Phong Nguyen is a writer of historical fiction (Bronze Drum), experimental fiction (Roundabout: an Improvisational Fiction), spinoffs (The Adventures of Joe Harper), alternate history (Pages from the Textbook of Alternate History), dirty realism (Memory Sickness), and more.
At Lit Hub he tagged seven books that live halfway between history and myth, including:
Madeline Miller, Song of AchillesRead about another entry on the list.
Combining the author’s deep knowledge of both Ancient Greek history and Homer’s The Iliad, Song of Achilles gives texture to a legend that previously felt remote. Conveying the story of Achilles through the down-to-earth perspectiveof his best friend and lover Patroclus, Miller humanizes the demigod while slyly elevating the virtue of the vulnerable and unsung hero of the tale: Patroclus himself. Reckoning with the myth, in this case, means revealing the role of the taleteller in manifesting the hero’s glory.
The Song of Achilles is among The Center for Fiction's 200 books that shaped two centuries of literature, Sara Stewart's six best books and Nicole Hill's fourteen characters who should have lived.
My Book, The Movie: The Song of Achilles.
--Marshal Zeringue
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