"The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller (An unsung love story)

Well it's been a while since I have graced my keyboard with a good rat a tat tat but I just couldn't neglect writing a review for Madeline Miller's "The Song of Achilles".  Having won the Orange Book Prize this year I thought it would be rude not to dust off the proof copy adorning one of my bookshelves and give it a bash as I have yet to really indulge in any contemporary prize winners (I usually take one look at them, blink and walk away).  Why was this one different, well it's about the ancient Greeks and although I do love a good action movie based on the many myths and legends of Greece I am ashamed to admit I know very little about this era beyond the surface of sun bronzed, muscular Olympian demi gods and frequently savaged women. I wanted to learn a little bit more about the rich era of the Ancient Greeks.  From what I gather (and I say this because I have never read it) this is a retelling of Homer's great work "The Illiad", a tale of battles, godly intervention and great tragedy.

Patroclus, an unassuming Prince born to a King and his mentally unfit Wife, is exiled to a Kingdom far from his own and stripped of his titles.  It is here, in the court of Peleus, King of Phthia, that Patroclus first meets Achilles, Peleus' son, a Demi god born from the womb of a tempestuous sea nymph.  Thus begins a tale of love that stretches though childhood, into manhood and into the savagery of a war fought for the most beautiful woman of her time, Helen of Sparta.

This novel is just fantastic, it really is.  From the moment the young Patroclus first sees Achilles you are hooked.  Miller draws you in with sumptuous, liquid descriptions of Achilles' beauty and finesse and you can't help but fall in love with him alongside Patroclus as his and Achilles' bond becomes stronger and stronger.  This tragic yet gentle story of love is the focus of the novel and is handled with such taste and subtlety that you can see why Miller choose to write so fondly of such a pairing.  It is of course by no means the only element of the novel that will capture you, believe me, there is plenty of goings on to keep just about anyone happy, but this part of the story is unforgettable and it forms the core of the narrative.

You just know when Patroclus makes the decision to follow Achilles to war, that this is going to be a tear jerker (I was indeed weeping like a small child lost in a supermarket towards the end).  It is at this point in the novel that Achilles becomes what he was always meant to be, a warrior, and the strongest and most fierce of them all.  This shift in the novel is jaw dropping, there is a fantastic scene where Achilles throws a spear directly into the waiting Trojan army and it rips through the chest of an esteemed general.  We see Achilles for what he was truly meant to be, the greatest of warriors. There is no shortage of climatic scenes like this throughout, in one way or another as Miller deftly manages to control the pace of this legendary tale.

Patroclus and Achilles are not the only characters that play an important part here, this is the story of the great war between the Trojans and the Grecians over Helen of Sparta.  We also get to tag along with Odysseus, Menelaus, Diomedes, Ajax and of course the savage general, Agamemnon as they spend a decade fighting a bloody war on the battlefield.  In essence it is Agamemnon that makes us realise that Achilles is not as perfect as we were led to believe.  We learn of the price Achilles is willing to pay for eternal fame and to earn the chance of becoming a God.  It is at these times as well we begin to understand the importance of Patroclus, a mere mortal, yet a man that feeds his humanity into Achilles.  Patroclus' honest and brave nature help to shape Achilles' legend, not just as a warrior, but as a saviour of men and women alike.  It is heartbreaking when Achilles falls into a grievous rage, we know what is coming, Miller never hides that from us, but it still has the power to move you deeply.

There is of course plenty of wonderfully fantastic interventions from gods and mythical beasts, all of which are dealt with in such a manner that you are quite ready to believe that this all really happened.  Miller's description of place, of the sweeping scenes and even of the various smells, plant you firmly into Patroclus' well worn sandals, you feel a part of Greece, of the rich teachings of the gentle centaur Chiron and of the bloody and tragic battlefield of the Trojan War.  Nothing feels overdone, everything seems to have its place even to the point that it is quite easy to picture Apollo throwing Patroclus from the walls of Troy without it seeming fantastical.  This is a novel you become a part of, it is so easy to get lost in.  At no point does it become tedious, this is written with the reader in mind and is just glorious as it shrugs off the academia associated with the study of the ancients whilst remaining a cleverly written piece of fiction.

As you can probably tell, I loved this, it surprised me and I couldn't put it down.  I will be sharing this one with anyone and everyone and have already started to tell customers just how brilliant it is.  What an explosive debut!

P.S. Don't watch the film "Troy" after reading this, it sucks, not even Brad Pitt's bronzed good looks save it. I made the error of watching it and it was wet lettuce in comparison to Miller's decadent novel.