The Song of Achilles Readalong discussion

Please keep this thread SPOILER-FREE! Feel free to discuss general themes of the book, writing style, etc., but keep major plot discussions for the SPOILER thread!

Hi everyone! It's May 1! I've decided to also participate in the One Readathon to Rule Them All as well, but will be getting started on this tonight as well. Hope you're all well and ready to dive in!

I like that my edition (hopefully all) has the who's who of Greek mythology in the back. It has been a long time since I last read the myths so it was a nice refresher.

Will be starting in the next couple of months. I have heard so many great things about this book, but did see a comment about a review in the New York Times that said the book had “the head of a young adult novel, the body of The Iliad and the hindquarters of Barbara Cartland”. Will be interested to see if people agree with this analysis or not.

“the head of a young adult novel, the body of The Iliad and the hindquarters of Barbara Cartland”
ha - that's amazing :)

🤣 That is quite the picture of a beast! Haven’t started yet. Need to get the book. May just download on my Kindle until I see if I like it.

I’m about 100 pages in and enjoying the read. It goes by quickly! I realized that I don’t know anything about Achilles’ upbringing or anything about Patroclus. Glad Jessica is doing the readalong.

What are people's view of the quality of the prose in this book?

I am about 120 pages in and it feels to me there are some flashes of beautiful writing stitched together with prose which feels rather more prosaic. Having heard so much about the book and seen the rating here on GR I was expecting to be blown away by the writing, but that hasn't happened so far.

Much to admire in the themes though I think and I have just arrived at a point where it feels the plot is about to be propelled forward at pace after a rather more sanguine opening few chapters.

I am 83 pages in and enjoying it so far, I studied the Iliad and the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is one of my favourite parts so I really like that this is a whole book on that subject.

I would agree that The writing is not amazing, but I quite like the more simple (not sure this is the right word) style, there is not lots of description and I don’t feel like she is trying too hard to be ‘literary’ or ‘poetic’ which is good.

I started the book Saturday and finished it yesterday. Found it to be a much more readable than I had anticipated.

I had some mild familiarity with the Greek mythology but not in depth. I am wondering what everyone thinks about whether knowledge of Greek mythology and the Iliad enhances your enjoyment and understanding of the novel or if you can just enjoy the novel in its own right?

Patroclus has a less major role in the Iliad.. do you think building up his relationship with Achilles affects the storyline?

I think you can enjoy the novel in its own right Madeline Miller has made it very accessible and has built the back story of the characters and the Trojan war. Personally I think I enjoy it more because I have studied the Iliad and because the Iliad is my favourite of Homer’s epics. I also like that this story has come from the viewpoint of Patroclus who is only a minor character in the Iliad like Circe in the Odyssey.

Hi everyone! I'm loving the comments so far but need to make a confession! (more on the next YouTube video...) I haven't been reading! Not this, not ANYTHING. My sleep schedule has been so messed up this past week so I'm just trying to get back on track. But I do remember how readable the writing style was and it was a style I really enjoyed, so I'm hoping to get started on this tonight and at least make a tiny dent. I've read and enjoyed The Iliad before, so I was familiar with the story, but never studied it formally or anything, but I agree with Susannah that my enjoyment I think is greater because I already had some background in it. Happy reading!

I have not read any Homer but reading this novel has definitely inspired me to give it a whirl! I really enjoyed the book! I rated it 4 stars. I found it very quick paced and I loved Patroclus’ character arc. It was much different than I thought it would be.

I did a buddy read with Shaun on this, and one of many things we noticed was the amount of foot/feet mentions Miller included. 😂

I will be posting the rest of my thoughts in the spoiler section. I read a blurb if the Gregory Maguire interview and Miller mentioned that she threw away her first draft of the novel after 5 yrs and completely started all over again! Crazy! We know it ended up taking her another 5 years to write the novel.

Jess - hope your schedule improves and thanks for the inspiration to read the novel!

I think the feet references could be because the epithet of Achilles is 'swift footed'

I’m about halfway through and enjoying it although the young adult thing had occurred to me. The simple language kind of reminds me of reading these stories when I was young, no doubt the children’s version so I’m ok with that, it seems to fit. One little thing that I noticed was how Thetis is described in detail every time she appears, slightly differently each time, perhaps to distinguish her as a Goddess, it was as though we might have forgotten what she looked like!

Finished reading it today and I am pleased to say I really really enjoyed it. The quality of the writing, the story, the descriptions and interactions... I thought they were very vivid. It shows how much work she put into this novel and how it took her so long to make it flow so swiftly. I might have shed a tear or two at the very last paragraph, and I was surprised because I thought it didn't touch me that deeply even though I was enjoying the story; plus I did know how it was going to end so, it was just her way with words and emotions that got to me, and I think that's such a valuable skill in writing. The only reason I knocked down half a star is the slight rush of events in the last chapter or so, while she took her time throughout the entire book to explain in great detail what was happening and that, to me, deprived the story of consistency and it was a pity. Another thing that I greatly appreciated was the extra content at the end of the book with interviews and explanations of the myths and characters present in the novel. A great experience overall! Can't wait to check out Circe next!

Mary, that edition you have of the book is so nice with the interview! My copy didn’t have it so I went to a bookstore to read it. I agree it was interesting to read for sure!

Candace wrote: "Mary, that edition you have of the book is so nice with the interview! My copy didn’t have it so I went to a bookstore to read it. I agree it was interesting to read for sure!"

Oh, I'm glad you got the chance to read it :)

I finally started the book again guys! I'm not very far in yet, but it's feeling very comfortable to me and just like the first time I read it, it's grabbed me right away. I'll continue to post thoughts as I have them!

I'm switching back to this thread as I'm reading and I wanted to add a thought about whether this book is YA or not, and since I went into this re-read with that question sort of in mind, I found it interesting to come across this quote early on in the book:

"Some people might have mistaken this for simplicity. But is it not a sort of genius to cut always to the heart?" (page 44 in my edition)

I thought this summed up my feelings about the issue entirely. The writing is definitely simple, and it could easily be read by a younger audience, but I feel pretty strongly that there is a tension and a subtly to the writing that would be lost on a YA audience. And I don't mean that as a criticism of teen readers AT ALL. I just think there is a maturity to the writing and the story and that while the book could easily be read by younger readers, the real punch of the story would be lost.

As a secondary note, I always find that this style of writing echoes the simplicity of oral storytelling which is what all of this is based on. It somehow makes it feel more authentic to my brain.