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A review by emilymknight
Circe by Madeline Miller
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Time. The passage of time and all that it brings. Is there such a thing as too much time, or is there never enough?
Circe. I enjoyed this book way more than The Song of Achilles. It was only at the last two pages that I understood where the ending was going to go, but apart from that, it stayed interesting and while there was a lot of characters (most just mentioned rather than recurring), it wasn't overwhelming., but actually very very interesting. There was no big thing that it was all leading up to, but just lots of different happenings that created such a rich picture of Circe and the greek world. I love Greek mythology, I am a classics student after all, but for me that doesn't mean I am easily impressed at greek mythology inspired books.
Circe, for me however, was yes informative but Madeline Miller crafts these stories so well and gave the myths, some we have perhaps heard of, such depth and allowed us to see the complex feelings and emotions surrounding them.
I found the relationship between immortals and mortals was so well done. Circe as a character was perfect; she acted out, she was spontaneous, she was wise, she found her strengths, she loved, she nurtured, she was cruel, she was kind, but in the end,she just wanted her story to have an end. An immortal god, after everything, truly just wanted to be mortal - I feel like you could really dive into that and unpick a lot.
Aiaia was her punishment after all, solitude and eternity together. Was it confinement or freedom?
The way everyone went in and out of her life, she saw thousands of summers, thousands of winters, everything was fleeting, even fellow immortalslike Hermes, he would tell her of the fate of others like Daedalus, Icarus and Ariadne, but then he never returned except as messenger for Athena. Her brother Aeëtes also, from her confidant to a stranger.
I think just the way this book encapsulated the passage of time and with that, the development of people, good and bad, was just what sold it for me.
Circe. I enjoyed this book way more than The Song of Achilles. It was only at the last two pages that I understood where the ending was going to go, but apart from that, it stayed interesting and while there was a lot of characters (most just mentioned rather than recurring), it wasn't overwhelming., but actually very very interesting. There was no big thing that it was all leading up to, but just lots of different happenings that created such a rich picture of Circe and the greek world. I love Greek mythology, I am a classics student after all, but for me that doesn't mean I am easily impressed at greek mythology inspired books.
Circe, for me however, was yes informative but Madeline Miller crafts these stories so well and gave the myths, some we have perhaps heard of, such depth and allowed us to see the complex feelings and emotions surrounding them.
I found the relationship between immortals and mortals was so well done. Circe as a character was perfect; she acted out, she was spontaneous, she was wise, she found her strengths, she loved, she nurtured, she was cruel, she was kind, but in the end,
Aiaia was her punishment after all, solitude and eternity together. Was it confinement or freedom?
The way everyone went in and out of her life, she saw thousands of summers, thousands of winters, everything was fleeting, even fellow immortals
I think just the way this book encapsulated the passage of time and with that, the development of people, good and bad, was just what sold it for me.
"It was their fate, as Prometheus had told me, the story that they all shared. No matter how vivid they were in life, no matter how brilliant, no matter the wonders they made, they came to dust and smoke."
Oh and also the beautiful language, I haven't had a quote strike me as much as this one has in a long time...
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧"But in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me."✧₊⁺⋆☾⋆.˚₊✩