Reading Log, March 2025

Part 1

Today's date: 09.03.2025

Books I have finished reading since last log:

The Song of Achilles
  by Madeline Miller

Sweat
  by Lynn Nottage

The Song of Achilles

My edition of the book: Bloomsbury, 2017.

“Name one hero who was happy."

I considered. Heracles went mad and killed his family; Theseus lost his bride and father; Jason's children and new wife were murdered by his old; Bellerophon killed the Chimera but was crippled by the fall from Pegasus' back.

"You can't."”

This book is basically the story of the Trojan War through a queer lens, focusing mostly on Achilles and Patroclus. Patroclus, the exile son of Menoitius, is sent to live in the kingdom of Peleus after having killed a boy his age.
There, he meets the son of Peleus and the goddess Thetis, Achilles. The prince becomes interested in Patroclus, making him to his closest companion, despite the lack of understanding of his father and the disapproval of his mother. Thetis' disapproval mainly comes from her knowledge of Patroclus' love of Achilles.
In parts to combat this, but also fulfil the prophecy set out by the gods for her son, she sends Achilles alone to train with Chiron on Mount Pelion. Chiron is the most knowledgable of centaurs, raised by Apollo and Artemis and has been the teacher of many other great heroes, such as Jason and Hercules. Which makes him the seemingly perfect pick to train Achilles, who is destined to be the best of heroes.
Patroclus follows, despite him not being supposed to. Chiron judges against the wishes of Thetis to not allow the exiled prince to be with Achilles, and so allows him to join the training. 
They spend a big time of their teenage years on Pelion with the wise centaur. They learn about medicine, surgery, music, nature and many other things. A while after they turn seventeen, they are called back down to Peleus, as Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped by Paris, one of the sons of Trojan King Priam.
Menelaus -Helen's husband- and his brother Agamemnon plan on taking Troy to war and start asking the help of different rulers, who years prior have sworn an oath to protect Helen, even if it meant to sacrifice their lives for her.
A part of Achilles' prophecy says that in Troy, he will become known as the best warrior of his generation. The only problem: It is also said he will never leave Troy alive.

Final verdict?

I'm really split on this. On the one hand, this book seems to have helped me discover an interest towards Greek mythology, which I never knew I held within me. I am planning to read Homer's Iliad this summer, so I believe this retelling might have given me an alright taste of what is to come - but without a focus on Patroclus and Achilles.
And the funniest part is: I am kind of glad for that. Because let me be honest, I found the both of them to be quite insufferable at times.
Patroclus is made out to be a weakling who knows not how to fight. This apparently is a very big mischaracterisation of how he is portrayed in the Iliad, which The Song of Achilles is based on. I find that quite strange. And Achilles himself is also either oblivious, or towards the later parts of the novel, a straight up asshole.
But I can at least truthfully say that I do not entirely regret having read this, as again, it has fed me enough to realise I might enjoy the taste of Greek mythology. I can't be mad at it for that.
There is another small part that I am mad at it for though: The writing sometimes feels forced, at least to me. And there are parts where the use of certain words, such as "cuckolded" or "fucking Paris" have broken my immersion to such a degree, that I almost visibly began cringing. But maybe these are just small nitpicks.
To really finish this paragraph off, I have one last thing to say: I didn't cry and I was expecting to. Maybe again, I am just crazy, and don't get it. Who knows.
Also, also: Justice for Briseis.

Credit: Statue: Menelaus Holding the Body of Patroclus; 
Picture taken by Paul Fernandez, 22.09.2018.

Sweat

My edition of the book: Theatre Communications Group, 2017.

“Sometimes I think we forget that we're meant to pick up and go when the well runs dry. Our ancestors knew that. You stay put for too long, you get weighed down by things, things you don't need. It's true. Then your life becomes a pathetic accumulation of stuff. Emotional and physical junk.”

Lynn Nottage’s Unsparing “Sweat” Is a Funeral Song for America’s Working Class ~ Byron Woods, Indy Week, 21.02.2020.
Sweat is a play by Lynn Nottage about the downfall of a formerly rich town in the Rust Belt during the early 2000's. It follows a cast of nine main characters and how they deal with layoffs at the local plant.
What is most interesting about this playwright is its setting: almost all of it takes place in the town's bar, where the characters meet to celebrate birthday parties or just grab a drink after a hard day of work. The story also changes between taking place in 2000 and 2008, giving us insight into what became of the main cast after the big conflicts of the work.
It dabbles into a bit of everything, really, tackling not only the political tension around topics such as NAFTA and the election, but also racism towards Black and Latino people and drug use.
The dialogue is wonderfully done, showcasing bits of the characters' personalities wonderfully by the way they interact with one another, each of them fulfiling almost a sort of archetype you might find in their environment. There is raw emotion, anger and frustration between the lines; I would really love to see this played on stage.

Final verdict?

Wonderfully done work, what more can I say? I got through it quite quickly, as it only is around 100 pages long. That means it doesn't overstay its welcome and also doesn't feed you every detail within it. There are many times where you have to fill in the gaps for yourself, especially between the time skips from 2000 to 2008 and back. I would even be as bold to claim, that by this, Sweat actually sticks to Hemingway's Iceberg Theory quite well. But let's not get into specifics with that.
Overall, I can really recommend this, if you want something to maybe challenge you a bit. It sure did challenge me. It might not be long, but to call it a light read is not right. It required quite some mental effort, especially for my European ass, to try and understand all the connections to political events of the 2000s that this work is making.
Overall, as I have stated earlier: I would love to see this play live.

Credit: Picture taken by Joan Marcus.

This is the end of this blog for now! Thank you for reading!

Stay tuned; there will be more coming this month!
Playing in the background: Chopin Nocturne Op. 55, No. 1; Played by Jorge Bolet.