Odyssey - BookWyrm.it

sarah ha recensito The Odyssey di Homer

austere and moving

5 stelle

to be totally honest, I had never been able to get through The Odyssey before. I did listen to maybe half of Ian McKellan reading the Robert Fagles translation, and of course I knew the general gist of the stories in it. But this was the first translation that I found compelling. And, as with how I read Moby-Dick, I read this slowly over multiple months (and listened to some parts in the Clare Danes audiobook) and often got lost in the immediate moment while forgetting where in the multiply layered narratives I was. But it worked for me. Iliad next! or soon, at least.

MH Thaung ha recensito The Odyssey di Homer

Clear and accessible

Nessuna valutazione

After reading several translations of The Odyssey (Butcher, Murray, Rieu, Fagles, Lattimore etc…) over the years, I was curious to experience a more contemporary treatment, hence picking up this one.

Wilson’s translation is clear and easy to comprehend. I found it a much faster read than previous translations, although admittedly I was poring over those ones for a dissertation. (I forget which one(s) came in rhyming couplets, but ohboy!) If you’ve read my other reviews, you’ll know I tend to prefer prose that isn’t too ornate, but I wouldn’t have minded a touch more richness here. While I generally liked the straightforward language, sometimes the wily Odysseus seemed to express himself more honestly and self-critically than I’d expect. Additionally, I didn’t often feel inclined to linger over particular passages.

As a bonus, I did notice descriptive details that I hadn’t previously paid much attention to (such as the storeroom Penelope …

After reading several translations of The Odyssey (Butcher, Murray, Rieu, Fagles, Lattimore etc…) over the years, I was curious to experience a more contemporary treatment, hence picking up this one.

Wilson’s translation is clear and easy to comprehend. I found it a much faster read than previous translations, although admittedly I was poring over those ones for a dissertation. (I forget which one(s) came in rhyming couplets, but ohboy!) If you’ve read my other reviews, you’ll know I tend to prefer prose that isn’t too ornate, but I wouldn’t have minded a touch more richness here. While I generally liked the straightforward language, sometimes the wily Odysseus seemed to express himself more honestly and self-critically than I’d expect. Additionally, I didn’t often feel inclined to linger over particular passages.

As a bonus, I did notice descriptive details that I hadn’t previously paid much attention to (such as the storeroom Penelope retrieves the bow from, and the bow’s somewhat ominous history).

Overall, a very accessible translation that may well appeal if you’ve struggled with earlier florid offerings.

isabel@bookwyrm.social ha recensito The Odyssey di Homer

Vivid and accessible

5 stelle

An approachable version of The Odyssey in a plain and modern English. Wilson matches Homer line-for-line, but compresses each line to a 5-beat iambic pentameter. Her language is chiseled, sometimes to a fault. But it adds up to a surprisingly quick, enjoyable, and morally engaging read.

Homer's most vivid images really shine in this rendering: "He saw them fallen, all of them, so many; / lying in blood and dust, like fish hauled up / out of the dark-gray sea in fine-mesh nets; / tipped out upon the curving beach's sand, / they gasp for water from the salty sea. / The sun shines down and takes their life away. / So lay the suitors, heaped across each other."

The text avoids justifying or masking immoral or questionable acts and practices. The word "slave" is used frequently, rather than euphemisms. Sometimes the translation strikes a judgmental note, like when the …

An approachable version of The Odyssey in a plain and modern English. Wilson matches Homer line-for-line, but compresses each line to a 5-beat iambic pentameter. Her language is chiseled, sometimes to a fault. But it adds up to a surprisingly quick, enjoyable, and morally engaging read.

Homer's most vivid images really shine in this rendering: "He saw them fallen, all of them, so many; / lying in blood and dust, like fish hauled up / out of the dark-gray sea in fine-mesh nets; / tipped out upon the curving beach's sand, / they gasp for water from the salty sea. / The sun shines down and takes their life away. / So lay the suitors, heaped across each other."

The text avoids justifying or masking immoral or questionable acts and practices. The word "slave" is used frequently, rather than euphemisms. Sometimes the translation strikes a judgmental note, like when the opening stanza says of Odysseus and his men: "He failed to keep them safe." Overall, I loved being invited to see these characters as flawed people in a flawed world, not as monuments.