Review: The Odyssey

The Odyssey by Homer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I did not expect the book to be as beautiful as it ended up being.

The Odyssey is an epic, especially in conjunction with the larger story of Troy. From the beginning to the end of the book, there is a powerful sense of scale and wonder. The journey of the titular hero is long and arduous, the ending bloody.

This book is enjoyable in multiple layers. The story itself is one of family, friendship and blood, but at the same time, you can enjoy the larger cultural exploration that is done when reading a book from a culture so far away. The way the Homeric Greeks looked at Gods, monogamy and loyalty is very interesting. The characters are nuanced, fun to try and decipher within Homeric lyric.

The style of writing, the way the original has been translated, is beautiful. It is intense when it needs to be and poignant when it needs to be. It is not the easiest to get used to, but past the first few chapters, I found myself enjoying it (though I struggled through some of the later ones).

All in all, definitely worth reading. If for nothing else, then for the cultural value the text has.

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