Spoilery Book Reviews

Circe by Madeline Miller

Back of the book

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. Circe is strange – not powerful and terrible, like her father, nor gorgeous and mercenary like her mother. But she has a dark power of her own: witchcraft. When Circe's gift threatens the gods, she is banished to the island of Aiaia where she hones her occult craft, casting spells, gathering strange herbs and taming wild beasts. Yet a woman who stands alone cannot live in peace for long – and among her island's guests is an unexpected visitor: the mortal Odysseus, for whom Circe will risk everything.

Circe's tale is a vivid epic of family rivalry, love and loss – the inextinguishable song of a woman burning hot and bright in the darkness of a man's world.

My thoughts

Fresh from reading Song of Achilles that I criticised for using too many names, page 3 she mentions an aunt: "I will spare you her name because my tale is full of aunts." This felt like a direct response to the criticism I had of the previous book, alas I have new criticisms.

Circe begins in a way that makes her relatable, because powerful gods who have everything are not relatable. Circe is one of the many lesser gods, with no remarkable powers or beauty to make her notable or memorable among the others. Within this setting, we root for her triumphs and discovery of witchcraft. I like that Circe continually grows, each new life event a learning experience wherein she becomes wiser. I believe this is an accurate illustration of life, that it is the events we experience that grow us and not just time alone, because Circe is immortal and centuries old but naïve because she is young in life experiences.

The pacing for this book was off. It didn't follow the typical book structure of culminating to one main even then a resolution. Events were episodic and in between events the book dragged a little. Decades or centuries passed by where Circe practiced her witchcraft, walked her island and reflected on the interesting things that had happened in her life. As the book neared the end, I wondered what the big hurrah would be. With all the events that happened across Circe's life, I thought there would be a final event to outshine the rest. The threat Athena posed and their eventual confrontation felt anticlimactic for the final piece of drama.

Pacing aside, I did like this book, and it had a fitting ending. I wasn't as in love with Telemachus as Circe is implied to be, considering she turns herself mortal for him which is a huge sacrifice of love. I felt their connection brewing, but it wasn't monumentally moving. It isn't unreasonable to think Circe turned herself mortal for a cast of other reasons not just overwhelming love, because it did seem she disliked her divinity.

My last criticism: I feel Madeline Miller was trying to fit as much Greek mythology as possible into one book. Hermes and Odysseus brought her stories, in which other Greek myths were condensed into short factual sentences. Circe was in awe of the story-telling and not so concerned with the events themselves, but rather who was telling them and the companionship. Her awe at the story-telling was told and not shown, and fell a little flat. Some of the stories had their place, such as Odysseus's first-hand account at war and his wife sharing what happened between his stay on Aiaia and coming home. I felt things went a little too far though and it would be nicer to keep all those details for her next book (in my dreams!).

In conclusion, I like this book, yet when compared to Song of Achilles, this comes in second. I love the themes of a woman finding her place in the world and battling for it against all the men she's surrounded by. I also love the premise, of re-telling the classic Greek mythology but in a way to engage such a wider audience and making it personal. I really do hope Madeline Miller continues this brand of book, re-telling the Greek myths as fantastical fictional stories that bring us into the personal lives of figures we've only ever seen from afar before.

TL:DR

An epic re-telling of Greek mythology from a minor character Circe who touches the lives of many well-known mythology names: Jason and Medea, Odysseus, Ariadne and the Minotaur. A woman who works hard for every scrap of power and privilege (other than being a lesser god), learning through life events, as opposed to the passing of time.