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The Iliad is a classic epic poem about the battle between the Greeks and the Trojans with a focus on the Hector, Achilles and Agamemnon and the Gods that watch over them. Which all sounds good, and could be (I've seen some decent movies based on it) but unfortunately, the book is a painfully dull and confusing read.
I know, I know it's a thousand years old and whatnot but seriously there is a whole chapter where they just list the people who came to war and how many ships they brought and 99% of those characters are never mentioned again. Also, half the characters have multiple names so it's hard to keep track of who is who, even if you do care.
The worst part is when you slog through 600 pages of "here is Dave, son of Barry, who came from Bolton with two hundred deep rigged ships, oh Ajax has killed him. But wait, now steps up James, son of Gary from Leek who came with... nope he's dead too" there is no satisfying conclusion. It feels like the book just ends half way through.
The Iliad is hopelessly dull, depressingly repetitive mess with a completely unsatisfying conclusion, if a conclusion you can even call it. It's not quite as bad as Atlas Shrugged but it is about as close as I've come.
I know, I know it's a thousand years old and whatnot but seriously there is a whole chapter where they just list the people who came to war and how many ships they brought and 99% of those characters are never mentioned again. Also, half the characters have multiple names so it's hard to keep track of who is who, even if you do care.
The worst part is when you slog through 600 pages of "here is Dave, son of Barry, who came from Bolton with two hundred deep rigged ships, oh Ajax has killed him. But wait, now steps up James, son of Gary from Leek who came with... nope he's dead too" there is no satisfying conclusion. It feels like the book just ends half way through.
The Iliad is hopelessly dull, depressingly repetitive mess with a completely unsatisfying conclusion, if a conclusion you can even call it. It's not quite as bad as Atlas Shrugged but it is about as close as I've come.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
As important as this ancient Greek epic is to understanding modern literature, I wouldn't say that I enjoyed reading it. I enjoyed analyzing it, but the story itself is understandably dated and slow.
There are little descriptions that are incredibly beautiful. You really do feel a sense of war as devastation, of people as not individuals but the results of a long lineage. However, it is very long and (maybe this makes me uncultured) a little boring. There are too many lists of names and drawn-out battle scenes that I can imagine would have once upon a time been impressive to hear recited by memory. Now, they just bloat the plot. It also says the word “nipple” way more times than expected, so I bumped it up 0.5 stars for that.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Sexism, Trafficking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes