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tokrnis's reviews
284 reviews
Aphrodite Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer
4.0
Holy shit.
Let me begin by noting that I am not a great fan of modern poetry (honestly, I mention this under every poem collection review, but you know, just to be clear.) I'm not sure what pushed me to give this collection a chance, but I am so glad I did.
One of my favorite lines:
“They called me Gravedigger. Shining Queen of the Underworld. Aphrodite the Unholy. I had glorious names before they called me anything sweet. Before they started calling me smile-loving, shapely Aphrodite. They took my name and dragged it through the mud kindly. They catcalled me until people couldn’t separate my name from sex. They made me a goddess of love and then vilied me for loving freely, for kissing and fucking and strolling boldly down the streets of Cyprus. They married me off in the stories so they could call me Adulteress, but I brought the god of war to his knees.
I belong to no one. They never wrote that part down.”
Let me begin by noting that I am not a great fan of modern poetry (honestly, I mention this under every poem collection review, but you know, just to be clear.) I'm not sure what pushed me to give this collection a chance, but I am so glad I did.
One of my favorite lines:
“They called me Gravedigger. Shining Queen of the Underworld. Aphrodite the Unholy. I had glorious names before they called me anything sweet. Before they started calling me smile-loving, shapely Aphrodite. They took my name and dragged it through the mud kindly. They catcalled me until people couldn’t separate my name from sex. They made me a goddess of love and then vilied me for loving freely, for kissing and fucking and strolling boldly down the streets of Cyprus. They married me off in the stories so they could call me Adulteress, but I brought the god of war to his knees.
I belong to no one. They never wrote that part down.”
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
*spoilers ahead
The Song of Achilles– a retelling of “The Iliad” by Homer, as one may say.
He is half of my soul, as the poets say.
When he died, all things soft and beautiful and bright would be buried with him.
I could go on and on about how Madeline Miller’s writing grabbed me by the neck. This book follows two young boys named Patroclus and Achilles as we watch them grow into men who fight in wars, bear witness to countless deaths, kill in order to survive, live, and eventually pass on to the afterlife.
Madeline Miller's debut novel, The Song of Achilles, is a story of love and pride that she wrote over a ten-year journey. The American author narrates a rendition of Homer's Iliad from the perspective of Patroclus, set in the Greek period of heroes.
Patroclus. The way he describes Achilles will forever astound and mesmerize me. Can you tell I love them a plenty amount? What I loved most about him is how loyal he is. And that despite his love for Achilles, he did not let it get in the way of taking a stand on what he believed was right and morally bound.
I like to believe that Patroclus’ love for Achilles and Achilles’ pride is what caused the former’s death.
Being overwhelmingly in love will not always be a good thing; how often it will cause us to not prioritize ourselves is unfathomable. Love is blind. Moreover, they say that love is frequently the catalyst for violence and hatred.
When Achilles withdraws from the fighting after Agamemnon wounds his ego, he puts into action most of the plot. Both when he responds violently to Patroclus' death and when he mistreats Hector's body, Achilles' rage is on display. The character’s pride had caused him to be arrogant, make selfish decisions, and be self-centered– The feeling of satisfaction that a person feels from their own or their companions' accomplishments is known as pride.
Love and pride aside, that is not the only lesson that I’ve gathered from Miller’s The Song of Achilles:
Making decisions with arrogance will get you nowhere.
Success built on self-interest is fleeting.
Pride is never more important than principles, morality, and ideals.
Those are the lessons that Achilles failed to reflect on in his life.
4.0
*spoilers ahead
The Song of Achilles– a retelling of “The Iliad” by Homer, as one may say.
He is half of my soul, as the poets say.
When he died, all things soft and beautiful and bright would be buried with him.
I could go on and on about how Madeline Miller’s writing grabbed me by the neck. This book follows two young boys named Patroclus and Achilles as we watch them grow into men who fight in wars, bear witness to countless deaths, kill in order to survive, live, and eventually pass on to the afterlife.
Madeline Miller's debut novel, The Song of Achilles, is a story of love and pride that she wrote over a ten-year journey. The American author narrates a rendition of Homer's Iliad from the perspective of Patroclus, set in the Greek period of heroes.
Patroclus. The way he describes Achilles will forever astound and mesmerize me. Can you tell I love them a plenty amount? What I loved most about him is how loyal he is. And that despite his love for Achilles, he did not let it get in the way of taking a stand on what he believed was right and morally bound.
I like to believe that Patroclus’ love for Achilles and Achilles’ pride is what caused the former’s death.
Being overwhelmingly in love will not always be a good thing; how often it will cause us to not prioritize ourselves is unfathomable. Love is blind. Moreover, they say that love is frequently the catalyst for violence and hatred.
When Achilles withdraws from the fighting after Agamemnon wounds his ego, he puts into action most of the plot. Both when he responds violently to Patroclus' death and when he mistreats Hector's body, Achilles' rage is on display. The character’s pride had caused him to be arrogant, make selfish decisions, and be self-centered– The feeling of satisfaction that a person feels from their own or their companions' accomplishments is known as pride.
Love and pride aside, that is not the only lesson that I’ve gathered from Miller’s The Song of Achilles:
Making decisions with arrogance will get you nowhere.
Success built on self-interest is fleeting.
Pride is never more important than principles, morality, and ideals.
Those are the lessons that Achilles failed to reflect on in his life.
Even If You Beat Me by Sally Rooney, Sally Rooney
4.0
"I don’t need to make people feel comfortable. In the end, it was me. It may not mean anything to anyone else, but it doesn’t have to – that’s the point. I was number one. Like Fast Eddie, I’m the best there is. And even if you beat me, I’m still the best."
will forever live by this statement. AHHHH i liked this a lot. something about the way sally rooney writes just? speaks to me
a very fine and easy read! would recommend to anyone who's looking to read into anything non-fictional
will forever live by this statement. AHHHH i liked this a lot. something about the way sally rooney writes just? speaks to me
a very fine and easy read! would recommend to anyone who's looking to read into anything non-fictional