skinnercolin221's review against another edition
5.0
I recommend the Samuel Butler translation, which is what I used. It does a good job of maintaining a poetic/ancient flavor without being hard to understand.
If you decide to take the plunge on this one, don’t expect the polishing of a modern novel, but do expect to see the origins of hundreds of stories you’ve likely had no idea were inspired by sections of the Odyssey. There are also a lot of interesting overlaps with ancient religions like Judaism and Christianity for instance. All in all I had a good amount of fun noticing these things and reading this epic poem for the first time.
Enjoy!
If you decide to take the plunge on this one, don’t expect the polishing of a modern novel, but do expect to see the origins of hundreds of stories you’ve likely had no idea were inspired by sections of the Odyssey. There are also a lot of interesting overlaps with ancient religions like Judaism and Christianity for instance. All in all I had a good amount of fun noticing these things and reading this epic poem for the first time.
Enjoy!
i_hate_chemistry's review against another edition
4.0
So much more entertaining than The Iliad plot-wise.
arae0311's review against another edition
4.0
Originally, I read this in preparation for Ulysses and because it's a core classic text, and I'm surprised by how much I liked it. It has sunk me back into my Greek mythology phase (hence why I'm rereading Heroes of Olympus), and I'm not even mad about it.
This book reveals so much about the conventions of modern story telling and how much we've progressed; it's shocking to read some passages and realise where I've seen similar tropes, parallels, etc. in media that's coming out these days.
The timeline is a disjointed, so it can be a bit confusing at times where one actually is in the story, but I wasn't bored for any of it (except for the bit at the end when Odysseus spends ages hiding in Ithaca... We went from sea voyages and fighting monsters to THAT)
This book reveals so much about the conventions of modern story telling and how much we've progressed; it's shocking to read some passages and realise where I've seen similar tropes, parallels, etc. in media that's coming out these days.
The timeline is a disjointed, so it can be a bit confusing at times where one actually is in the story, but I wasn't bored for any of it (except for the bit at the end when Odysseus spends ages hiding in Ithaca... We went from sea voyages and fighting monsters to THAT)
judehelens's review against another edition
giving homeric texts star ratings feels stupid, so i will not.
sergeus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
You learn a few very specific things during The Odyssey:
- Odysseus is the son of Laertes
- Dawn has rose red fingers and a golden throne
- The sea is dark and the color of wine
- If you're going to trust anyone, trust the herder of your swine
It's tough to "review" a story like The Odyssey. It's a tale that has survived almost 3,000 years, so you read it differently to one that was released last week, or even last century.
I was surprised that (I guess spoilers) Odysseus actually gets back to Ithaca around half way through the book. Given the name of this book has become lowercase-o odyssey to mean a gauntlet of difficult challenges, I'd expected that to be the majority of it. But actually a lot of it is dealing with the fallout of the state of Ithaca when left without Odysseus's rule.
That's not to say there isn't some great adventuring - slaying of cyclopses and trips to the land of the dead. It was great to see the real story to go with Captain Flint's (Black Sails) monologue about oars and shovels. Ian McKellen does a fantastic job as the narrator.
The customs of the people involved are notably different to ours and can be at times confusing. The language, even translated, can be dense to parse for a modern reader. Still, overall this is a worthwhile read for the place it occupies in literary history.
- Odysseus is the son of Laertes
- Dawn has rose red fingers and a golden throne
- The sea is dark and the color of wine
- If you're going to trust anyone, trust the herder of your swine
It's tough to "review" a story like The Odyssey. It's a tale that has survived almost 3,000 years, so you read it differently to one that was released last week, or even last century.
I was surprised that (I guess spoilers) Odysseus actually gets back to Ithaca around half way through the book. Given the name of this book has become lowercase-o odyssey to mean a gauntlet of difficult challenges, I'd expected that to be the majority of it. But actually a lot of it is dealing with the fallout of the state of Ithaca when left without Odysseus's rule.
That's not to say there isn't some great adventuring - slaying of cyclopses and trips to the land of the dead. It was great to see the real story to go with Captain Flint's (Black Sails) monologue about oars and shovels. Ian McKellen does a fantastic job as the narrator.
The customs of the people involved are notably different to ours and can be at times confusing. The language, even translated, can be dense to parse for a modern reader. Still, overall this is a worthwhile read for the place it occupies in literary history.
katreadsalot's review against another edition
3.0
I'm so glad I read this. Emily Wilson's introduction was really well done.
moonlit_zdrasti's review against another edition
4.0
Hera is not shit for giving Penelope a bed made of an olive tree to represent the couple’s everlasting love fully knowing Odysseus treated himself to every available orifice on the Mediterranean Sea.
canadianbookaddict's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this one and I was surprised that I did.
mohanyu's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0