Rev: The Song of Achilles
2019.11.10
book review: The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller
strong
middling strong
“the first draft of a good idea that was forced by editing to boost the page count by 50% by adding inline explanations that will broaden out the audience to people who know nothing of greek history and myth, and whose author had a bit of bias that came out in framing that was too-far id-pol (just slightly)”
sort of feeling
there really is a lot to see here, even as it stands
odysseus IS odysseus
the contradiction that is “minor goddess” is in thetis, and she bookends nicely, with real character
a&p do have some moments, many moments, all throughout, that give uncanny life to childhood images and fantasies; that in-the-present, in-the-flesh that’s birthed of smaller details and the functional simplicities of being in the presence of a body that-is-yours-not-yours-is-yours
do have to say, though, this did not feel like a ten-year book
what might explain, the heavy-handedness and slight fixation on the modern-culture-framework-that-explains-about-the-patriarchy, is her having been a highschool teacher at the time and in and out of universities (respectively)
altogether this could be a very good book, but its execution brings it down to somewhere-in-the-middle
still worth reading, though