The Odyssey
By Homer
Genre: Classic
Personal Rating: 9/10

I read this book for a class this semester and I am very glad that I did. I had very little knowledge about The Odyssey before and I actually sincerely enjoyed the story line as well as the complex writing.

This book is one of the oldest classic epics we have today. It follows a man names Odysseus as he tries to make his way home to Ithaca after the Trojan war. Odysseus is praised for his cunning wit and strength, but the reason he is stranded from his home and family for over ten years is because of simple recklessness. The story stars in medias res--in the middle of the story--and later discloses the trials he faces getting home, the struggle his wife and son face back home, and what happens when Odysseus finally returns to his home land.

While I did over all like the story and themes of this book, I did have some issues with the characters that were hard to look past. Also, because of the culture of this time period, there is a lot of graphic bloodshed and infidelity that is expressed very flippantly. So while it took a little to overlook that, I did enjoy learning about this culture, and I did find the themes of human recklessness very compelling.

If anyone is interested in reading this great work, I highly recommend reading this version translated by Robert Fagles. This version makes reading The Odyssey much more enjoyable and easier to understand.