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

[wulfila.livejournal.com]

No, I hadn't heard of that book, but if Achilles is idealized enough to be boring in it, I am not certain if I want to read it, especially not if it reads like fanfiction falling short of the work it is based on. (I don't want to trigger any sort of "Argh! Flattery!" reaction again, so I will just wisely state that there are ... certain fanfics that don't make me feel that way at all, because they have their own depth and charm). I like your painting analogy, by the way.

But speaking of Iliad fanfiction, have you read Eric Shanower's comic series Age of Bronze? Agreed, it is unfinished, and it does have its flaws (for example, my friend S. is right to claim that one wouldn't be able to tell Priam's sons apart if they didn't wear different headbands), but it does a good job with many of the characters, including Achilles and Patroclus (not limited to a panel based on that famous vase painting you did a Fingon/Maedhros version of ages ago). But above all, it comes across as very well researched in the archeology/prehistory department, and that would make it really fun even if the story wasn't interesting in itself.

[tehta.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec! I will try to hunt it down. I love good historical works.

And I do feel like there are many fanfics that do justice to (or even exceed) the original material -- although the Iiad is a pretty tough benchmark! I guess that a lot of the time it has to do with the fanfic author taking the story in directions the original author ignored. Which I suppose this story tries to do...