The Song of Achilles is, first and foremost, a love story of the most simple kind, stretching from youth to the very last days of life, and afterlife, of Achilles and Patroclus. The bond between the demigod Achilles and the human warrior Patroclus has been recognised for centuries, known for their part in The Iliad and therefore the Trojan War. The Song of Achilles explores the further idea that the two were more than mere friends, but instead lovers, and does so in such a delicate and heart wrenching way that the book will do no less than drag you in with details of youthful days under the care of the god Chiron, and tear your heart apart with the wrath of Achille's mother Thetis and the brutality and tragedy of the Trojan war.
"Perhaps it is the greatest grief, after all," the book reads, "to be left on earth when another is gone." It is words like these that will strike without warning and hint toward the truth that lies beneath the events of the myths. Through these, the book explores themes of, most obviously, love, but also honour, family and, of course, grief and loss.
There is no doubt that The Song of Achilles is one of my favourite novels, and for no precisely discernible reason, other than knowing that i read the entire thing in one afternoon, completely by accident. Although in all honesty, i am a sucker for any book that can make me cry my eyes out, and this book is doubtless a tragedy.
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