Review: The Song of Achilles

The Song of Achilles

By Madeline Miller

369 pages

Harper Collins 2012

From the library 

The Song Of Achilles is the debut novel of Madeline Miller and the winner of this year’s Orange Prize. Ms. Miller takes the story of the Greek hero Achilles and gives it new life with exquisite characterization and beautiful prose. This time, the story is told from the view of Patroclus, a young prince banished from his home. Patroclus becomes a ward of King Peleus, father of the golden boy Achilles. The boys become closer than anyone could have imagined. When King Menelaus calls upon an old oath, Achilles and Patoclus journey to Troy. But their lives are not their own – the gods have already determined their destiny.

While reading this book, I had to remind myself that this is Miller’s first novel. This is a great book. Miller has taken a few lines of The Iliad and brought them to vibrant life. While Homer gives us the basic details of plot, we never understand why Achilles relates the way that he does to the events of the Trojan War. By filling in the backstory and the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, the efforts of Achilles, Patroclus, and the other Greeks to overcome the decisions of the gods becomes inspiring and heartbreaking.

The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is created incredibly well. As children, they are very different. It has been foretold that Achilles will be the greatest warrior of his generation.  Patroclus is weak and awkward around other people. He expects to keep his head down and avoid attention. When Achilles takes interest in Patroclus, their friendship gives him the confidence to stand up for himself and the people who he loves. Their relationship slowly and realistically grows from friendship to love. Miller does an excellent job showing the awkward moments of a new relationship and the beauty of enduring love.

“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.” 

Ms. Miller has written an amazing debut novel. She manages to take a classical tale that has been read for generations and make it her own without deviating from the original. Her beautiful language, compelling storytelling, and complex characters will compel you to keep turning pages, even when you fear you know how the story will end. The Song of Achilles is for readers who love mythology, who love history, and who love a well-crafted, beautiful story. 

Review: A Soft Place to Land

A Soft Place to Land

By Susan Rebecca White

Touchstone April 2010

352 pages

From my shelves

Ruthie and Julia are half-sisters, but closer than most siblings. Their love is strengthened by the intense bond of their parents, Naomi and Phil. But when their parents die in a plane crash, the girls are devastated to discover that their parent’s will dictates that they be split up.  Julia is sent to live with her father and stepmother and Ruthie lives with her aunt and uncle. A Soft Place to Land follows the sisters through the next twenty years as their lives continue to impact each other, even when they are miles apart.

So many modern novels seem to encompass the time between the 1990s and the late 2000s. This time period is ripe with many events that were life-changing for the people who experienced them. In this novel, because Ruthie and Julia lost their parents to a plane crash, the focus is on other plane accidents. Ms. White  weaves the lives of the girls into the tragedy of 9/11 and the heroic efforts of Captain Sullenberger, who got his plane full of passengers to safety. Unfortunately, it comes across as a bit obvious when every event with a plane is important for the characters in this book. Instead of being clever, it becomes obnoxious.

The relationship between the two sisters is well-written. In the beginning of the novel, Ruthie has a hard time tracking down her rebellious older sister. But when Julia finally gets the message that all is not well and her little sister needs her, she is there at her side in moments. Like any sibling relationship, they have their ups and downs. They fight, they make up, they need each other at certain times, and they can’t escape the connection that they have with each other.

But while the relationship may be clear, the sisters themselves are often not. White gives us a few chapters with the sisters and then jumps ahead in time. She does this multiple times in the book. By the time you feel you are beginning to understand who the girls are at this time in their lives, they have aged and changed again.   It is difficult for the reader to relate to Julia, because we only see her through the eyes of her sister. However, the frequent changes in time make it difficult to really care for Ruthie, either.

A Soft Place to Land is a good book that takes an honest look at the bond between sisters and the ways that children and adults view their parents. But its frequent change of time and place coupled with the author's choice to make every obvious connection prevents it from being a great one. 

