The Song of Achilles

screaming, crying, throwing up this book has ruined me

This is my first foray into queer fiction and to be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect. And ahhh was The Song of Achilles an amazing starter book. It’s so beautifully written – the prose is simple but powerful. So many times I could feel the deep, aching longing between our protagonists. Madeline Miller captures the romanticism of romance and the soft moments of love so well. It makes everything that is to come all the more tragic, but the love between Achilles and Patroclus all the more lovely.

I don’t know much about the classics, so I have little care about the accuracy of the characterizations or retellings of famous heroes. I think that is the beauty of myths – endlessly retold with flexibility woven throughout. Miller’s deft writing makes the myths come alive and I love how tightly paced the book is. Some characters feel a bit two-dimensional, cartoonishly vindicative or pig-headed, but I think it is in service of building up the two protagonists. Song of Achilles covers a wide breadth of famous epics so if you’re looking for a beat-by-beat retelling of Greek mythology, you might want to steer clear.

I also have to admit I don’t know much about queer representation in media so I can’t say if this is an authentic/respectful representation. I will have to defer to others for that judgment. That is to say, I do think the characters are compelling and their relationships worth all your emotional investment. I cannot adequately put into words how wonderful this novel is to me.

_ “In the darkness, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out the sun.” _

God I love this book. It gave me a good cry (affectionate). Achilles and Patroclus will forever live in my head rent-free.