Achilles: A Novel

There are two kinds of novels about Antiquity: the historical novels like 'Quo Vadis' and 'I, Claudius' and novels about a character from mythology. I prefer the latter because there is more room for fantasy and imagination. In the 1970's the German writer Christa Wolf wrote some outstanding novels about mythology like 'Medea' and 'Cassandra'(the latter translated in English).And now there is 'Achilles' by Elisabeth Cook.It's a willful and sensual novel about Achilles, one of the Greek commanders who besieged Troy. Peleus, his mortal father, begets him with Thetis, a sea-goddess. (A whole chapter is used to describe a fierce and erotic battle between a common man and an immortal woman - it's not very likely he should win but he does).When Achilles was born, Thetis washed him in the river Styx, which made him invulnerable except for a spot at his heel where his mother held him. (Near the end of the Trojan war, Paris kills Achilles by shooting an arrow in his heel). E.Cook gives a personal interpretation about Achilles'heel: she explains why it's the fault of his father instead of Thetis' fault.('Blame it on the father!', I've heard it before). It are these things that make the novel worthwile reading: it's not the mythological story-almost everybody knows it-but the descriptions, events and interpretations imagined by E.Cook. One of the highlights of this story is the description of the Trojan river ( or river-god if you like ) Skamander who tries in vain to drown Achilles.In the last part of the novel, the poet John Keats makes his appearance. Achilles and John Keats had both red hair it seems, but that's not enough to explain the appearance of a completely superfluous personage.Though Keats spoils the fun a little (he's so out of place!) it's a novel interesting enough for those who like Antiquity as the background of a story.

Elizabeth Cook is a wonderfully poetic writer who gives us a dream of Achilles from conception to death. Her prose and imagery are lush and held me spellbound; but, when the dream shifted, as dreams do, and brought Keats into the story she lost me completely. Until its final chapter "Achilles" is matchless in its illumination of "The Illiad," and its retelling of the myths that surround Achilles' life. The book is so good it could easily stand next to Homer as a necessary and thrilling supplement. And then for some reason, the author subverts the logic of her storytelling with an imaginative stumble. A shame, and her editor more than shares the blame. Even so, read this book and enjoy its success, and consider the last chapter optional.

This is so beautifully written.

Not really a "novel". Very short and most of the time I just felt like I was reading a Cliffs Notes version of the Iliad. Lacks depth.

This is one of my favorite books, a sensuous journey of poetry and magic that I treasure and think about years after I've read it. For awhile, I thought it had gone out of print, that I wouldn't be able to share this with my friends anymore. I'm elated to see it back. I hope you love it as much as I did.

I have read dozens on book on the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Trojan War, and this is one of my favorites. The writing delivers emotional impact. It is poetic in its imagery and rhythm, lyrical and almost musical, part novel, part meditation. It pulls the reader into an experience of the human tragedy of the war by taking you deep inside each person, into their thoughts and hearts. In this book Achilles is far more than a vain, deadly seeker of glory. Cook paints a psychologically acute portrait of a tortured warrior that kills one strong and attractive character after another, and who in the end takes the life of the best man among us, who is, of course, Hector. The most powerful section is toward the end when Helen tells what it is like to have only one friend in the whole world, in one's entire life, and then to have that friend die. Helen's desperate, hopeless, and absolute loneliness over the loss of Hector is so well conveyed that the reader is left emotionally spent, as bereft as she is. This book will change how you think about the main characters in the Iliad, and you will appreciate them in a deeper, more sympathetic way than you thought possible.

fantastic retelling to this ancient story.

Very short story. I was disappointed hpw short it was.

It would be hard to improve on Joyce McMillan's words in the Scotsman: "A piece of writing that somehow belongs both to the ancient world and to ours. By pure force of feeling and imagination, and without any overt modernisation, it transforms this ancient story into something that goes straight to the heart of our current questions about the nature of masculinity, and the relationship between human beings and the rest of creation."It is as if Elizabeth Cook has removed layers of dust and grime from some ancient painting. Nothing has been changed, but details we already half-know come into sharper focus. This clarity of perception is exemplified by the last two sentences of a paragraph about Chiron, the centaur who was Achilles's teacher: "This body taught him itself and nearly all else. The hoof that drew shapes in the dust showed him how stars moved."

Achilles was Aristos Achaion, the best of the Greeks, & this is the best of books about the beautiful,tragic warrior. It is a short book, almost a prose poem of such elegance, understanding & beauty, it will knock your socks off. It finishes with Keats on Hampstead Heath , cutting his red -gold hair ,as Achilles did in his grief. For those currently reading " Song of Achilles " , by Madeline Miller, this is a must. Read The Iliad & then The Odyssey........translation by Robert Fagles. Elizabeth Cook's brilliant book is out of print, but can be bought from Amazon. Buy it. Read it . Love it.

Out of all those childhood myths that one grows up with surely the most potent is that of the Trojan War? A figure that towers over all the other heroes is that of Achilles, a hero who dies before his time which in turn ensures his eternal fame.Elizabeth Cook retells the story of Achilles in a short but powerful book. The prose, verging on poetry, is sparse but each word is heavy with meaning, each paragraph evokes multiple images. We are taken from Hades where the spirit of Achilles broods, through his conception, early years and the war itself.We share the wonderment of mortals and Gods, their interplay, their scheming, their magnificence and ultimately their failings. The Gods plot and scheme, using mortals as their pawns in a cold war against each other yet they are as much victim of circumstance and chance and ultimately the restrictions of the universe as the humans.The story is beautifully told, the words virile, sensual and vibrant. The passions and emotions that the story arouses are tangible, the sadness that underlines the story ever present and the terrible grief that Achilles' death evokes in his mother and Chiron the Centaur that brought him up truly frightening.This is a wonderful book. I read weeks ago and yet the images that it provoked keep returning. Elizabeth Cook has managed to show me why Homer was so popular, why the stories that he told have taken such a grasp of the human imagination and why we hunger to hear the stories again and again, with each rendering evoking new thoughts, new meanings, new connections and new joys.Read this book!!!!

It is gripping. You are inside Achilles' head, his intense experience. Highly recommended.

Excellent!