The Song of Achilles

 The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2011) 408 pages

There are so many books I have missed out on, this being one of them. I am so glad to have finally read it, as someone who has a fondness for Greek mythology. 

This is a retelling of The Iliad. A story told from Patroclus' pov, this story begins with a young prince who is exiled from his father's lands for killing another young boy. He lands in the care of another king, who fosters other young boys. Patroclus and the king's son, Achilles form and attachment and become companions. Achilles is also the son of the sea Goddess Thetis, who often shares her disapproval for the companionship between Achilles and Patroclus. The story continues throughout their boyhood leading into manhood, in which they discover feelings for one another. They train for survival over the course of years with the centaur Chiron until they are called away to fight in a war. Queen Helen has been kidnapped by Troy, and King Agamemnon calls all Greeks to fight for her honor and to return her to her king. Achilles has been prophesied to be the most famous warrior of all time, and joining the war is to begin him on this path. The rest of the book covers the struggles during the 10-year long Trojan war and how Patroclus grows and deals with the growing pride of Achilles. 

The Secret History / Donna Tartt 524 p.

How does an author create a story lacking a single likeable character that keeps you reading frantically to the last page? I can't answer that, but I can tell you that Tartt has done it. Richard Papen leaves his dingy California home for a small, elite college in Vermont. There he becomes enmeshed with a small clique who, the reader gathers, are the friends he's been waiting for all his life - brilliant, eccentric, fabulously wealthy, and entirely exclusive. Papen manages to hide his working-class background and so-so education to penetrate their circle, being accepted into their unique program of study: Greek and Latin classical literature and philosophy, all under the tutelage of Dr. Julian last-name-forgotten, a mysterious figure who looks like Dumbledore but may very well be...well, never mind. These very precious, special young people quote Aristotle like the rest of us toss off Seinfeld references and create their own moral universe, with disastrous results. Tartt sustains Hitchcock-like tension throughout. Just plain amazing writing.