Book Review: The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

Such a contrast with the Genji. I loved both, but having a real plot (as opposed to a mere sequence of events), in the Song of Achilles was such a change. The narrative just had so much momentum, especially in the later half of the book. This was partly an effect of Achilles' fate – and the foreknowledge of it – and partly an effect how assured Miller is as an entertainer. I don't mean the book is mere entertainment or anything, but it was such a page-turner compared to the Genji.

I was incredibly impressed by Miller's handling of the pacing and plot; especially how she dealt with the problem of how to make Achilles loveable (to both the reader and Patroclus), while preserving Briseis' role in the story. I say Miller made Achilles loveable, but he is not sympathetic. Patroclus is the sympathetic one. I understand what it would be like to love Achilles. I can't understand what it's like to be Achilles; I don't know if anyone – Achilles included – could.

I was also amazed by Miller managing to maintain a readable but-also-elevated, epic-in-the-sense-of-a-sung-saga tone. It's not naturalistic, but after a few pages it does feel natural. I'm not really sure how Miller pulled this off. I can see some of the obvious bits, like the characters' ways of speaking (especially Achilles' and Chiron's), and the choice of nouns and adjectival phrases drawn directly from Homer. But somehow this doesn't feel like pastiche, and neither does the presence of a completely psychologically modern character (Patroclus), feel anachronistic.

Also, Odysseus as a character is unbelievably good. He feels like a modern man in an ancient world, but not in the way where Patroclus is. In Patroclus' case he has to be modern for the reader to sympathise with him as narrator. But Odysseus simply is modern. Odysseus feels like an alien in the story, in an analogous way to Achilles. I haven't read Circe yet, but it makes sense that Circe, not Odysseus, is the POV character. Even though her Odysseus is psychologically closer to us than her Achilles, imagining the inside of his head feels just as impossible.