Product Description

NOW AVAILABLE - Digitally remastered, and on CD for the first time

Translated by Robert Fagles, with an introduction by Bernard Knox
Read by Sir Ian McKellen

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15508 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-20
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 11
• Binding: Audio CD

Features

• ISBN13: 9780143058243
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

A BRILLIANT TRANSLATION - SUPERBLY READ

As most know, Homer's Odyssey is the story of the adventures of Odysseus as he makes his way home, to the Greek island of Ithaca, after the war in Troy. Those who groaned when it was assigned in high school or college will do an abrupt about face when they hear Robert Fagles's brilliant translation read by acclaimed actor Sir Ian McKellan. Those becoming familiar with the Odyssey for the first time through this audio are fortunate as it is a superb introduction.

Surely McKellan's compelling, resonant reading deserves an award. On a printed page the following words are static, inanimate. In McKellan's voice they ring, seducing listeners as they hear the story of Odysseus.

"Sing to me of the man, Muse, the
man of twists and turns
Driven time and again off course..."

A Professor of Comparative Literature Emeritus at Princeton, Robert Fagles won accolades for this translation of The Iliad - rightly so. He deserves the same and more for his translation of The Odyssey as he loses none of the original yet contemporizes Homer's masterpiece. Many today will easily identify with Odysseus, an iconic survivor.

In The New Yorker Garry Wills wrote: "Robert Fagles is the best living translator of ancient Greek drama, lyric poetry, and epic into modern English, and his translation of the Odyssey is his finest work so far."

What more can one say except enjoy?

Very highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke

The Way It Was Meant to Be Heard
I knew I'd never get around to reading it. But after all, for its first five hundred years, nobody read it--they listened to it, as the bard sang it, from memory. Now we have a chance to listen again (and again) as Ian McKellen reads this powerful prose translation by Robert Fagles.

Now I count myself lucky to have long road trips (six and a half hours each way) to listen to this epic. I've listened clear through at least three times. My thirteen-year-old son (not particularly literate, like most kids these days) listened through for extra credit in history class. And the whole family enjoyed the first three books on a one-hour drive into the mountains.

The box includes an excellent 112-page introduction by Bernard Knox and eleven CDs nicely packaged. Keep it in the glove box. It's better than coffee on a long drive.

Superb
The only thing that could possibly make Robert Fagles translation of the Odyssey better is Ian McKellen's masterful reading. Sir Ian McKellen makes the text come alive with his wonderful performance. If you like the odyssey you owe it to yourself to get this CD set.