Lezersrecensie
The Song of Achilles
23 februari 2022
★★★★★
“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world”.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is a beautiful and heart wrenching retelling of The Ilead. What sets this novel apart is that it tells the story of Achilles, the greatest warrior of his generation, through the eyes of his companion Patroclus.
After an unfortunate incident Patroclus is exiled from his father’s kingdom to the court of King Peleus and his son Achilles. Achilles is everything Patroclus is not: confident, strong, beautiful and destined to become “best of all the Greeks”. Despite their differences, Patroclus and Achilles develop a close friendship. As the boys grow older their friendship blossoms into something even deeper. When Achilles joins the Greek campaign to save Helen of Troy Patroclus follows him into war.
Even though I knew how The Song of Achilles would unfold Madeline Miller still managed to break my heart. Following Patroclus and Achilles as children first deepened my emotions profoundly and gave a whole new meaning to the story I knew. With her poetic writing Madeline Miller humanizes heroes from Greek mythology and shows not only their strengths, but also their vulnerabilities. When reading The Ilead I didn’t think of Achilles as a character I could sympathize with. I saw him as arrogant, apathetic and narcissistic. With The Song of Achilles Miller shows Achilles not only as the greatest warrior of his generation, but also as someone capable of love. Patroclus describes this in the best way possible: “He is half of my soul, as the poets say”.
If you haven’t read this book yet, please do. The Song of Achilles will captivate your heart.
https://www.instagram.com/elskesbooknook/
“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world”.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is a beautiful and heart wrenching retelling of The Ilead. What sets this novel apart is that it tells the story of Achilles, the greatest warrior of his generation, through the eyes of his companion Patroclus.
After an unfortunate incident Patroclus is exiled from his father’s kingdom to the court of King Peleus and his son Achilles. Achilles is everything Patroclus is not: confident, strong, beautiful and destined to become “best of all the Greeks”. Despite their differences, Patroclus and Achilles develop a close friendship. As the boys grow older their friendship blossoms into something even deeper. When Achilles joins the Greek campaign to save Helen of Troy Patroclus follows him into war.
Even though I knew how The Song of Achilles would unfold Madeline Miller still managed to break my heart. Following Patroclus and Achilles as children first deepened my emotions profoundly and gave a whole new meaning to the story I knew. With her poetic writing Madeline Miller humanizes heroes from Greek mythology and shows not only their strengths, but also their vulnerabilities. When reading The Ilead I didn’t think of Achilles as a character I could sympathize with. I saw him as arrogant, apathetic and narcissistic. With The Song of Achilles Miller shows Achilles not only as the greatest warrior of his generation, but also as someone capable of love. Patroclus describes this in the best way possible: “He is half of my soul, as the poets say”.
If you haven’t read this book yet, please do. The Song of Achilles will captivate your heart.
https://www.instagram.com/elskesbooknook/
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