Circe A Novel

I enjoyed every second of reading this book! It's one of those books that you can't stop reading, you just find yourself fighting to keep your eyes opened in the middle of the night. Would definitely recommend it!

Circe, unpopular amongst gods and demigods, is punished for showing some kindness to Prometheus, who’s in chains when she meets him and sentenced to his demise. She is banned to live on an island by herself for the rest of her days, meaning eternity. But she is a powerful sorceress developing miraculous strengths. This is her story from her point of view. It is such an immensely satisfying read! The book doesn’t feed so much on Greek mythology than brush most elegantly by it. Mind you, there is magic, and there are monsters. The descriptions of nature, both “real” and metaphorical, are simply wonderful. “His skin was beautiful, the colour of polished walnut. It smelled of green moss drenched with rain.” “The beach ebbed and flowed, its curves changing with every winter season. Even the cliffs were different, carved by the rain and wind, by the claws of countless scrabbling lizards, by the seeds that stuck and sprouted in their cracks. Everything was united by the steady rise and fall of nature’s breath.” Nature serves as a relief for immense pain: “I thought I would die of such pain … sharp and fierce as a blade through my chest. But of course I did not die. I would live on, through each scalding moment to the next. This is the grief that makes our kind to choose to be stones and trees rather than flesh.” “Surely there was some divine trick to make the hours go faster… I closed my eyes. Through the window I heard the bees singing in the garden. My lion’s tail beat against the stones. An eternity later, when I opened my eyes, the shadows had not even moved.” It’s a story of great loneliness and yearning. It’s a story of great injustice: “Often those men in most need hate most to be grateful, and will strike at you just to feel whole again.” “It was true what Hermes said. Every moment mortals died, by shipwreck and sword, by wild beasts and wild men, by illness, neglect and age. It was their fate, as Prometheus had told me, the story that they all shared. No matter how vivid they were in life, no matter how brilliant, no matter the wonders they made, they came to dust and smoke. Meanwhile every petty and useless god would go on sucking down the bright air until the stars went dark.” What would it be like, to live forever? How do we live and die? This brilliant book is also a wistful contemplation of love and mortality.

Circe kannte ich bisher nur als Teil der Odyssee, weshalb ich sehr beeindruckt von der detaillierten Geschichte war, die Madeline Miller hier erzählt. Die Tochter des Sonnengottes ist eine gepeinigte Figur, die aus ihren Fehlern lernen und ihren Platz in der Welt finden will. Der Hexerei zugewandt erlernt sie besondere Gaben, um sie gegen Ihresgleichen zu verwenden und in die Welt der Sterblichen einzutauchen. Doch auch hier erfährt sie zunächst Ablehnung. Eine Lektüre, die man nicht mehr weglegen kann und die auch gut geeignet ist, um die englische Sprache kennenzulernen. Wundervolle Metaphern und literarisch hochwertige Formulieren erheben dieses Buch zu einem Meisterwerk.

I recently read this book and I have to say that I did not like it. It did not offer what I excepted. In my opinion it was very hard to read and you got the feeling, when you read three pages it takes like an hour. Altough I have to admit, that the theme that was chosen is very good. I think it is good that you can get a closer look how other characters feel. Beacause Circe is a secondary character in the Odyssey.

Circe was a book which inspired me really it’s a story about become independent and strong after everyone gave up on you it shows how love can make us do things some terrible things but also good ones Circe realises that being a god isn’t as good as it sound