Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Odyssey

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Odyssey by Homer

92 reviews

vampireph4ze's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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.

Content Warnings

conspystery's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

“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.

Content Warnings

mxpringle's review against another edition

2.5

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

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.

Content Warnings

meganpbennett's review against another edition

3.0

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

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.

Content Warnings

m4rtt4's review against another edition

2.25

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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

Content Warnings

admiralsmall's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It's hard to express how perfect this book is. Wilson's achievement democratises this classic text and makes it not just accessible but also exciting and readable.

Content Warnings