Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Odyssey

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Odyssey by Homer

34 reviews

xandra_lyn's review against another edition

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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vampireph4ze's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

an undeniable classic with a beautiful translation, however Odysseus is a hero who goes home and that's it. he doesn't seem to learn any lessons and there is no real moral of the story unless you believe that the moral is to Not do what Odysseus does. nonetheless, it was enjoyable to read and discuss with my slow-read class and once again, the way that Wilson constructs the poem does wonders for making it a more enjoyable experience when the main character is an awful person.

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xandra_lyn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

The Odyssey has never been my favorite (I prefer the Iliad). Perhaps it was the translation, but if really felt as if it was one giant propaganda poem to show how great Odysseus is. (Which is probably true - historically it looked back to a time just before the Mycenaean civilization fell)

But the translation is very readable, which is why I bought it in the first place.

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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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