Rating: 
Summary: Excellent translation
Review: Robert Fitzgerald's translation of Homer's Odyssey is superb. The rhythm of the prose is maintained, the word choices are beautiful. In every way, this translation remains a work of art. Yet, this translation also proves itself to be accessible to everyone. Lovely, but quite easy to read. It is no problem what-so-ever for the lay person to read and enjoy The Odyssey under this translation.Job well done!
Rating: 
Summary: *yawn*
Review: One of the most boring things I've ever read. I practically fell asleep.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Translation of a Classic
Review: I won't waste a lot of time explaining why you should read this book. The epics of Homer are a cornerstone of western society. One cannot live in the modern west without being touched by the works of Homer. It should be compulsory to read the homeric epics for all literate people in the Western World. That said, translations of this book are as numerous as the stars and if only they were even half that bright. Fitzgerald's translation is the best I've seen (and believe me I've seen some bad ones and some good.) If I were to recommend one in particular this would be it.
Rating:
Summary: Homer's "Odyssey".
Review: Let's just get a few things straight, shall we? The Odyssey is not a "novel". If it was, it wouldn't be the "first novel in history" since it was predated by the Iliad (also not a novel). The Odyssey is a work of primary epic, like Beowulf, Chanson de Roland and the Norse sagas. It was composed (brace yourselves) in the 8th Century BC, before the written alphabet had been introduced into Greece. Now we've grasped these facts, the way is clear for a true appreciation of exactly why this poem has gone on to become the most influential work of literature in all human history.
The scale and ambition of the Odyssey is astounding. The absense of writing allowed the Homeric poet no means of cross-checking his own references from other parts of the work, yet somehow he constructed a work which ranges all across the known and unknown world, and where the principal character Odysseus is subjected to every type of experience conceivable to the human imagination, to which he responds with a moving and finely-observed degree of humanity. Despite the difficulties and limitations inherent within the traditional and restrictive inherited forms of epic poetry, Homer's work (with the exception of a few surely permissable inconsistencies) reads like a minutely conceived and perfectly educated whole. His employment of stock epithets, repeated passages and other such features found in the recorded oral poetry of all cultures is flawless and, rather than rendering Homer's creative vision sterile, adds depth, texture and a complex architecture to the poems. His use of narrative techniques such as flashback has never been superceded, and his characters live and breathe to an extent rivalled only by those of Shakespeare.
So if this is the kind of thing you find "boring", I can't help but feel it's your loss. Homer ought apologise to no-one for the length of his work - he wasn't writing for the MTV generation, after all. Any attentive and sensitive reader cannot fail to realise exactly why it is that the journey of Odysseus - the perfect mythological expression of the journey of life - has inspired poets and laymen alike for 2,800 years like no other work of literature.
Rating: 
Summary: a really boring book
Review: This book made me tired reading it, it was boring and long and it din't make sence. I say skip the book and go straight for the cliffnotes.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite a long journey after all
Review: I bet Homer didn't have his book proof-read; it's written in such a lengthy, wordy, ambiguous, and confusing manner. Don't get me wrong, though, The Odyssey is perhaps the greatest pillar of Greek Mythology stories. It really is a great novel, following the tale of Odysseus as he returns from the Trojan war, but somehow gets lost at sea in strange and mystic lands. What surprises me is after all these years, The Odyssey is still original. Yet it's so long... and... even longer... and... baffling at times. In fact, it's almost frustrating to read. But this book is so widely alluded to, one can't afford not to read it. Of course, there must be easier ways to know the story of Odysseus. There must be.....
Rating:
Summary: Yet More Hollywood Pablum
Review: Though Fitzgerald is a competent translator of Homer's Spike-Lee influenced [Aeolian], the disappointing truth is you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear. Homer would be best left outside the circle of his fellow Greeks Sophocles and Plato and re-establish himself as a writer for SNL or maybe Married with Children. Were Homer alive today hew would no doubt be plotting out the next Buffy the Vampire Slayer storyboard as we speak. Those who know the original Greek can feel the harsh dissonance of Homer's words echoing in Fitzgerald. English has blunted some of the edges, but the overall horrific effect of Homer's screeches and moans is too evil to killed, yet too sinister to be contemplated.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Story
Review: In many ways, the Odyssey is first and foremost a fanciful adventure story. Compared to the violent and foreboding events of Homer's first great epic, the Iliad, his Odyssey depicts a magical, mystical world, in which Odysseus uses his sharp wits and bravery to overcome perilous creatures and vengeful gods. The Odyssey picks up the story of Odysseus some time after the conclusion of the Iliad, detailing his long and arduous ten-year journey home after the end of the Trojan War. The main thematic concerns of the Odyssey echo the values and customs that were crucial to uniting a geographically and socially-fragmented ancient Greek world made up of culturally diverse city-states spread across vast territories: hospitality to strangers, loyalty to friends, the maintenance of reputation, and the balance between pride and honor.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely the best version I've come across!!
Review: Some versions of this text are edited, annotated, and generally condensed to the point of being a completely different story! This version is well written, sticks to the details and format, and is easy to grasp, even for younger readers. I recommend this version above all others.
Rating: 
Summary: great mythological adventure
Review: This is a great epic tale of the warrior Odysseus and his journeys that finally bring him home. However, whilst Odysseus is traveling the mediterranean attempting to return home with the help of the goddess Athena, his son is trying to ward off his mother's suitors. Prepare yourself for a great battle near the end of the book. Great prose. This book would make an interesting addition for any fanatic of greek mythology.
|
