Circe by Madeline Miller

Greek Mythology is one of history's greatest gifts to literature. Though the myths are more often not very logical, it's that exact element of it that makes it a leap into an unknown world where gods are a lot more flawed than humans only they have infinite power.

I have always loved the classic ways of how the Greek mythological stories are told so I was extremely surprised to finally find a phenomenal version written in the modern day.

Circe by Madeline Miller looks into the life of the lesser goddess Circe, daughter of the son god Helios. Among his children, she is the least favourite for she's known to be the least powerful. She fell in love with a human and this led her to use her powers in ill and she was exciled to an island. Her story only gets more interesting than that.

In case you don't know yet or you have forgotten, Circe is the goddess whose island Odysseus stopped by for a few months as part of his journey. If you love Greek myth, you will surely be fascinated by the story of Circe. In so many ways, a lot of those who were not favourites will relate to her and this books just gives so much life to the goddess not known to many.

The story is written consistently with the tone of how classic Greek mythologies are written - the language, the description of the setting, the nuances all magically transported me to a different world. It is just so beautiful.

It is worth noting though that the book does reference to other Greek myths like Prometheus, the fall of Troy, Odysseus, etc. The book does give a background on these stories but you'll appreciate it more if you have a bit of background on Greek mythology - but it also does not ruin the experience in case you don't. I am familiar with Greek but I still found myself looking up the other characters from time to time.

Circe is a goddess who (according to this book) Odysseus has described to be the only god he met who enjoyed her divinity the least.

She is more like a mortal - acts like one, loves like one. Circe described the man she loved...

"I had no right to claim him, I knew it. But in solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me."

In conclusion...

I was supposed to read this simultaneously with another book but I found it very difficult to stop reading this. This book is one of the best modern day written books (one of the best books I have read in my lifetime) that I have read and I just hope with all my heart that Madeline Miller writes more books about Greek mythology. 

The ending is not what I expected and left me a bit puzzled but I still like how it ended. This book is a treasure in modern day literature and anyone who loves to read should read this book at least once.