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jdintr's review against another edition
4.0
Doerries has written widely, trying to connect classic literature to the experience of returning soldiers.
In The Odyssey of Sergeant Jack Brennan he uses the graphic novel format to get his message through to a new audience. I think this is a really clever book, and it is definitely one that I look forward to sharing with students as well as fellow teachers who teach The Odyssey.
The book uses the frame of an American sergeant addressing the men in his platoon as they prepare to return home from deployment in Afghanistan. He goes through the saga of Odysseus's return (Books 9 & 10), while breaking into the narrative to make connections between Odysseus's experiences and those of returning servicemen (the Lotus Eaters, Circe, Scylla and Charybdis, to name a few).
A really good read--and a good resource for teachers of Homer's Odyssey.
In The Odyssey of Sergeant Jack Brennan he uses the graphic novel format to get his message through to a new audience. I think this is a really clever book, and it is definitely one that I look forward to sharing with students as well as fellow teachers who teach The Odyssey.
The book uses the frame of an American sergeant addressing the men in his platoon as they prepare to return home from deployment in Afghanistan. He goes through the saga of Odysseus's return (Books 9 & 10), while breaking into the narrative to make connections between Odysseus's experiences and those of returning servicemen (the Lotus Eaters, Circe, Scylla and Charybdis, to name a few).
A really good read--and a good resource for teachers of Homer's Odyssey.
mlindner's review against another edition
2.0
The easy reader version (or worse) of Homer's The Odyssey. I hope this helps some of our troops but I'm not seeing how as it is extremely cursory and I fail to see how many combat vets will really connect and empathize with the characters and thus themselves.
By the by, this is based on a DARPA funded project. "This material is based upon work supported by the DARPA Program Office under Contract No. W31P4Q-13-C-0110. Approved for public release, distribution unlimited." I suspect more than "based on" with a release statement. Not saying this makes it good or bad, better or worse, just disclosing.
I read it about 30 minutes. Even if the vets who need it get it and read it and connect with these characters and situations I do not see near enough depth to make any difference, except possibly that 1 in a 1000--1 in 5000?--who might actually go on to read some full-length version of The Odyssey and be perhaps truly helped.
Sorry. I want to like this. I'd like to say I'll buy 10 copies and ensure they get into the hands of recently returned combat vets but I don't see it.
By the by, this is based on a DARPA funded project. "This material is based upon work supported by the DARPA Program Office under Contract No. W31P4Q-13-C-0110. Approved for public release, distribution unlimited." I suspect more than "based on" with a release statement. Not saying this makes it good or bad, better or worse, just disclosing.
I read it about 30 minutes. Even if the vets who need it get it and read it and connect with these characters and situations I do not see near enough depth to make any difference, except possibly that 1 in a 1000--1 in 5000?--who might actually go on to read some full-length version of The Odyssey and be perhaps truly helped.
Sorry. I want to like this. I'd like to say I'll buy 10 copies and ensure they get into the hands of recently returned combat vets but I don't see it.
librarianalex287's review against another edition
4.0
I’m not a big fan of war, but the stories that come from it are some of the best, full of family, friendship, betrayal, enemies, love and the full spectrum of the human experience. And this version of the Odyssey is no different. My favorite part of this book was how each chapter started or ended with the Marines talking about events in their life or the life of those close to them that correspond with the story of Odysseus. Even if these short additions never happened in real life or were just adapted for this book, they bring out a truthfulness to the book that isn’t always there, especially in the old Greek stories. I’m definitely recommending this one to my father and grandfathers, who all served in the military at one point in their life.
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