Book Club Reads: French Exit by Patrick deWitt and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

 

Patrick DeWitt's novel French Exit was the Clawson public library book club selection. I listened to the audiobook. The narrator was fantastic, giving the characters distinctive voices. 

Stick to the story--the characters are not very likeable when you first met them. Frances seems to be a vacuous and unfeeling socialite and her son Malcolm a pampered and unemotional slug. When I learned their backstories, I was moved. I realized that in the beginning, we saw them as the world perceived them. Learning how damaged they were by their deceased husband and father, I had sympathy. There is a bit of magic, a heavy dose of comedy of manners, droll humor, and a nice twist of sentimentalism.

My book clubbers were not excited by this novel. It was described as 'fluffy', easy to read, and they did not like the characters. They did not like the ending.

French Exit
Harper Audio
by Patrick deWitt, Lorna Raver (Narrator)
ISBN0062871927 (ISBN 13: 9780062871923)

from the publisher

Brimming with pathos, French Exit is a one-of-a-kind 'tragedy of manners,' a send-up of high society, as well as a moving mother/son caper which only Patrick deWitt could conceive and execute.

 Frances Price – tart widow, possessive mother, and Upper East Side force of nature – is in dire straits, beset by scandal and impending bankruptcy. Her adult son Malcolm is no help, mired in a permanent state of arrested development. And then there’s the Price’s aging cat, Small Frank, who Frances believes houses the spirit of her late husband, an infamously immoral litigator and world-class cad whose gruesome tabloid death rendered Frances and Malcolm social outcasts.

Putting penury and pariahdom behind them, the family decides to cut their losses and head for the exit. One ocean voyage later, the curious trio land in their beloved Paris, the City of Light serving as a backdrop not for love or romance, but self destruction and economical ruin – to riotous effect. A number of singular characters serve to round out the cast: a bashful private investigator, an aimless psychic proposing a seance, and a doctor who makes house calls with his wine merchant in tow, to name a few.

Brimming with pathos, French Exit is a one-of-a-kind 'tragedy of manners,' a send-up of high society, as well as a moving mother/son caper which only Patrick deWitt could conceive and execute.

*****

The book club at the Royal Oak Public library read Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles this month. I had purchased it on Kindle well before I read Miller's novel Circe, which I loved. I was eager to read Achilles.

Miller chooses to view the story of the Trojan War through the Greek character of Patroclus, bosom friend of the warrior Achilles. We see them as boys growing up together and watch their friendship blossom into romantic love. The emphasis on their deep love made me categorize the novel a love story. 

Achilles is fated to be a great warrior so when he is called to be a leader in the Trojan War he accepts, pacifist Patroclus tagging along. There are some gruesome scenes during the war. This part felt felt more like the original Iliad.

I found myself comparing this to Country by Michael Hughes, which I read earlier in the year. I felt the drive and violence and passion in Hughes novel.

Overall, I did not care for this as much as I did Circe, but the book clubbers who had never read Home or Greek literature found it a revelation. And for that I am very glad! I was the only one who had read Homer and Greek literature and Greek myths. They found it easy to read and enjoyed Miller's updating of the story and found themes that were relevant to today. 

The Song of Achilles

by Madeline Miller

Eco

ISBN-10 : 0062060619
ISBN-13 : 978-0062060617

from the publisher

Greece in the age of Heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia. Here he is nobody, just another unwanted boy living in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles.

Achilles, “best of all the Greeks,” is everything Patroclus is not—strong, beautiful, the child of a goddess—and by all rights their paths should never cross. Yet one day, Achilles takes the shamed prince under his wing and soon their tentative connection gives way to a steadfast friendship. As they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something far deeper—despite the displeasure of Achilles’ mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals.

Fate is never far from the heels of Achilles. When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they have learned, everything they hold dear. And that, before he is ready, he will be forced to surrender his friend to the hands of Fate.

Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart.