“The Song of Achilles,” a book written by Madeline Miller, was published September third of 2011. The book follows two main characters, Patroclus and Achilles. The book is based on Greek mythology, Achilles being the son of Peleus and Patroclus the son of Menoetius. Most of the notable parts of this book is the fact that it’s extremely queer-orientated. The story is about Achilles and Patroclus if they ended up in love.
We went around asking a few different people about this book, such as Rei Ku, a senior at ERHS. Ku states, “I’d always heard about ‘The Song of Achilles’ before I read it. People talked about how good it was and how it was super emotional and made them hate it but in a good way, the kind of way where you resent it for making you feel so many things.” Ku claims that over the time that he began reading this book, he knew to go in with the expectation that it has a bad ending.
Many people know the book has an upsetting ending, so they go into this book with that mindset. Koda Carassco, a senior at ERHS also had some thoughts about this novel, “The queer representation in the story is nice and realistic of the time it takes place without it feeling overbearing. The only issues I don’t love is how every female character is put in to get in the way of the love between Patroclus and Achilles.” Carassco still thinks the book is good, however the characterization of female characters can easily rub her and other readers the wrong way.
Personally, I really enjoyed the book. The book had extremely good queer representation, and it felt well-written. I went in with the knowledge that the book itself would be heartbreaking, however knowing this information did not make the book less of a psychological roller coaster. I would highly recommend the book to queer individuals who want to go on an emotional journey.
Unlike me and a few others, some individuals did not enjoy “The Song of Achilles” as much, such as Jenna Liu a senior at ERHS. Liu spoke about her dislike of the novel, “I don’t remember most of the scenes and characters, but I like Patroclus a lot. The characterization of their love was super disappointing and I hope how it’s shifted the understanding of his character; turn the story with depth into something that feels flat.” She spoke her mind about how she dislikes the mischaracterization of a specific main character.
Overall, enjoying the book depends on who you are as a reader and a person. Some people would love “The Song of Achilles,” whilst others dislike it. It depends on an individual’s taste and opinions on specific topics.
