The Song of Archillies by Madeline Miller
“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. But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfil his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus goes with him, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.”
Winner of the Orange Women's Prize for Fiction
An international sensation
A Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller Source: Booktopia
As of July 2022, The Song of Achilles has sold 2 million copies across formats.
The Author:
adeline Miller is an American novelist, author of The Song of Achilles and Circe. Miller spent ten years writing The Song of Achilles while she worked as a teacher of Latin and Greek. She has taught and tutored Latin, Greek, and Shakespeare to high school students for over fifteen years. . Born: 24 July 1978 (age 44 years), Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Madeline Miller grew up in New York City and Philadelphia. She attended Brown University, where she earned her BA and MA in Classics. She has also studied at the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought, and in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms: Brown University (AB, AM); University of Chicago; Yale University.
Notable awards: Orange Prize for Fiction (2012). Notable works: The Song of Achilles; Circe
Source: Wikipedia
Reader & Industry Reviews:
Reviewing The Song of Achilles for The Guardian, Natalie Haynes commended the novel as "more poetic than almost any translation of Homer" and "a deeply affecting version of the Achilles story." Source: Wikipedia
*I loved it * J.K. Rowling *
*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 *
*At once a scholar's homage to the Iliad and startlingly original work of art by an incredibly talented new novelist ... A book I could not put down * Ann Patchett *
*Inventive, passionate, uplifting and different ... A truly worthy winner * Joanna Trollope * Source: Booktopia
*“Wildly romantic [and] surprisingly suspenseful....[B]ringing those dark figures back to life, making them men again, and while she’s at it, us[ing] her passionate companion piece to The Iliad as a subtle swipe at today’s ongoing debate over gay marriage. Talk about updating the classics.” — Time magazine
*“One of the best novelistic adaptations of Homer in recent memory, and it offers strikingly well-rounded and compassionate portrait of Achilles....[Miller] injects a newfound sense of suspense into a story with an ending that has already been determined.” — Wall Street Journal
Our Review:
We had a robust discussion based on the discussion questions supplied by Hobsons bay Library about the themes of Homer’s “Iliad” and the story of Achilles & Patroclus the basis of this book. We started out not liking the book but at the conclusion of our discussion, we decided that there was a lot that we had enjoyed about it and we were generally pleased that we had read it. The author’s more modern form and language has certainly made the Iliad story easier to follow and interpret than other translations these ancient stories. My past attempts, at school years ago, of reading translations of these ancient Greek stories were difficult, laborious and time consuming. We decided there were some very modern themes running throughout this story; equality of or lack of between the sexes, sexual orientation and acceptance or not in society of the day and general acceptance and respect of those different to us. A worthwhile read, but very different to most modern novels, an eye opener to an ancient time.
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