For all you who also went through (are still in) a Greek mythology phase, it has been exciting to see Madeline Miller gain so much visibility and traction with her novels The Song of Achilles and Circe. While they’re not connected in plot, I apologize in advance that I’m giving you the review of her second title first.
The book follows the life of Circe, a lesser goddess with a sense of empathy for mortals, empathy which is uncommon and misunderstood amongst the gods. The story follows her through love, loss, exile, and the discovery of her gift with herbs and plants. I was only vaguely familiar with Circe from the story of Odysseus in his trials to return to Ithaca after the Trojan War, and while his time on her island is included in the tale, Madeline Miller provides a much broader picture of Circe and her journey.
Due to her divinity, Circe’s life is told through large chunks of time, with the first few chapters existing almost as stand-alone stories. I understand that immortality provides a lot of ground to cover, but I found the narrative a bit choppy and hard to get into. I became more engrossed in the plot development when the story hit periods of her life where one particular season was discussed throughout multiple the chapters, but I felt largely disconnected by the pacing.
The style of writing and the characters’ dialogue were very modern, bringing a new dimension and flavor to the setting of a Greek myth. I appreciated that the modernity of the re-telling was very natural rather than feeling like forced relatability. The characterization of gods and Greek characters I’ve read about for years was exactly as I’d imagine them and I appreciated how Miller brought them to life.
While I definitely enjoyed parts of the novel and thought it was well-written, I wasn’t as engrossed in it as I would’ve expected. That could be a result of high expectations due to so much publicity of the book over the last few years, but I felt fairly neutral about it by the end.
I don’t usually use one book review to promote another, but if anyone’s feeling the itch to dive into some great Greek mythology, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths is an absolute must (big yellow book – great illustrations).
Personal rating: 6/10
Recommend? Only to fellow mythological-enthusiasts
Re-read? Unfortunately, no
Time: 1:58