Wednesdays with David: Animals 1, Books 0

Sadly, we have no book to share with you today. David enjoyed the company of his Grammy, an aunt, and other assorted friends on an excursion to the safari at Six Flags.
So...we want to know what you have been reading with your son, your granddaughter, or the kids that you babysit. What children's books should we read next?

Happy Reading!

Review: The Siren of Paris

The Siren of Paris

By David LeRoy

335 pages

Book provided by Book Promotion Services

The Siren of Paris is a novel about a young man caught up in the violence and betrayal of World War II. In the late 1930s, Marc travels to Paris to study art. He falls in love with one of the models in his class and is beginning to feel at home in his new city. But the war is encroaching on Paris, and it is not long before Marc is losing friends, doubting the woman he loves, and deciding where he stands in the war between good and evil.

This self-published novel really exhibits the amount of time and effort that its author took with his research. Mr. LeRoy takes his readers through the streets of Paris and shows the way the Parisian people were ignorant of the true toll of the war before it rolled down their own streets. He also uses many events of the time period, some that are well-known and some that are less known. I think even readers who are fond of World War II novels will learn about the underground resistance in Paris and the wartime tragedy of the RMS Lancastria.

The Siren of Paris jumps around a lot. It starts at the end and then goes back through the story. The transitions often struck me as awkward. I felt as though the previous section hadn't really ended and I was suddenly reading about another day or another character.

The beginning device in the novel is indicative of how many characters are thrown into this novel. Marc is making friends and acquaintances from the moment he gets to Paris, and it can be confusing. The sheer volume of characters makes it difficult to really connect with them. Unfortunately, it also contributes to distance from our protagonist. While I was interested in him, I never really found myself fearing for him or anxious to find out what would happen next. 

I think Mr. LeRoy has some serious potential as a writer of historical fiction. His passion for history comes through on every page of meticulous research. While The Siren of Paris struggles with transition and character development, it is a book that sheds new light on lesser known historical events and the blurring of lines between good and evil during times of war. 

To the ladies and gentlemen of the FTC: I received this book from the author and Book Promotions Services in exchange for a review. The opinions expressed here are my own. 

It's Monday and we are busy!

Hey there, bibliophiles. How is it going? This has been a crazy week! I apologize for some spotty posting this week. We were having some computer issues, but we are back up and running. 

This week saw us visiting (and loving) a preschool with David and then prepping and carrying out a concert at our church. My husband was the man in charge and I sang and played piano, among some other things. We had a local pizza place selling pizza and a few vendors. We managed to avoid any real rain, and it was a great event. I think the Summer Sounds Concert will become an annual tradition at our church. Then we had the the hubby's parents, and his brother, wife, and little guy over for dinner. Suffice it to say that we are tuckered...but it's been a really good week. 

Read This Week:


The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
By Rachel Joyce


The Red House
By Mark Haddon

Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Reviews of Ivanhoe and The Fault in Our Stars

Reading Now:

Tender Is The Night
By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Up Next:

The Discovery of Jeanne Baret
By Glynis Ridley

Check back later on Monday for my post on The Siren of Paris. What did you read this week?

Review: The Fault In Our Stars

The Fault In Our Stars

By John Green

Penguin 2012

313 pages

From the library

The Fault in Our Stars is the story of Hazel, a teen surviving thyroid cancer. While attending her lame support group, she meets a boy. Augustus is quirky and sarcastic, just as she is. Hazel and Augustus start to hang out, and then to fall in love. But this is a book about kids with cancer. It is full of oxygen tanks, hospital visits, and the uncertainty that any of them will see tomorrow. This is an amazing novel, an examination of the way we must laugh in times of grief and live boldly in spite of our inability to escape death.

