THE SONG OF ACHILLES, by Madeline Miller

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This. Book. Was. Amazing. It was like a drink of water on a hot day. So refreshing, something different in the middle of a dry spell (for me) of books that were sounding the same. Ms. Miller is a classics expert, and sometimes her prose wasn't exactly “sparkling,” but I was gripped by the story, so I didn't mind. When the story is that good, you are racing past the words anyway, trying to get to the end. What was great was that her academic background allowed me to rest easy, knowing that she'd already done the research and that I was getting a story where I could be comfortable that the interpretation on the page was something she had thought about carefully and made deliberate decisions about. I know that the Achilles story can be taken in a number of different ways, but I was pleased to let this author tell me which one gripped her the most. Fantastic! I'm inspired! My own background is in medieval Japanese history, so maybe I'll take a stab at a retelling myself! I would have to bury myself in the library for a couple of years, probably…sounds good!

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