medical content and Sexual harassment
Minor: Bullying, Gore, and Grief
Child death refers toel_wheel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Rape, and Fire/Fire injury
echolliot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, and War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Classism
chrisljm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Madeline Miller is a beautiful writer and I did enjoy her retelling of this myth, but I didn't find it to be particularly remarkable.
I think the thing I found most puzzling was Patroclus' inclination towards saving women from being war trophies when this was very much a sociopolitical norm during this period in time. Of course that's not to say I wanted to see more scenes of women being brutalized or that it's impossible for there to be any person during this period to disagree with such practices, but I think when making the decision to have that be one of the main characters in this myth for the purpose of having a more likable protagonist, it becomes a story that lacks the social and cultural context of the historical myths by changing certain themes to fit modern sensibilities.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Minor: Child abuse and Alcohol