The Song of Achilles: The 10th Anniversary edition of the Women's Prize-winning bestseller

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When Patroclus kisses Achilles, Thetis makes her disapproval very clear, sending Achilles to study with the famous centaur Chiron on Mount Pelion. Patroclus, an exiled orphan with nothing to lose, follows Achilles. With Chiron’s blessing, Patroclus is allowed to join Achilles in his studies, despite Thetis’s requests to the contrary. On Mount Pelion, the boys learn many things, including musicianship, medicine, and biology; they also begin a sexual relationship away from Thetis’s observation. Achilles doesn’t know if he wants to be a god, but he wants to be the first hero to be happy and famous—he and Patroclus promise to make that future happen together. In the Paris of the Second French Empire, what did it take to rise from courtesan to diva? From a ferociously talented writer who is “the fire, in my opinion. And the light” (Junot Diaz) comes a blazing portrait of a woman who creates her own fate. I've read some glorified Harlequins that managed to break my snob barrier -- Outlander and Water for Elephants to name just two. Sadly, this one didn't. Perhaps this was, in part, because all the accolades led me to expect something far more literary or deep. And maybe had I read The Iliad I would be more excited by the references and more forgiving of the book's flaws. Thetis is rather annoyed at his choice. She doesn’t feel that Patroclus is good enough to spend so much time with her son. Her favorite greeting for Patroclus is: ”You will be dead soon enough.” With Patroclus being the narrator of this story, it is rather poor judgement on her part. Any quest I’ve been on I have always plied the narrator with honeyed wine and the most succulent figs in the hope that I would be rewarded in the prose and poetry of his/her telling of the tale. After Achilles’ death, he is replaced as Aristos Achaion by his brutal son Neoptolemus (AKA Pyrrhus), and the Greeks win the Trojan war. Achilles is properly honored with a tomb, but Pyrrhus won’t allow anyone to carve Patroclus’s name onto the monument and taint his father’s legacy. Patroclus is trapped as a formless spirit. He sees Pyrrhus kills Briseis, witnesses Pyrrhus sacrifice a young Trojan princess to Achilles’ tomb, and then he watches the Greek ships leave the shores of Troy.

The Song of Achilles - Bloomsbury Publishing The Song of Achilles - Bloomsbury Publishing

SELECTED AS BOOK OF THE YEAR BY BUZZFEED, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, GUARDIAN, I PAPER, IRISH TIMES, REFINERY29, SCOTSMAN, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, TIME MAGAZINE, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, AND WASHINGTON POST There was more to say, but for once we did not say it. There would be other times for speaking, tonight and tomorrow and all the days after that. He let go of my hand.” Please be aware that the delivery time frame may vary according to the area of delivery - the approximate delivery time is usually between 1-2 business days. In a nutshell, Boy meet demi-god. Boy gets demi-god. Boy loses demi-god. Wait, demi-god loses boy, goes a bit funny in the head and behaves badly. Greece loses demi-god, the happy couple wind up sharing an afterlife.So it shouldn't be surprising to anyone who is familiar with me that this book didn't make me feel much of anything. Miller’s Achilles is a two-dimensional cardboard cutout of a tragic figure: all flash and no substance. We’re told over and over how amazing Achilles is, but never does any of this alleged amazingness ever feature. While Patroclus waxes lyrical over Achilles’s swift ankles (get it?) or whatever, the audience is left wondering if Patroclus’s Achilles is an entirely different character from the one Miller has written. Which brings me to— Miller doesn’t write about this. She apparently doesn’t understand that Achilles isn’t the moral paragon of this story—the reason he refuses to fight isn’t because he thinks battle is wrong, or killing is evil; it’s because Agamemnon stole one of his slave woman before Achilles could rape her. His character development—which comes too late, at the expense of Patroclus—is in the form of the realisation that he can’t sulk indefinitely in his tent, but he actually has to fight in the war in which he was conscripted. This is the story of the fall of Troy. Or rather, a part of it. More specifically, this is the tale of Achilles and Patroclus. Of their undying love for each other. Of the lives they sacrifice on the altar of that love. Of desperate men and petty gods. Of a proud, greedy people engaged in a prolonged, bloody war. A story that is epic, timeless, and sad but told with great sentiment, heart, and soul. A book that does not try to recount the historical events of the past and the myths but rather embellishes them to play the song of Achilles.

Circe: The stunning new anniversary edition from the author

It took me so long to get to this book. I think I was afraid it wouldn't live up to all the hype I'd heard over the years. But it was worth the wait. Stunning, epic, and beautifully-written, it's a coming-of-age story, but also one of war and love and sacrifice. It's truly a memorable tale. MISOGYNY, PART II could go on for years about how much I hate how Miller writes women (for more of that, see Circe), but it can be easily summarised: Miller has two types of woman, “plain supportive non-threatening wing(wo)man” or “conventionally attractive evil jealous bitch,” and those are the only female characters she writes.Unknown time passes, and eventually Thetis comes to visit Achilles’ grave. Pyrrhus is dead, killed for raping Agamemnon’s son’s bride. Thetis asks Patroclus to share his memories of Achilles, the ones unrelated to bloodshed, and Patroclus does. In return, Thetis shares her own painful memories of being raped, then watching Achilles die a mortal. At the end of the day, Thetis carves Patroclus’s name into the tomb, freeing him to join her son forever in the underworld. This has one of the best endings I've come across in a long time. It isn't so much what happens as the way it is written. Visceral and gut-wrenching, it builds in power and emotion until I was good and blubbering. It gave me all the feels. This morning he had leaped on to my bed and pressed his nose against mine. ‘Good morning,’ he’d said. I remembered the heat of him against my skin.” Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess.

The Song of Achilles - Bloomsbury Publishing

A captivating retelling of the Iliad and events leading up to it through the point of view of Patroclus: it's a hard book to put down, and any classicist will be enthralled by her characterisation of the goddess Thetis, which carries the true savagery and chill of antiquity (Donna Tartt The Times Christmas Books) Enough magic, enchantment, voyages and wonders to satisfy the most jaded sword-and-sorcery palate. Miller approaches Odysseus's story from Circe's point of view, richly evoking her protagonist's overlapping identities as goddess, witch, lover and mother If you are considering reading this yourself, for whatever reason, I cannot recommend the audiobook enough.They were loyal, brave and kind to one another in a way that had me reaching for the tissues instead of choking down my mirth. MISOGYNY, PART IV: DEIDAMIAOne of the seven daughters of King Lycomedes amidst whom Achilles was concealed when Thetis dressed him up in drag to hide him from the war recruiters, Deidamia is a minor character in Achilles’s story. She and Achilles had a sexual relationship (despite the fact that they couldn’t have been older than 14–15), and Deidamia later gave birth to Neoptolemus—known as Pyrrhus after the name Achilles adopted while disguised as a woman: Pyrrha.