˗ˏˋ OPEN BOOK CLUB ´ˎ˗ : Song of Achilles (FINAL DISCUSSION ch 13-33)
Added 2024-11-18 06:55:37 +0000 UTCi divided the discussions into these chapters because i had insight of the storyline already so i hope it felt like it made sense :’)
i know this last discussion thread is for a HUGE chunk of this book so i gave some extra time to finish
THAT BEING SAID im going to put some of my overall thoughts here but would love to set a time for us all to hop into the book club spoiler community chat to have a live thread going!!!
let’s meet in the chat on **Nov. 20th at 11am PST** (hopefully this gives some ppl a couple days to finish the book if you haven’t already!!!!)
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welp i can’t believe i subjected myself to this book again like don’t get me wrong i freaking adore and love this book BUT IT HURTS
i finished the book last night and then cried myself to sleep LOL
i think chapter 18 is when i truly felt the tonal shift of the story and witness the loss of innocence of achilles. i remember the first time i read about agamemnon's daughter being the sacrifice and her coming willingly bc she thought it was her wedding and WOAIUHEOAIUHJWWDOUAWHSD UGHHHHH. this literally BREAKS MY HEART and i think it broke achilles a little as well (also if youre interested in another retelling of the iliad but from the woman's perspective, i would rec elektra by jennifer saint).
but slowly watching achilles dehumanize himself while petroclus is desperately trying to remind him truly kills me every time :(
ugh like even just writing this is hard because i have to relive the last couple of chapters and it just genuinely HURTS to think about how achilles was doomed from the start and he just got LOST in it all, but even petroclus couldnt pull him out of it :((((
also, when petroclus' soul cannot rest and he retells thetis of his life with achiles </3 "this and this. this and this"
guys, id honestly write more but i cant im crying aHAHAHAdhawiudaskdjhask
i cant
i think this book just has it all for me
its so sweet
its so human
5/5
would love to hear what you guys think!!!!
1. what was your favorite part of the book?
2. least favorite part?
3. do you blame achilles for how it all unfolded or do you think it was destined?
i hope to see you guys in the community group chat on the 20th at 11am pst! i hope im over it by then and can talk about it without crying bc goddamit
Comments
i do blame and have remorse against achilles but every step is what led the prophecy to be true so i guess it couldn’t have gone any different
Zzzsleepy
2024-11-21 04:03:24 +0000 UTCi’m in mental pain from this book it is so beautiful and emotional and it hurts but the experience was worth it
Zzzsleepy
2024-11-21 04:02:11 +0000 UTCTo hope is to Love This book taught me to hope in love — in all its facets. Be it complex, twisted, euphoric, and even perhaps worst of all … devastating. Oddly, this is my first historical fiction book and I’m so glad it was about love between two men. It strangely falls on exactly a time in my life where I feel ready and courageous to come out to family. If and when I do have that conversation, I’ll look back fondly on this book and remember how it’s queer representation was to tell a story about human connection, and that which should transcend all labels: love. I hope deeply to love another in the way Patroclus loved Achilles. Yes, Achilles was god-like, and yes he was incredibly blessed with parentage, but why did Patroclus fall in love? I truly think it’s because of the acts of self-less kindness Achilles showed him. In a time in his life which he felt the lowest, cast away, and isolated Achilles shows Patroclus that he needn’t bear his father’s shame as an act of penance. Patroclus was simply a boy who needed a friend. I can’t isolate a “favorite part” of the book because my favorite part was the whole journey. We may sometimes choose to relish in love’s hopeful beginnings because they are innocent and simple and easy. But truly, the magnetism of this re-telling is to learn from all aspects of their love story. When they were boys they taught me to aspire. When they were young men they taught me passion. When they were adults they taught me to cherish. Even in their deaths, they taught me that the journey is worth the destination. “In the darkness, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out of the sun.”
Honestfictionist
2024-11-20 04:40:20 +0000 UTC1. My favorite part is think is the overall falling in love between them but also when they were with Chiron because they were truly happy. pure love for each other and wanting to find their passions like medicine and music. 2. my least favorite part might be the sacrifice of agememnons daughter I think ththat was a turning point for achilles, like you said, it took a part of him. I also think the way he just let agememnon take briseis without ANY remorse. knowing how gruff and aggressive agememnon would be. He knew how bad it would be for her. I understand he was trying to have reason to go after agememnon but seriously. It showed how little women meant to him. I think that's something we see in this book is patroclus having a lot of feelings for achilles but also having a kindness for women. Achilles just didn't care in general. Not saying he should especially with the women who loved him knowing he wouldn't see them romantically ever. But just giving her away an innocent, knowing how much pain and suffering she mmight go through. Especially after creating a safe haven for the women in the camp. a place for them to feel okay. 3. Overall I think the story is meant to show you how fate will come no matter what. Achilles could have reduced his ego and fought for the greater good, but I think our story would have ended similarly. I think this was their destiny, but it had to play out the way it did for it to become the myth and legend of achilles.
