My Books: Circe — Madeline Miller
What It’s About:
This book tells the story about Circe in Greek Mythology and her life starting from the halls of Helios’ courts to her eventual exile on the island of Aiaia. Throughout the book, she crosses paths with several Greek legends such as the Minotaur, Odysseus, Daedalus, etc.
Initial Thoughts (Notes/Likes/Dislikes)
- My only introduction into Greek Mythology is Percy Jackson so I have had to look up a lot of characters as I’m reading the book.
- The book is extremely well written. I don’t read very much throughout the day but Miller kept me coming back for more. It is very enjoyable and easy to read.
- I thought one of the most interesting parts of the book is that the protagonist is immortal. Most stories enthrall the reader by constantly reminding us of the protagonist’s mortality especially when they are in dangerous scenarios. Rather than the fear of death, the fear of suffering drives the majority of characters.
- I love how you can see her development throughout the entire story. As the reader, you have so much empathy for Circe that you really understand why she did some horrible things in her past, yet you are always rooting for her.
Lessons:
It’s kind of hard to come up with particular lessons learned through this book since it’s entirely fictional. However, I really enjoyed reading a book from the perspective of a character who is immortal and seeing what motivates her actions.
Recommendation:
Even though I’m still only a third of the way through the book, I’m definitely going to purchase “Song of Achilles”, the other bestseller written by Madeline Miller. I definitely recommend this book if you enjoyed Percy Jackson as a kid. It’s a much more adult take on Greek Mythology which I can really appreciate.
Update: Just finished the book and my recommendation still stands. This book just gets better and better the further along you get.
