Author:Homer,Robert Fagles,Bernard Knox,Bernard Knox
Literature's grandest evocation of life's journey, at once an ageless human story and an individual test of moral endurance, Homer's ancient Greek epic The Odyssey is translated by Robert Fagles with an introduction and notes by Bernard Knox in Penguin Classics.
When Robert Fagles' translation of The Iliad was published in 1990, critics and scholars alike hailed it as a masterpiece. Here, one of the great modern translators presents us with The Odyssey, Homer's best-loved poem, recounting Odysseus' wanderings after the Trojan War. With wit and wile, the 'man of twists and turns' meets the challenges of the sea-god Poseidon, and monsters ranging from the many-headed Scylla to the cannibalistic Cyclops Polyphemus - only to return after twenty years to a home besieged by his wife Penelope's suitors. In the myths and legends retold in this immortal poem, Fagles has captured the energy of Homer's original in a bold, contemporary idiom.
Seven greek cities claim the honour of being the birthplace of Homer (c. 8th-7th century BC), the poet to whom the composition of the Iliad and Odyssey are attributed. The Iliad is the oldest surviving work of Western literature, but the identity - or even the existence - of Homer himself is a complete mystery, with no reliable biographical information having survived.
If you enjoyed The Odyssey, you might like Robert Fagles' translation of The Iliad, also available in Penguin Classics.
'Wonderfully readable ... Just the right blend of roughness and sophistication'
Ted Hughes
'A memorable achievement ... Mr Fagles has been remarkably successful in finding a style that is of our time and yet timeless'
Richard Jenkyns, The New York Times Book Review
'His translation of The Odyssey is his best work yet'
Garry Wills, New Yorker
Both fun and funny. It is sharp too, in the sense of painful as well as witty... Barnes dissects with tremendous verve and insight this awesome inevitability of death and its impact on the human psyche. He also tears at your heart
—— New StatesmanA maverick form of family memoir that is mainly an extended reflection on the fear of death and on that great consolation, religious belief... It is entertaining, intriguing, absorbing...an inventive and invigorating slant on what is nowadays called 'life writing'. It took me hours to write this review because each reference to my notes set me off rereading; that is a reviewer's ultimate accolade
—— Penelope Lively , Financial TimesA brilliant bible of elegant despair...that most urgent kind of self-help manual: the one you must read before you die
—— Tim Adams , VogueIntensely fascinating
—— The TimesAn elegant memoir and meditation. A deep seismic tremor of a book that keeps rumbling and grumbling in the mind for weeks thereafter
—— Garrison KeillorAn essay in the best sense: speculative and precise, intimate and metaphysical, capacious and democratic in the variety of voices, alive and dead, that are invited to counsel the author as he edges his way towards the void
—— TLSIntensely serious book of striking elegance: a clever, complicated reverie on last things, so full of ideas as to reveal itself quite slowly, through frequent re-reading
—— Jane Shilling , Sunday Telegraph, Books of the YearA fantastic work of non-fiction, a showcase for his elegantly unfussy sentences and Barnes's ability to burrow to the very bottom of a subject, no matter how daunting
—— Colin Waters , The Sunday HeraldJulian Barnes takes on the ambitious subject of death - and succeeds brilliantly
—— William Leith , ScotsmanIt is a sincere, humble work, punctuated by moments of poignancy
—— Colm Farren , The Irish TimesThis year, its moving, sly, terrified grappling with the approach of extinction overwhelmed me
—— Andro Linklater , Spectator, Books of the YearA rather beautiful account of the birth and evolution of Islam ... Lucid and illuminating ... Fascinating
—— MetroAslan is an engaging writer, his strength lies ... as an observer of contemporary challenges facing Islam ... Sensitive and generous
—— FT MagazineEnthralling. A book of tremendous clarity and generosity of spirit
—— Jim Crace
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