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| Brad Pitt as Achilles in Troy |
There have been plenty of books about the heroes of
The Iliad; films, too, as we watched Brad Pitt buffing up for his role as the best fighter of the Greeks in
Troy. Two recent books have made excellent stabs at retellings of various myths to do with the war: my favourite was Barry Unsworth's
The Songs of the Kings, which, if I had time, I would definitely be re-reading. David Malouf's
Ransom was also eerie and brilliant. Madeline Miller's thrown her helmet into the ring with
The Song of Achilles, her debut novel.
Miller tells the tale from the point of view of Patroclus, whom she very much views as Achilles' lover (rather than as a beloved heroic companion. The debate is on.) I've reviewed it for
The Sunday Telegraph - check out
what I thought about it here.
I'm currently reading a new translation of
The Iliad to review it for the same paper, so hold on to your horse-hair helmets for that one...
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