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hollandvk's review against another edition
4.0
The Lost Books of the Odyssey is another contemporary book that uses well-crafted language, trickery and whimsy to explore the absurd world of Greek mythology. Through the structure and delivery, it questions the great epics and their origins. Are they the stories spun by a drunk bard or exaggerated tales from an aged Odysseus reveling in the days of his youth? There are many holes in the historic record and multiple and contradictory accounts of every myth that allow Mason to roam freely through diverse possibilities. The ideas and descriptions are excellent, but it needs a little improvement in sentence structure and meter to transform from a good book to an excellent one.
marieintheraw's review against another edition
3.0
i still think about this regularly. sadly some of the stories are the reason this isn't a higher rating.
2023 amber here: i wish didn't unhaul this.
2023 amber here: i wish didn't unhaul this.
claireviolet's review against another edition
4.0
i like the idea of this more than the execution of it. the order in which the stories were put together didn’t really do anything for me when i felt it should have, which is my main gripe. the prose is beautiful and the book has this overall dreamlike state i wasn’t expecting but thoroughly enjoyed.
heidenkind's review against another edition
1.0
I don't know about this book. It was good in some ways, but I didn't feel any desire to keep reading it.
craftsy_auri's review against another edition
4.0
When I started reading this book, I thought: What is happening here? There were many short stories about Odysseus and the war of Troy. It got even stranger when he came home for the second time. Now I understand that these stories are other versions of parts of the Odyssey, and there are at least 5 different ways in which Odysseus comes home. All the stories are original and most are a possibility for what really happened. My appreciation for the book grew the more I read. I should really read the Iliad and the Odyssey once.
theshadowplay's review against another edition
4.0
Not so much a novel as a series of vignettes or short stories regarding Odysseus, and other characters from the Odyssey. A bit odd at first, but ultimately I enjoyed most of what was presented.
catherine_louise's review against another edition
2.0
did not finish- maybe a case of right reader/ wrong time but i think it might have been wrong reader/ wrong time. I couldn't quite get a sense of urgency from the book. sure you can imagine the odyssey 44 different ways- but why? what is the urgency in doing so? that was never explained to me
upsidedownything's review against another edition
5.0
Cannot recommend this highly enough. Inventive, clever, absolutely genius.
linzer712's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this book- would I have as much if I wasn't obsessed with the Odyssey (yes, I've read it at least 10 times and anything else related to it that I can get my hands on)? I'm not sure. But Mason's writing is so beautifully imaginative and dream-like. The concept, that 44 additional books of the Odyssey were uncovered- some fragmented- many written at various times & places- allows telling from fresh perspectives, new beginnings and endings, and gorgeous meditations on the "truth" (or the perfectness of their being no truth) of the original.