"Circe", a classic of the contemporary era
A book that could captivate me two years ago and with a recent reading I can say it owns my heart. I've read the Spanish edition and this is the first time (officially) I'm writing a complete and the most professional review I can, ( so, please, be gentle with me and if you see a mistake, tell me in comments). This literary review is one of the most difficult I've ever written, with Circe it is difficult for me focus on the aspects, both positive and negative, of the work objectively and put the subjective opinion aside.
"Some People Are Like Constellations That Only Touch The Earth for a Season"
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| Picture by Amazon |
The work itself presents characters belonging to Greek mythology, such as the protagonist herself, Circe, or Scylla, Helios... Of course, even a mention of Odysseus who once the work comes to an end, he is no longer remembered for his adventures in the Odyssey with Circe, but vice versa.
In the palace of Helios, god of the sun and the most powerful of the Titans, a girl is born. But Circe is a rare child: she lacks her father's powers and her mother's aggressive seduction. When she goes to the mortal world in search of companionship, she discovers that she does possess a power, the power of witchcraft, with which she can transform her rivals into monsters and threaten the very gods. Fearful, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where Circe perfects her dark arts, tames wild beasts, and encounters numerous celebrated figures from Greek mythology: from the Minotaur to Daedalus and his hapless son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, Of course, the cunning Odysseus. But danger also lurks, and Circe unknowingly arouses the wrath of both humans and gods, forcing her to face off against one of the most imposing and vengeful Olympians. To protect what she loves, Circe must muster all of her strength and decide, once and for all, whether she belongs to the world she was born into or to the mortal world she has come to love.
Circe makes sure there are no loose strands in mythology no more. As with many of mythologycal characters, the main character had mentions or stories inside others, so we knew about her life, through other legends that together made up her story, or part of it. As I wrote, this literary work solves that.
From the beginning, the tone of the novel is austere, let's say that it doesn't have emotions (human feelings). You will find unique characters, let me explain my words. A review of one of my novels says that: sometimes I empathized and understood the character, other times I didn't, I didn't understand her decisions neither, her personality, but that was what made it more real. I had the same feeling with Circe, her parents, the rest of the gods, until the first human appeared (I'd better not say how that story ends), they were all cold, as they should. With Circe it's not very different, you can empathize and at the same time you can't. She evolves throughout her story as I have not read another character do, even so, she does not stop being what she is and Madeline Miller captures and keeps her essence.
Told from the point of view of the protagonist, as if we were talking about an autobiography. Circe is in a constant change which at first it cannot be detected. The novel takes its time to let the "adventure" begin; if the Circe was divided, we could only find loose scenes whose only connection would be herself, so for a few pages the start was slow. Besides the introduction, the rhythm is slow throughout the rest of the book in an exquisite way (especially for a reader like me, because I prefer less dense readings and with a faster rhythm, how could Circe make the supposedly boring and tedious slowness a great and addictive masterpiece?! Only Madeline Miller knows that).
In conclusion, it takes not only a good story, but also good hands behind it to get the most out of it, and this work is a proof of that. Despite that last added detail (the slow rhythm), at the moment of reading you forget the density when the words consume you, (I can relate). And, as a personal opinion, (because I am unable to keep it much longer after this whole review that's been horrible for me to write without thinking about how much I liked or disliked the work, a particular scene, etc.), Circe deserves a place next to the great classics of Greco-Roman literature that have remained to our days, well... Circe by itself is a classic belonging to the contemporary era.
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