I am not often inspired to write book reviews. First of all, I am a fast reader and it is not unusual for me to read 2-3 books a weekend. Imagine how long it would take for me to write all those reviews. I also have fairly eclectic taste, so I don’t expect most people to have the slightest interest in the books I read. But every once in a while, I feel inspired enough by a book to want to share it with other people.
In this case, the book that inspired me to share is Marilyn Miller’s Song of Achilles, a midrashic* retelling of the Illiad from Patroclus’ perspective. The review I read of Miller’s book intrigued me, despite not having particularly enjoyed reading the Iliad as a freshman at Reed. Part of what caught my attention was the possibility that Miller’s retelling could illuminate the Iliad for me. While I understood why the Iliad was required reading, I couldn’t honestly say that I had “gotten” it. Regardless, I had to slog my way through the Iliad, much like many other first year students forced to read it as part of their humanities or Western Civilization requirement.
With that history in mind, imagine my surprise that after reading The Song of Achilles I was inspired to reread the Illiad. And this time around, I am finding the Iliad to be much more compelling. Ms. Miller fleshed out a lot of the content that was implicit to the Iliad, nuances that I completely missed the first time around. Admittedly, this time around I am no longer 17 and I am reading a better translation (the Fitzgerald translation as opposed to the Richard Lattimore translation), but I attribute a lot of my enjoyment to The Song of Achilles.
I hope I am not making The Song of Achilles sound too academic. It is actually a very easy-to-read novel that I read while on vacation. I would recommend it regardless of whether you have ever read the Iliad. At its heart, it is really just a sweetly romantic book. One I highly recommend you give a try.
*Technically, a Midrash is a interpretive narrative that elaborates on personalities and stories within a biblical text. One widely known example would be Anita Diamont’s The Red Tent, a retelling of Dinah’s rape from her perspective. Here I am expanding the definition to include interpretive narratives of other foundational texts. For example, Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Firebrand, in which Kassandra retells the story of the Illiad from her perspective.