Circe, by Madeline Miller

How many times have I wished I had nothing to do but sit at home and read? Well, I guess my time has come. Of course, not every book is conducive to hours straight of reading. This is especially true under the present conditions, where the things running on in the back of one's mind can be distracting when a book isn't adequately engaging. I set aside Manuel Puig's Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages, which I started earlier this week, for this reason (though I likely will go back to it -- I just can't decide if I should do so now or later).

In the simpler times that were not even two weeks ago, I went to brunch with some friends and afterwards we all stopped by the West Village Housing Works thrift store. There, I picked up the Puig mentioned above, the Rachel Cusk book I finished last week, a James Salter book, and Madeline Miller's Circe (all for $9 and change; books at the thrift stores are much cheaper than at the Housing Works bookstore, but of course the selection is smaller and hit or miss). I was especially excited about Circe as I had read and loved The Song of Achilles over two days at the end of December and had heard lots of praise for Circe as well. And so, when I was scanning my shelves for a good stay-at-home-and-do-nothing-but-read book, Circe seemed like an obvious choice. I can attest now that it was the right one.

As I made clear when I wrote about The Song of Achilles, I don't know much in the way of Greek mythology. I had seen the name Circe, but that was about the limit. I didn't know about the split between the Titans and the Olympians (though the crossword puzzler in me is glad to know it now; several times I've come across clues related to Titans and while I can often summon up the names I'm happy to finally have a better understanding of who they refer to). I sort of knew the stories of the Minotaur; of Medea; of Daedalus and Icarus. (It's so strange to think how these stories filter in; I'd love to have a better understanding of how I absorbed what knowledge I do have.) In any case, the story that unwound in Circe was, for me, even more of a complete mystery than The Song of Achilles. And what a beautiful story it was.