Circe by Madeline Miller
This was a double book club book for me. My college book club picked it, and then my local club read it as well (because I suggested it). So Book Club square on the Bingo for this one. I was vaguely aware of the story of Circe from the Odyssey, she was a sorceress on an island that Odysseus and his ships stopped at, and she turned the men to pigs. This is (apparently) a feminist retelling. As it is a retelling of an old […]
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
I don’t think I have ever read a book that was quite this hyped to me. I am actually looking forward to going back through the past reviews of this book here to see what cannonballers think of this book, because you guys always surprise me in a good way when I’m feeling conflicted – I never feel alone. Anyway, this book is the current darling of booktube, bookstagram and booktok even though it’s already 10 years old by now, which I think is quite […]
Circe by Madeline Miller
CBR Bingo – Mythic I bought Madeline Miller’s Circe in hardback, which I almost never do. I didn’t even know much about the book, except it was a bestseller, which doesn’t always count for much. But I was happy to discover that the book’s success was well-deserved. It even made me happy that so many had read and enjoyed it—it is that magical. Circe is a compulsively readable novel about the life of the goddess Circe. I read a lot of myths when I was […]
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
This is the story of Achilles and his companion Patroclus. Companion here should absolutely be read in the way that we all had that one uncle in his 80s and 90s who lived with a roommate. If you remember any part of your high school English classes, you probably know the over all plot. Trojan War, fated warrior, death, destruction, etc. What Madeline Miller has done in this book is really taken a deeper dive into the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus. Which, by the way, […]
Circe by Madeline Miller
When (I read it): Late night treat-time only, when the pull of the book matched the pull of (spoiler warning) my bed. Where (I read it): In bed, where my cocoon allowed me to sink in without expectation or judgment. Why (I read it): A long-ignored predilection for mythology combined with a general crowd gaga-factor. How (I read it): With great anticipation, bought many months ago to read when I could appreciate it. Finally got there. In preface, I’m three books read by the first […]
Galatea by Madeline Miller
We’ve heard his story countless times; it’s been a well-trod myth since Ancient Greece. We read Metamorphoses, we studied Pygmalion, we sung along to My Fair Lady, and we mourned the short life of (the terribly named but very good) Selfie. With Madeline Miller, Pygmalion strikes again. He strikes the marble into a statue, the statue becomes a woman, Galatea strikes out on her own, and Pygmalion strikes her down. Galatea is convalescing (read: held captive) in a hospital by the sea. She is cut off from her daughter, […]
