Madeline Miller, you goddess (ha)... This was such a beautiful book, and I am committing here and now to read every future book that Miller puts out. I read her other novel, "Circe," first and did actually prefer it, but that takes absolutely nothing away from how much I enjoyed reading "The Song of Achilles." 

We've all heard of the characters in this book, the mighty soldiers of the Trojan War, legendary gods and heroes of antiquity. But for me, even having read "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," these characters have always remained so abstract. But in Miller's hands, they come to LIFE. FINALLY. She makes them sound and feel like real people, with understandable thoughts and feelings—not just the mystifying figures they've come to be. And after reading some of her own commentary on this book, I think that is part of her purpose here. She makes no mention of Achilles' proverbial ~heel~ and in fact this weakness has nothing to do with his demise; come to find out, this legend has no origin in Homer and is actually a pretty (relatively) recent story. But, as Miller argues, her telling does more to humanize him and show us that, while extraordinary, Achilles was also a man with troubles and emotions. His battleground talent is almost a side plot here, as Miller reveals more of what drives him and how his tragic flaws take shape. 

Her crafting of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus was stunning; when they were together, and "together," I just felt it. Passion and purity poured through her words straight into my heart. They were so innocent, so devoted to each other, that they both essentially sacrificed themselves to protect the name and legacy of the other. Centering their relationship in this often war-torn story was a compelling approach to a well-worn narrative, and allowed me to find the beauty and humanity in a sometimes inaccessible tale. PLEASE WRITE MORE.