2025 Reading – Book 16

Book 16: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

I completely understand the pressure that exists for me to like this book. But the truth is that I just didn’t. I’m saying this as someone who really enjoyed Circe by the same author. Was I supposed to like it because of the love story between Achilles and Patroclus? I don’t know and honestly, I don’t think reading should be performative.

Told from the perspective of Patroclus, who was a close companion of Achilles’, this is a re-telling of the Trojan war. I was excited about this because Madeline has done such a fabulous job with Circe, but this book didn’t work for me.

Don’t get me wrong. Her writing is great, her research is good, but Patroclus as a character was too meek and undeveloped. He had nothing that charmed me or wanted me to root for him. He had so much time to grow, and he just…didn’t? There was an arc where he could have become a healer, and somehow even that fizzled out. I would have found him even a little impressive if he had some goal or interest or point of view. Patroclus was too cardboard for me. Achilles, on the other hand, felt flat as well.

However, wherever Odysseus entered the story, he stole the show. I really enjoyed his scenes, his dialogue and his character. Odysseus was fabulous and if other books portray him similarly, I would love to read them. There’s a point in the book where Odysseus tells Achilles that if he doesn’t go out there into the battlefield and meet the better warriors of his time, he will never be the greatest warrior as foretold. That felt so wonderful simply because, as they say in street parlance, game recognises game. How can you get better if you don’t surround yourself with people better than you? How can you wither away your natural talents and gifts because you’re not brave? It is that simple and that difficult. 

It’s not that I am not disappointed that this book fell flat that for me. I really hoped it would fly, soar, even. But I didn’t enjoy hanging out with characters I couldn’t root for. Maybe there’s some sign in there?

🌟2.5/5