Books books books
Jul. 7th, 2013 09:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cyphomandraMy book order from the Book Depository showed up on Friday, so yesterday I sat on the couch and read Elizabeth Wein's Rose Under Fire, another excellent WWII novel, this one about an American pilot working for the ATA who ends up in the Ravensbruck concentration camp. I will get back to that, and Ginn Hale's The Rifter, also excellent, when I have more time, but as I was on a roll yesterday I also finished the last of my (overdue) library books, Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles.
The Song of Achilles is first person narrative, told by Patroclus, and spends about half the book getting through his and Achilles' respective childhoods, before entering the war and then, finally, the events of The Iliad. I stalled out on this during the childhood, which was why the book was overdue, and it took a real push to get past this. I don't have a strong sense of Patroclus, and I'm happy to buy into this version - but I do have a very strong personal sense of Achilles, and this version didn't work for me. I possibly imprinted on Achilles too much as traumatised soldier, but I've always seen his decision to not fight as coming from anger (at the trap of his fate, mostly) rather than his pride being offended by Agammenon (which I admit is totally there in the text), and Miller goes for the pride, an Achilles who wants to be begged to return, rather than someone who has made up their mind for other reasons. And, to get there, she has an Achilles who knows he's brilliant, is always apart and godtouched, special, and has no normal relationships - except with Patroclus.
And yet, I can't see what Achilles sees in Patroclus. The other way round, yes - this Patroclus worships Achilles, even when he starts to see the problems with how Achilles' failure to recognise others as worthy of consideration (Briseis), and has done so since he first kisses a completely oblivious Achilles (I think they're thirteen?). This Achilles does obviously care for Patroclus (asking his mother to protect him, for example), but I don't get why. Patroclus grows up in the camp outside Troy, acquiring new skills, working out how he wants to treat others while Achilles doesn't change, but this possible tension doesn't get acted on in their relationship. I wanted the, to come to a more adult sense of each other; yes, this would just make the inevitable suck harder, but this is a tragedy. I like who Patroclus is at the ending much more than at the beginning (and, to be honest, until about two thirds of the way through, which is why I stalled), but I don't think Achilles has noticed any of the changes.
It is well-written, and Thetis, Achilles' goddess mother, is a brilliant character, harsh and cold and inexplicable in just the right ways (I am also just thrilled that Miller kept the gods in), and I would read another book by the same author pretty much for her. And the bit where Odysseus gets Achilles to reveal himself when he's hidden amongst the women is much more plausible than the usual version. And I like the final, final ending, and it's all infinitely better than the terrible movie Troy. But it's still not the Achilles I imprinted on when I first read the Iliad. Still. None of the other retellings have had him either.
Mercedes Lackey, Trio of Sorcery. Three shorts, a Diana Tregarde at college story (potentially interesting setup, too much explaining the obvious to like-minded individuals), a Jenny Talldeer I have totally blacked out, and a technomage story with a monster in a MMORPG that went exactly where you'd expect it to. This collection also comes with irritating forewords pointing out all the old technology, lack of smart phones and internet etc.
Dick Francis, Bonecrack. Sometimes, I want to read about a competent protagonist, emotionally guarded to the point of dysfunction, who is forced out of his comfort zone and has to be competent in an entirely different arena while fighting malevolent forces, suffering stoically through viciously personal assaults, and forging new functional (and unexpected, or at least non romantic) relationships. Horses a plus. This totally met all my needs.
The Song of Achilles is first person narrative, told by Patroclus, and spends about half the book getting through his and Achilles' respective childhoods, before entering the war and then, finally, the events of The Iliad. I stalled out on this during the childhood, which was why the book was overdue, and it took a real push to get past this. I don't have a strong sense of Patroclus, and I'm happy to buy into this version - but I do have a very strong personal sense of Achilles, and this version didn't work for me. I possibly imprinted on Achilles too much as traumatised soldier, but I've always seen his decision to not fight as coming from anger (at the trap of his fate, mostly) rather than his pride being offended by Agammenon (which I admit is totally there in the text), and Miller goes for the pride, an Achilles who wants to be begged to return, rather than someone who has made up their mind for other reasons. And, to get there, she has an Achilles who knows he's brilliant, is always apart and godtouched, special, and has no normal relationships - except with Patroclus.
And yet, I can't see what Achilles sees in Patroclus. The other way round, yes - this Patroclus worships Achilles, even when he starts to see the problems with how Achilles' failure to recognise others as worthy of consideration (Briseis), and has done so since he first kisses a completely oblivious Achilles (I think they're thirteen?). This Achilles does obviously care for Patroclus (asking his mother to protect him, for example), but I don't get why. Patroclus grows up in the camp outside Troy, acquiring new skills, working out how he wants to treat others while Achilles doesn't change, but this possible tension doesn't get acted on in their relationship. I wanted the, to come to a more adult sense of each other; yes, this would just make the inevitable suck harder, but this is a tragedy. I like who Patroclus is at the ending much more than at the beginning (and, to be honest, until about two thirds of the way through, which is why I stalled), but I don't think Achilles has noticed any of the changes.
It is well-written, and Thetis, Achilles' goddess mother, is a brilliant character, harsh and cold and inexplicable in just the right ways (I am also just thrilled that Miller kept the gods in), and I would read another book by the same author pretty much for her. And the bit where Odysseus gets Achilles to reveal himself when he's hidden amongst the women is much more plausible than the usual version. And I like the final, final ending, and it's all infinitely better than the terrible movie Troy. But it's still not the Achilles I imprinted on when I first read the Iliad. Still. None of the other retellings have had him either.
Mercedes Lackey, Trio of Sorcery. Three shorts, a Diana Tregarde at college story (potentially interesting setup, too much explaining the obvious to like-minded individuals), a Jenny Talldeer I have totally blacked out, and a technomage story with a monster in a MMORPG that went exactly where you'd expect it to. This collection also comes with irritating forewords pointing out all the old technology, lack of smart phones and internet etc.
Dick Francis, Bonecrack. Sometimes, I want to read about a competent protagonist, emotionally guarded to the point of dysfunction, who is forced out of his comfort zone and has to be competent in an entirely different arena while fighting malevolent forces, suffering stoically through viciously personal assaults, and forging new functional (and unexpected, or at least non romantic) relationships. Horses a plus. This totally met all my needs.
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Date: 2013-07-07 09:42 pm (UTC)I am still contemplating getting The Rifter. I liked Ginn Hale's other books that I've read okay, but I haven't really loved any of them.
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Date: 2013-07-08 08:51 am (UTC)I did, however, completely miss the tense-switching (possibly I have been reading too many present tense fanfics!). Oops.
Having just poked around your Goodreads account, I wasn't wild about Ginn Hale's Wicked Gentlemen either, although I loved The Lord of the White Hell duology. The Rifter does a lot of things very well, most of which involve spoilers, but in particular it has a real sense of another world that is not a cod-fantasy Europe, with a real depth to it. It also has a brilliant hook, and then a slow build that snuck up on me until I found myself totally hooked.