Waiting for Odysseus

Rating:
Summary: Love, grief, eroticism coming together in a fast-paced read
Review: I am not sure I was reading the same book as the other reviewers. I found Ms. Ramos' interpretation of the themes of Homer's classic in this novel to show a very limited understanding of what creates character. Her hero John appears to be a victim of a string of selfish, bitchy women beginning with his mother and continuing with his ex wife, daughter, and even close woman friend "Lusan". Even his son is portrayed as insensitive and almost heartless. While Jessica our heroine is portrayed as his savior and also the victim of his heartless family. John who clearly has not been hiding under a rock for the last 50 years has apparently rejected his entire family for this young, sensitive, understanding girl -child. While young Jessica is everything any man would desire, youth, beauty, understanding, patience, and oh yes, great hair. (A quick look at the front cover reveals who Jessica really is) Freud would have a field day with the characters in this book. John is not Jessica's lover, he is her father. He kisses her on the noes, the top of the head, he holds her in his lap. Jessica becomes John's lover and daughter in one. Ms Ramos has indeed a colorful imagination, but lacks the skill to develop three dimensional characters. I suspect Ms. Ramos will be a fine writer one day, but she would be well advised to practice creating more fully rounded characters who are who they are because of flaws and weaknesses, and the ability to learn from their mistakes. This is what has made Homer's characters speak to readers for centuries, and what makes any book worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Not Worthy of Homer' s Characters
Review: I am not sure I was reading the same book as the other reviewers. I found Ms. Ramos' interpretation of the themes of Homer's classic in this novel to show a very limited understanding of what creates character. Her hero John appears to be a victim of a string of selfish, bitchy women beginning with his mother and continuing with his ex wife, daughter, and even close woman friend "Lusan". Even his son is portrayed as insensitive and almost heartless. While Jessica our heroine is portrayed as his savior and also the victim of his heartless family. John who clearly has not been hiding under a rock for the last 50 years has apparently rejected his entire family for this young, sensitive, understanding girl -child. While young Jessica is everything any man would desire, youth, beauty, understanding, patience, and oh yes, great hair. (A quick look at the front cover reveals who Jessica really is) Freud would have a field day with the characters in this book. John is not Jessica's lover, he is her father. He kisses her on the noes, the top of the head, he holds her in his lap. Jessica becomes John's lover and daughter in one. Ms Ramos has indeed a colorful imagination, but lacks the skill to develop three dimensional characters. I suspect Ms. Ramos will be a fine writer one day, but she would be well advised to practice creating more fully rounded characters who are who they are because of flaws and weaknesses, and the ability to learn from their mistakes. This is what has made Homer's characters speak to readers for centuries, and what makes any book worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Love, grief, eroticism coming together in a fast-paced read
Review: I was immediately drawn into the storyline. I found myself crying because the loss of a loved one, a partner, is so devastatingly portrayed in these pages. It was like Ramos ripped open her heart and poured it out on the pages. Was John real??? I want to know more about what happens to Jessica! I'm not sure about the previous reference about not having enough character development. I don't believe this story was meant as a retelling of the Odyssey. I understood the tie when I read the afterword.

And the eroticism-well, let's just say Ramos knows how to write about sex as it is, and for what it is.

Rating:
Summary: Hello
Review: It is encouraging today to still see a love for the classics alive and well. I would like to thank Ms. Ramos for featuring a book that not only discusses Fagles' translation of The Odyssey, but also seems to understand it. I would advise anyone interested in Mythology and good old-fashioned storytelling to check out this book. On a side-note, Ms. Ramos is also quite lovely on the cover.

Rating:
Summary: Odyssesy with a twist
Review: My book group read this book after we saw it in the New York Review of Books. We were intrigued by the Odyssey theme. I must say it wasn't about the Odyssey so much as it was about the idea that people want and need love, and that without love there is no home. Odysseus maintained a love for his wife because she represented home. She embodied the world that he was trying to get back to. As Ramos stated, "Penelope was his home-without her he would have been incomplete."

The main characters, Jessica and John, find in each other a love that completes them. John's odyssey is spurred by a mid-life crisis that forces him to confront the standard, but relevant issues, "What do I want in life? What is the purpose of my life?" Rather than monsters and fantasy goddesses to escape from, John had to conquer his past to move forward. In doing that, he discovered Jessica, a younger woman trying to sort out her own life. It is obvious that these two characters meet on many levels, truly soulmates. Ramos refers to it as "likeminded." He understands all about her--her struggles, her vulnerabilities, her strengths. He can literally see into her soul. And she was able to peel away the layers of his past hurt to help John find the man that he was meant to be.

Waiting for Odysseus is really about two journeys. John's is more obvious. He was waiting for Odysseus--for his own self-discovery, for the return of "himself" for his own sake. But Jessica is waiting as well. She was waiting, as are most women, for her "Odysseus" her knight in shining armour, her soulmate. He found her, but she would carry their mutual journey alone. She would be compelled to live a life all at once with and without "Odysseus." And her journey takes her into familiar territory with familiar demons that she would have to conquer to move forward.

Ramos tells this story in flash backs and diary entries. This made the book feel like I was looking into the window of a real life. I was moved many times by her pain and grief and strength. It is a wake up call to anyone who is starving for a place to belong, and especially love--you can only drive on an empty tank so long. Ramos makes it clear that there is such a thing as "too late" to make these discoveries. Go find your love and find yourself in the process.

Rating:
Summary: Sad and sensual
Review: This story took me right into the pit of Jessica's grief. Anyone who has lost someone will appreciate how Ramos tells a story. I especially liked the way she captured the complexities that happen in real life in a real relationship between two people. It is always so much more complicated than "a man meets a woman." I cried and blushed throughout the book.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful story
Review: Waiting for Odysseus captures how great love can be between two individauls and how quickly it can be lost. The main characters John and Jessica are searching for a safe haven and find that safe place together. Odysseus was trying to get home and faced physical obstacles, but for John and Jessica it was an emotional journey to that place. This book wasn't what I expected -a modern style retelling of the Odyssey. Instead it was a creative use of Homeric themes and ideas layered within the life of a modern couple, who see themselves as "Odysseus & Penelope."

Rating:
Summary: Our Greatest Journey
Review: Waiting For Odysseus, by Janell Ramos, is a soulful look into the passion of one woman's life and how amazing and painful the search for belonging can be. Ramos passionately tells the story of our greatest journey...the journey home. Using Homer's Odyssey, she weaves an ancient theme of love and longing for home into a modern tapestry. It was written with an honesty and truth that could only be possible by one who has actually tasted the sweet beauty and exquisite sorrow of this universal quest. It is an affirmation of our existence. A must read.