Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Odyssey by Homer

43 reviews

zbrebis's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

My notes for Homer is; Maybe workshop this? Odysseus is an unlikable character who failed at every turn, loss 600 men and came back home as a hero after slauthering his wife's orbiters and his "unfaithful" slaves. Athena, find yourself a better hero girl.
Its worth reading if you're into classical studies and ancient Greece, but if someone told you that "every man NEEDS to read Odysseus" I'd just say, skip it?

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carmineslamp's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Didn't enjoy as much as the Iliad,,, but also the love I have for the Iliad is so insane, maybe that's not a good bar.

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seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review

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adventurous emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0


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gabriella_'s review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

the fact of the matter is this could’ve been avoided 

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xandra_lyn's review against another edition

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adventurous informative reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is the best translation of the Odyssey I've ever read (I've read 3). I really respect Emily Wilson's translation decisions. It made the boring parts of the Odyssey interesting and fast paced 

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fairlylocaltrashdragon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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conspystery's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 “Tell me about a complicated man.” 

Understatement of the century (centuries?), and goodness gracious, is it a great one. I don’t know what I can say about this translation that hasn’t been better said elsewhere, so I’ll stick with this: Wilson’s writing is incredible, and I think the feeling it evokes while reading it is probably similar to that of the experience of hearing The Odyssey performed, as it would have been in its original language, hundreds of years ago. The meter is especially impressive. Overall, though, my favorite aspect of this translation is how it maintains its complexity while still being completely accessible to the average reader. I got this from the library, but the first line was enough to convince me to buy my own copy. It’s genuinely exceptional. 

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mxpringle's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I found this interesting to analyze because of the ways that rhetoric is used to have a more powerful analysis of what it means to share stories through poetry. I appreciated having read this because it's a classic that is referenced so often in other works. However, it is relatively boring and dense for the things that happen within the poem, and the characters are incredibly unlikeable. If you're interested in Greek mythology for the plot, this may not be what you're interested in, but it can be more enjoyable in more of an academic setting. 

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meganpbennett's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Many years ago, I helped clean out Dr. Mandelbaum's office when he retired, taking box after box of books to the library to see what could be and what should be added to the various library collections,. Manuscripts, books he'd written, translations. I knew he was a Dante scholar, but I didn't realize that he'd also translated Homer and Virgil (Virgil makes a lot of sense, given the role Virgil plays in The Divine Comedy). 

Like many people, I'd never read The Odyssey. I knew a bit of the story, but had never read the original text. I knew a little bit about the various translators, and was thrilled with Dr Wilson released her translation, but never read it. I've read enough Greek plays and Roman histories to know that I wasn't really a fan of the literature of that time period. 

I finally read it when the library where I work used it as part of our "Read the book, see the movie" series. It's very interesting, but it's also very long. Like a lot of classical literature from the Greek and Roman era, it's a lot of words to describe things that could have been said in one or two. It's hard to get into, since it's in verse, not prose, but once you get into it, it's fun to read. 

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m4rtt4's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

confusing. too much action and violence. only read this because of uni 😪

tbh it would've been a lot more confusing had I not spent my childhood with Rick Riordan's books. Thanks to him for making me able to concentrate lol

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