I read a book.

[tehta]

I suspect that I am the very last person in this corner of fandom to hear about The Song of Achilles, last year's Orange-prize-winning novel about, well, Achilles. And Patroclus, who, in this interpretation, is NOT his cousin. If you know what I mean. And most of you do.

Anyway, I have finally heard of it, and moreover, purchased it and read it. And now I feel compelled to share my thoughts on it with the internet. So, here goes:

• I did enjoy it.
  
• It is well-written. Not brilliant, but reasonably impressive.
  
• But I cannot help thinking of it as fanfiction for the Illiad. (Hilariously, the review I linked to above says the same thing -- citing Sam and Frodo!)
  
• And, if I judge it by the same standards I apply to fanfiction... it falls short. I can think of several fics I find more compelling, and just as well-written.
  
• I guess I feel that it lacks a certain edge. I think this is VERY related to some discussions I have been having with wulfila lately, about the ideal of the noble, beautiful hero, and the question of whether we should be writing them. One of the claims I made was that the most popular heroes fall far from this ideal, and I gave the examples of Lancelot, Maedhros -- and Achilles. A different claim I forgot to make was that actual idealized heroes would be boring to read about. Well, I feel like this book idealizes Achilles so much that it makes him boring. (It does keep Odysseus interesting -- but then an author would have to be truly incompetent to mess up such a great character.)
  
• I guess I also feel that it is overshadowed by the Iliad. Shocking, I know. But it's like the Iliad is painted in a wide range of colours, vivid and muted, light and dark, and this book is a small pale study in pastels.
  
• Anyway, the specifics of The Song of Achilles aside -- the whole experience of reading something so lauded, and so comparable to fanfiction, really made me realize just how rich our playground is, here, and how lucky I am to have found it. Go fandom!
  

And now that I have bored everyone, I would like to draw people's attention to the gay claymation version of the Iliad. I know I have linked to it before, but it remains fabulous and awesome.

Comments

[tehta.livejournal.com]

I don't mean just idealized beauty, but also idealized virtue. Achilles in the Song is still full of hubris, but somehow he comes across as less pissy and glory-seeking and more compassionate than other Achilles' of my acquaintance. But hey, maybe it's all in the POV? He's being viewed by spoony Patroclus. And Renault's Alexander gets pretty good press from Bagoas.

Incidentally, do you know who else has grey eyes and a great complexion? NEARLY EVERY NOLDO EVER.

And I totally harp on this in my stories. Which might be why Wulfila brought it up...

[moetushie]

A less pissy Achilles just isn't Achilles, in my book. He's a glorious brat! Isn't that canon? Although you're right that a biased POV might be to blame. If you're hot for the Noble Hero, of course he'll seem quite perfect.

HEY NOW, THEY CAN'T HELP THEIR PERFECT GENETICS. Although now I'm thinking of how much it would suck to go through eternity with acne scars. (Maybe Caranthir's ruddy complexion and generally surly attitude indicates a prolonged adolescence on his part?)

I don't know if I do that -- although I'm of the belief that the elves I write pick their noses and scratch their behinds as much as anyone... When no one is looking, of course. (Maybe not Maedhros though.)

[tehta.livejournal.com]

A biased POV can still be unreliable, and to show both that the narrator finds the hero perfect, and that he is wrong to do so. In fact, I love that sort of thing!

I don't know about nose-picking. Maybe Elves don't produce much mucus? And don't their scars fade faster than ours? Sigh. But they totally scratch, and belch, and go to the loo. Ecthelion could tell you much more on the latter subject, since he's in charge of Gondolin's toilets.