The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller

The Song of Achilles is a retelling of The Iliad, but that does not do the book justice. Achilles' story is told from the perspective of his closest friend and companion, Patroclus, the prince of Opus. Patroclus is exiled when he is only nine, and is sent to Phthia to be raised by Achilles' father, King Peleus. Although Patroclus is one of many young exiles fostered by Peleus, Achilles forms a special friendship with him, and their bond grows stronger with time, and eventually they become lovers. I do not want to spoil more, but I will say that if you know of The Iliad or really anything about Achilles' life, then you more or less know the plot of the book.

I absolutely loved this book. I am writing this review immediately after finishing it, and I am speechless. I don't know what to say except that this book is phenomenal and it is one of (or possibly the only) book I have ever cried over. I am so glad that I decided to take on this book review project simply because it pushed me to finally read this book.

It was fantastic. I know I'm repeating myself, but I spent a good five minutes sitting numb after finishing this novel, so really it's a miracle I can even form coherent sentences. The writing was amazing. Miller clearly knows so, so much about Greek myths and culture (which she should, since she studied it) but she avoids the pitfall that so may authors fall into: going into excessive detail to flaunt their knowledge. She doesn't add unnecessary explanations (except for one point where Patroclus mentions how in the Greek words have different genders - I think anyone who has studied any language other than English  knows that). I can easily see how someone without any real knowledge of Greek mythology would understand what's going on and enjoy the story. Having studied Latin for the past eight years and been fascinated with Greek mythology for 15 years, I really appreciated how smoothly the explanations and terms flowed with the story. Patroclus frequently comments on Greek culture, which may sound irritatingly like SparkNotes to some, but he seemed like such an observer (an exile, no longer a prince, a shadow to Achilles' flame, the quiet soldier who dislikes fighting and prefers medicine) that it felt appropriate.

And the story was amazing. The characters were people with flaws and you loved them all the more for it (except for Agamemnon). Miller gave such life to the people who were so pale in Homer's works. She spent ten years writing The Song of Achilles. Ten. The care and detail that went into writing this book is truly mind-blowing.

And it's so cool because there have always debates over whether or not Patroclus and Achilles' relationship was romantic or strictly platonic. The ancient Greeks fought over it. It's wonderful. I love it. I love this book. I don't know what else to say. Read it.

Some other reviews you might like:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/books/review/the-song-of-achilles-by-madeline-miller.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/off-the-shelf-/the-song-of-achilles-a-fo_b_11184848.html
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/22/the-song-of-achilles-madeline-miller


(And this is her first book???? That's crazy! It's so good!)

EDIT: There was a weird random scene with Deidamea that I didn't understand the purpose of, but otherwise I loved the book.