The book of the month: The song of Achilles, opinion with some spoilers:

I have always liked the character of Achilles, all his representations from editions of children's books, cartoons, movies, and when I read The Iliad by Homer in highschool... I think I was captivated by the complexity of the character, his duality, a hero, the most powerful of all and, at the same time,

so sensitive; sometimes shy and taciturn but also so full of life; a great warrior and strategist and lover of the arts; immortalized by history but, spoiler, with such a short life.

The book, the song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller, caught me from the first moment. A fast and dynamic reading, it took me less than a week to finish it (more than once I had to put it down when I would have loved to continue reading). And the author, a specialist in the Greek classics, knows how to convey that taste and passion that she herself feels for everything related to that time. I think this is perhaps the key, when you love something, when you are passionate about a subject, and you set your mind to it, you can transmit that love. She does it in a masterful and clear way, even after having finished the book I continue with a desire to continue researching a little more about mythology and the Greek classics.

The book tells us the life of Achilles, from his mythical birth, loaded with profecies and oracles of his destiny, but more focused on narrating the adolescence of the young hero, the awakening of his passions and the decision to pursue his fame and become immortalized until the end of time. She also gifts us with another perspective on love, passion, tenderness and the awakening of these desires in the heart of a teenager Achilles (mini spoiler, we should note that in ancient Greece the concept of love could be intended for both heterosexual and same-sex couples as bisexuality was something openly accepted and falling in love did not care for gender).

I don't want to spoil the book for those of you who haven't read it, I'll just tell you that if you feel a little curious about this novel give yourself the opportunity to read it, at least the first chapter, to see if it catches your eye.

Don't forget that books tell us different things depending on the person who is reading it. This novel has gifted me with several moments of reading happiness and reminded me of why I am so passionate about art and history, why I love this world so much, this humanity, with all its flaws, because we are capable of creating so much beauty. Art makes the world more beautiful,m.

As for the books, the best are those that you wish wouldn't end but, at the same time, you can't stop reading at high speed and that when you finish them you think "wow! What a great book I just read." This is not a complex or novelty book, it is a masterful retelling of a story in a sweet and fresh way.

At times this book, quite romantic, I have to admit, has brought me to tears, especially when reading this beautiful phrase with which I ens this review, of our hero regarding his love: "I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world".

Black and white photograph of the cover of the book The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller