"Some things are worth spilling blood for"

"When I was born, the name for what I was did not exist."

Hello, everyone.

It's been over two weeks since I finished this novel and I think I'm finally ready to share my thoughts on it... There's a lot of thoughts up in here, heh. 

ANYWAYS, here comes a really honest review of the novel "Circe" by Madeline Miller.  

This was the very first book I read by the author and I must admit I was equally as impressed as I was disappointed. Her approach to storytelling is certainly one to be reckoned with, but I'm not exactly sure that it's quite up my alley. Here's a more detailed explanation of my impression of the book, without really giving away any spoilers.

In terms of narrative, Miller is quite experimental and plays a lot with the idea of a new storyline structure development. She teases at fake climaxes but never really gives them a meaningful impact. Now, this is quite a risk and certainly, something that feels fresh in theory, because it is a brave thing to do: take what you know works, and throw it out the window for something completely new. But, I felt it dragged the plot way too much. In my experience, many actions that should've been treated as main events in the story were actually barely brushed past. I, personally, felt like after using this technique a couple of times, it just made the reading a little heavy. 

Some friends who've read it and loved it, said it was precisely this defiance to the traditional way of storytelling that attracted them to the novel and made them enjoy it even more. But, it just wasn't my cup of tea. I felt robbed of possible story highlights that would've enriched her narrative immensely, given Circe a deeper layer and rounder personality, yet this innovative approach to storytelling sometimes transformed into feeling like her protagonist was prewired to never feel again.  

I'm not going to lie, this lack of actual events lead to a lack of my interest to learn further about Circe and her story. It made me feel somehow careless about her journey until the very last quarter of the book. 

Without giving away any important details, something finally occurs in the story which is, at last, treated like an important and relevant event, and we finally get to see Circe's personality. Up until this point, I felt like she was a numb character who was feeling so hurt by the whole world that she didn't allow herself to feel again or express anything at all. 

We get instances of empowerment, but these are silenced so quickly that I felt like there was a huge thematic void in the plot. I also struggled with the constant details of her everyday versus the lack of actually anything happening. Basically, I thought the novel could be cut by half. 

However, I really loved, at the same time, the way Madeline Miller expresses herself in the book and gives voice to the characters and the world around them. Her vocabulary and grammar are so exemplary for anyone who's interested in writing historical fiction. Her style of writing was absolutely gorgeous and it, often times, made me feel like I was reading a classic. It was just that nicely written! I was only sad to see that all of her wonderful writing style was being used for a novel that felt a little empty.

Another element that I appreciated was the way Miller takes traditional Greek myths, gods and heroes and shows them in another light. She makes a great effort to make the reader reflect upon the importance of storytelling itself and how it shapes minds immensely. And that, is probably my very favourite issue she brought up throughout her work. I deeply appreciate this subject matter, and she treated it very interestingly: so that was a big point for me.

Therefore, would I recommend this book?

If you are a fan of historical fiction, classics or love wonderful writing: YES. I feel like I needed to read this book, actually. And I'm glad I did. Madeline Miller played around with important bases of literature itself and it was refreshing to see, even if it felt a little slow. 

I do not think it will become a favourite of mine anytime soon, but I did enjoy some aspects of it and certainly feel like I learned a lot. 

I hope to see you soon again.

My copy of Madeline Miller's "Circe" is the Bloomsbury 2018 UK Edition.