TickTok made Read Song of Achilles Again
So everyone knows about TickTok, the large social media titan that specializes in short videos. Well when it comes to this site there are sections within sections of content. For example if you are a fan of cars and often watch videos on the site for the specific genre then you'll notice your feed will mostly car content. I found myself in booktock last year and I never looked back.
Booktock mostly has a lot of content but I like focusing on reviews and other features. Three months ago while I was scrolling I came onto a book recommendation that sounded familiar. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.
My father had bought that book while we were visiting our grandparents. He never finished it nor did I.I went to our families box which is just a big wooden box filled with old items and found it. It had no front cover but it looked to be intact and so I read it.
And in two days I was done and in a state of pure misery.
Song of Achilles is a Greek retelling written by Madeline Miller and was published in 2011.The book has now after so many years been placed as a top read all thanks to the power of social media Hype. The book follows the point of view of Patroclus a boy who was born a prince but found himself exiled in a foreign land and in the service of a King whose Son was a demigod Achilles. I won't give you any spoilers, though I can say that the story takes on a life of its own that shifts the way you look at the Mythology of the War of Troy in General.
The story depicts the romantic relationship between Patroclus and Achilles who have to deal with understanding their feelings for each other while also finding a way to stay together even when destiny doesn't allow them to. Madeline has followed the Mythology blueprint all while adding her spin to it. The fate of Achilles is one full of Crossroads. The largest of those crossroads is deciding whether or not to partake in the Attack on the Great City of Troy whose walls were said to be impenetrable. Patroclus finds himself swept into Achilles' destiny because of the love they feel for each other.
He follows Achilles to the mountain when Achilles had been sent to Chiron a centaur who was to teach Achilles in the art of battle. He finds himself following Achilles again after finding out that he had been taken by Thetis, his mother who was a sea nymph to Scyros.
I have to say that the story takes a painful turn and has a star crossed lover’s element that brings Romeo and Juliet to its knees. Greek tragedies are stories that somehow bind your soul and make you realize the mortality of human life and emotions. They never end well hence the term tragedy. All in all, when I decided to read the book for the second time,e I didn't expect the story to resonate with me so much.
