Week 5 - March 15-21: Intro, maps, catch up

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Many of us are done reading The Odyssey (yay us!)

This week is for the rest of you to catch up, or to try out the audio, or to read the parts in the beginning that you skipped to jump into the text (this is me.) There is a lengthy intro which I found helpful to group thematic content together as well as understanding the historical context of the text/non-text as it were.

After this is a translator's note which is fascinating in my opinion. We'll definitely talk about that on the online discussion.

Then there are maps, which won't take much time. But don't go away too soon, the online discussion is not until the 28th but I hope to see many of you there (link in online discussion thread.)

[Mina]

Finished and loved it. I would have never tackled this book without the prompting of this read-along and the schedule. Stay Well everyone!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Mina wrote: "Finished and loved it. I would have never tackled this book without the prompting of this read-along and the schedule. Stay Well everyone!"

Congratulations! I'm hoping we aren't taking too much time between finishing and discussing but hope to see some of you on Saturday for our discussion.

[Robin]

I loved the translator's note! So much to think about. I finished reading the text, and am about to finish the audio version. Next up, is the introduction. I had a random thought over the weekend. The bizarre run on toilet paper in our current situation reminded me of the suitors mindlessly taking advantage of the food and wine at the palace. In many ways, reading The Odyssey has been very timely!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Robin wrote: "I loved the translator's note! So much to think about. I finished reading the text, and am about to finish the audio version. Next up, is the introduction. I had a random thought over the weekend. ..."

I feel like the very definition of a classic is that it always applies... who is our Odysseus and when will he come back?!

[Laurie]

I also finished it and really enjoyed it. I’ll definitely read the translator’s note this week, but might not manage the introduction.

[Nicole]

Finished this morning! The introduction and translator's note were so so well done. It made me go from "that was pretty darn good" to "that was fabulous".

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Nicole wrote: "Finished this morning! The introduction and translator's note were so so well done. It made me go from "that was pretty darn good" to "that was fabulous"."

She is an excellent scholar and I look forward to her next project, which I believe is the Iliad.

One thing we didn't talk about but that floored me in reading that was the fact that she wrote the darn thing in the same number of lines and in iambic pentameter! What a feat.