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Title: The Odyssey: The Story of Odysseus by Homer, W. H. D. Rouse ISBN: 0-451-52736-4 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: August, 1999 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.47 (34 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: 4 words : Classic for a reason
Comment: There's a reason that The Odyssey and The Illiad are considered classics in the most complete sense, and in reading the two I was blown away time and time again in seeing why. Credit must also be given to Rouse for a brilliant translation that gives the words of Homer a fluidity most translators lack.
As a novel, The Odyssey reads well as a great tale picking up where The Illiad left off; full of rich detail, beautiful imagery and an incredibly elaborate mythology that one needn't be familiar with to understand. I was worried beforehand about knowing so little about Greek Mythology but Homer incorporates exactly enough information of the Gods to provide insight to the characters and traditions of their culture necessary to understand the story, while teaching you about them along the way. There is an abundance of reference and connection with religion, culture and traditions (actually, as you read you'll find a lot of modern words or expressions that originated from the text) to be studied at length, but the story is also excellent as a stand-alone tale if you don't want to analyze it.
The plot is that of Odysseus, after the Battle of Troy (described in The Illiad), who is stranded on an island as his house and family are plagued by ignorant men who are slowly consuming his wealth and resources while awaiting his thought-to-be-widowed wife's decision on which of them she will marry. As his much-abused young son comes of age, he is set upon a journey by the Gods to find his father and restore his household to proper order. The tale is weaved around this and lined with themes of love, loyalty, honour and revenge in such a way that no author I've read has even come close to. Homer is perhaps comparable to Shakespeare only in the sheer breadth of his scope, but surpasses him in his intuition for storytelling.
If you genuinely like to read but haven't read this yet, buy it now (after The Illiad, of course) or get it from the library. Considered to be the first Novel, you're reading a piece of history, a dead society, and an amazing tale as well.
Rating: 4
Summary: An amazing tale
Comment: The Odyssey is an amazing tale of the travels of Odysseus and his crew after the Trojan War. His encounters with the Cyclops, sea monsters, Sirens, Gods, and ghosts create a tale larger than life. Mr. Rouse does an amazing job of translating the tale in a way that flows well and reads easily. My only complaint of this classic is the ending... in 1 1/2 pages things go from nearly a civil war to peace. It appears almost as if homer had not finished the tale before his death, and someone else added the ending just to finish the book. Aside from the ending, the entire book is a masterpiece of ancient literature.
Rating: 5
Summary: Home, by way of every where else
Comment: For ten years after the sack of Troy, Odysseus wanders around the Medditerainian Sea trying to get home. I liked this Homer tale a little better than I did "Iliad". That is because this one has more monsters, more mythic happenings than the war story. Not that it's a bad book, but I liked this one because it is more a complete story, with a begining, a definiate end. I find it hard to critisize a classic, so I won't; I'll just say that this is one of the best stories, certainly one of my favorites, and it has stood the test of time.
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Title: The Iliad: The Story of Achilles by Homer, W. H. D. Rouse ISBN: 0451527372 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: August, 1999 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: The Iliad by Homer, Anton Lesser, William Cowper ISBN: 9626340622 Publisher: Naxos Audio Books Pub. Date: September, 1995 List Price(USD): $19.98 |
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Title: The Odyssey (Cliffs Notes) by Stanley P. Baldwin ISBN: 0764585991 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 22 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare ISBN: 0671722859 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 1992 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: Romeo and Juliet (Oxford School Shakespeare Series) by William Shakespeare, Roma Gill ISBN: 0198320256 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: November, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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