This is my first book by John Green and I was completely impressed. Amidst hundreds of young adult books about apocalyptic battles, vampires, and witches, it’s refreshing to read a book about teens dealing with real problems.  His characters are wonderful – they feel real, like people you might know and hang out with. They are sarcastic but heartfelt, wrong and wronged, smart but not obnoxious, and alternatingly heartbroken and optimistic. I also loved that these teens had real relationships with their parents. They fought and they got on each other’s nerves, but it’s refreshing to see parents and children who actually seem to like each other most of the time.  

John Green also takes time within this book to pay tribute to the things that get us through our darkest days – the book we read again and again or the video game we play until we feel better able to deal with awful situations. A good portion of the plot deals with the determination of Hazel (and subsequently Gus) trying to find out what happens to the characters in a beloved novel. Mr. Green subtly slips in questions about what makes the book you read – is  it the author’s intention or what you have in your heart and mind as you turn the pages?

The Fault in Our Stars does not shy away from the emotion of living with a terminal disease, but it never becomes mawkish. It’s interesting to read from the point of view of the sick person. So often we read from the perspective of someone watching a loved one suffer but, with Hazel as our narrator, we understand the terrible knowledge that comes with illness. There is a current of fear running throughout the story– worry that you are the one who will break the hearts of everyone you love, worry that you can’t get too close because you won’t be here for long.

This is a sad book. Books about kids with cancer are inherently tragic. But it’s also a book that affirms our collective will to live, to live well in however many days we are given on this earth. It’s a book about first love and forever love, the love between friends and the love of family. This is a book I can see myself going back to time after time for its wit, for its characters, and for its heart. The Fault in Our Stars reminds me of everything that young adult literature can be. 

Review: Ivanhoe

Ivanhoe

By Walter Scott

Dodd, Mead, and Company 1943

500 pages

From the library

My first experience with the story of Ivanhoe was as a child when my parents got me a bunch of Illustrated Classics. I loved Ivanhoe and read it over and over again. As an adult, I was excited to experience the work in its entirety and see the difference between the sanitized children's version and the full novel.

I have to give the Illustrated Classics some respect here because they managed to fit all of the major plot points into that slim volume. Ivanhoe tells the tale of a young knight who is disinherited by his father because of his love for his father’s ward Rowena and his determination to follow King Richard, even if it means losing his fortune and taking part in the Crusades. Ivanhoe returns home to reclaim his title and his love, but his attempts are complicated by the scheming Prince John, a determined Templar, Robin Hood, and a beautiful Jewish healer.

For a book entitled Ivanhoe, we get surprisingly little time with our hero. This novel can truly be called an ensemble piece. We spend a lot of time with Ivanhoe’s father Cedric, some of his servants, and perhaps the most time with the villains of the piece. By doing this, Walter Scott gives a detailed picture of medieval life, that of the master and servant, the Christian and Jew; even if he himself admits that his details may not be 100 percent historically accurate.

And speaking of the Christians and Jews, you have to read this novel while remembering that this was a very long time ago. While Scott makes Isaac and his daughter Rebecca complex characters that are easy to relate to, most of the Christian characters are not so gracious. It can be difficult to stomach just how nasty some of them are just because of Isaac and Rebecca’s Jewish faith. I also have to admit that as a woman, I found Scott’s portrayal of them to generally fall flat. There are three women who appear in this novel. The two women who make up the love triangle with Ivanhoe leave something to be desired. While Rebecca does have some spunk and a little personality, we are informed that Rowena is simply spoiled and accustomed to having her way because of her beauty and position.

Walter Scott is big on the descriptions. As you read, you will know the most minute detail of everyone’s clothing, the architecture of every building, and the topography of every piece of land that the characters traverse. He also likes to throw in some history and analyze major battles, political rivalries, and oh, some random tidbits that you may find interesting (he certainly does).

But lengthy descriptions aside, this is a great story. It has knights and battles, tournaments and castles afire. And sometimes the book can be downright funny, especially when we are following the misadventures of various servants and yeomen. You can find the origins of so many of our notions about the medieval time period here. If you really want to take your time with a classic and get involved with many characters and plot lines, Ivanhoe is a great choice.