Syd Buckley
2024-11-19 02:36:04 +0000 UTC1. I think my favorite part is their training arc with Chiron; it was heartwarming seeing Achilles and Patroclus’ bond grow! It also felt so innocent? Boys oblivious to the horrors of war (for the most part 🥲). Seeing them have a good mentor also makes you wonder what could have been had they not followed the prophecy, but I guess prophecies exist for a reason lol. 2. My least favorite part was the sacrificing of Agamemnon’s daughter. That part was really shocking for me, I literally gasped out loud. It also hurts learning how women were treated terribly even in ancient times, we’ve really had it rough. Or Patroclus’ spirit not being able to rest without a proper burial, and him telling his stories with Achilles to Thetis 😭 Tbh it isn’t necessarily a least favorite, maybe just most heart-wrenching lol???? Literally cried through the ending. 3. It’s hard for me to say if it’s entirely Achilles’ doing in the end, because I do believe that destiny and karma are a thing, even if it’s not as grand as stories make it out to be. Like sure, he could’ve swallowed his pride and gone to fight, but would he be the Achilles we know if he did? I wouldn’t blame him for the events that unfolded. It feels to me more like an unfortunate sequence of events that most likely would’ve ended in tragedy no matter what.
brienne
2024-11-18 23:10:13 +0000 UTCalso i want to agree it is so so human and im glad i decided to stick with it despite it not being my first genre choice. good writing really does hard carry basically anything but even more so this type of stuff
Pb
2024-11-18 07:11:32 +0000 UTC1. i think my least favorite part had to just be the initial couple chapters, learning a lot of names that i wouldnt be able to remember, names that i couldnt tell were important or not yet (esp the men's bidding for Helen) 2. my favorite/s were probably just overall patroclus and achilles falling/being in love like that was 🥺🥺🥺 it was all so wholesome throughout the book, maybe that and patroclus and achilles not knowing how to be angry at each other later in the book, because all theyd been is happy and 3. i like to think that it was destined - achilles just seemed so so out of character towards his end, it seemed like the god's/fate's will at work and not who he really was - who patroclus would keep trying to bring him back to. it felt like it was who he had to be in the course of fate, for it all to happen, because i dont think he would have truly let patroclus go in his stead, and i also dont think patroclus would in his right mind actually decide to fight and climb that damn wall 🧡🧡🧡 i loved reading this book with everyone and i cannot cannot cannot wait for what book we're reading next !!!!
Pb
2024-11-18 07:10:11 +0000 UTC1. I think my favorite part of the book was when they were with Chiron. It was pure innocence and it was so loving and really showed the affection that they felt for eachother. I also enjoyed a lot of quotes from that part of the book so here are some of my favorites Do not let what you gained this day be so easily lost.” Chiron ch. 8 page 81 “He is a weapon, a killer. Do not forget it. You can use a spear as a walking stick, but that will not change its nature” Odysseus ch. 18 page 207 “And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone. Do you think?” Chiron ch. 9 page 84 I think there was a lot of foreshadowing with Chiron as well especially once you start to feel the shift of Achilles turning into a war god and putting his entire self into it. 2. Listen i get EXTREMELY bored when moments are dragged out for too long so i feel like the beginning when they were explaining Patroclus’ backstory and when the sickness stuck the soldiers i just wanted to move on from it. Although i very much do understand it was for a good reason and it definitely needed to be added 3. I believe that it was going to unfold no matter what. Although I believe that Achilles had a big impact in Patroclus’ death and the ending of the war. He was very childish to choose his own pride over his lover and people. Anyways those are my quick thoughts i can’t want to yap more about it on tuesday with you guys!! I can’t wait for the next read and i can’t wait to hear what everyone else has to say! Note: I couldn’t stop crying at the end i think another favorite part was definitely Patroclus telling Achilles’ mother about how much he loved him and their days together. I SOBBED when she brought him to peace and brought them together. I still get teary eyes just thinking of it :’(
Lily Brown
2024-11-18 07:09:14 +0000 UTC
