The Odyssey: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

I'll be honest, my first experience of the basic story or the odyssey was watching 'Homer's Odyyssey' on the simpsons! But having seen a glimpse of the idea of the story when I was younger I vowed to one day read the real version. I'm glad I did and this penguin version in my opinion is the best way to get to understand the story whether you are into literature or not. The odyssey is a poem and many translators have done excellent jobs of translating the text into English while keeping it a poem. However translating into a poem can not only sometimes lose some of the real story but can also alienate those who would like to know the story but can't deal with an epic poem. This is why this book is so great! The penguin version has been translated into a story, like reading a novel. This makes it incredibly easy to understand the plot and draws you so much more into the story. The language used is also very easy to read and understand. Being a penguin book just like with wordsworth classics these books have little notes, whenever there's something that might not be understood by someone reading it they have added a helpful note, this makes reading it even easier. And when you are done with the story itself there is even to read at, where experts have added information (like the stuff you'd read if you were studying at school). The story itself is very interesting, I won't give anything away and other reviewers have certainly added a lot about this but I will say that if you want to find out about this classic but aren't into the poetry aspect then this penguin version is definitely for you. I'd also recommend the illiad, written in the same format but set earlier, that book is every bit as readable as this one. The only hiccup in the story of the odyssey for me was right at the end. The ending seemed a bit off (the notes explain why) but I did feel a little dissatisfied by the ending, but that's just my personal opinion and doesn't change how great this book is.

Ever since Nolan announced he's making a movie on this I wanted to read the source material. The book is cheap paperback and very nice

Gifting read

I just finished reading The Illiad, so this was naturally the next book on the list. Whilst The Illiad has been a firm favourite of mine and been read several times over the years, i could not remember this story. This particular edition was very useful, g8ving insights into where the story differed from Homer's considered original text, and the introduction was extremely insightful. Overall, a very enjoyable read.

Great book

Just purchased translations of The Odyssey and The Iliad by E.V. Rieu and, though some of the reviews incline to the slightly negative, I can only disagree. Both books (transitions) are absolutely fine; excellently written so that the prose style emulates the poetry of the originals; extended Introductions, outlining changes made, and why these were needed and considered improvements; and The Iliad, for me the more complex of the two stories (epics), begins each chapter with a hugely helpful, summarised numbered outline of what is to follow, making the reading of the text much more accessible. True, there may be better translations out there. Personally I can’t really say; but for me these two books read beautifully and I’m totally pleased with my purchase and would recommend them to others who wish to get a taste of these wonderful stories in an engaging, readable format. I hope you find my review helpful.

This is a fantastic translation. Unmissable! But don't buy this edition - the edges of the paper are intentionally left ragged, and the paper is very poor quality. Presumably this is meant to make it feel ancient. This is very annoying as it makes it hard to turn the pages, and it does a great disservice to the extraordinary quality of the translation. Get the other, seriously published, Penguin edition. Unfortunately Fagles' other translations of the Iliad and the Aeneid seem to only be available like this.

Bright and light