The Song of Achilles by Madeline MillerMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I do not know how to rate this book. In some ways, it feels not so much as a novel but as fan-fiction. What I mean is that it leans very much on the Iliad to be enjoyable. In a way, I suppose thats part and parcel of wanting to explore an already established setting with a novel like this, with wanting to fill the blanks and the like, but I can't help but feel that a tighter plot would have made this go from entertaining to excellent.
Also, Patroclus' constant fawning over Achilles, while fitting, also felt very tiring at times. The whole book, really, felt somewhat too ti ring at times, sometimes going very slowly in scenes that would have been best skipped over, while other times being very sparse on scenes that I think would have been best explored in detail.
One such scene, or number of scenes, really, that I think we could have done without were the ones concerning Patroclus before he met Achilles. While they do serve to establish his character in an useful way for the rest of the book, they were also supremely uninteresting to read. I think, in general, that the tale could have started later, and used other plot points, or even recollections for that particular purpose.
Conversely, there were a number of scenes that could have been longer. Those coming after (view spoiler), specially. The book falls into a sort of awkward fast-forwarding summary-style narration (still in the voice of Patroclus) that I really dislike.
Its like some authors think that after the climaxing point of the story people are just itching to discard the book. While in a way that might be true, tying things up properly is as important as everything else, and that includes making the reading of it interesting as well.
The above being said, I did enjoy the book. I rather liked Patroclus' intimate way of narration, and the style of prose employed in general was very fitting for the book. My favorite parts, however, were probably the sad ironies and the little bits and pieces that I suppose could be called foreshadowing, except I can't imagine anyone reading this who has not read the Iliad first.
Would I recommend the book? Perhaps. To someone who enjoyed the Iliad and enjoyed reading fan-fics and who considered himself or herself a romantic at heart.
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