The Odyssey (Penguin Classics) Paperback – 30 Jan. 2003

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.

Great product

It arrived in perfect condition, perfect for Greek mythology fans, I would say only for children over 9+ since it is about the Trojan war and it may/will contain violence

Amazing quality! Clean and just an amazing book!

Came in perfect condition like off a shelf in a store.

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.

I first read The Odyssey about 60 years ago when a new translation by E. V. Rieu was much publicised and available from Penguin. As a teenager I enjoyed it very much as an adventure story, about which I had heard. I have quite a few books and was confident that my copy was 'somewhere' when I recommended the Odyssey to a readers group to which I belong; it was accepted and added to the list and came up this last month. I could not find my copy; the library could not obtain a 'Rieu' copy, in time, so I visited my friendly Amazon website. I found the Rieu was still available but, in addition to the original, a later version is available that has been slightly revised by the son of E.V.; I ordered and have read it again. Although I read with a lifetime of experience behind me I really enjoyed it once again. This time, however, I have both the introduction by E V from 1946 and a DCHR Preface of 2002, which begins with'My Father E. V. ...' in which the son, DCHR, later refers to his father as EVR. It is obvious that both Father and Son love and respect Homer.Read the story and then the DCHR Preface followed by the PVJ Introduction with His analysis of the construction of the 'plot' and why it is arranged in the way that it is.Finally, I learned that the EVR translation gave us the very first book in the Penguin Classics series. A Really Fine package; you will be glad to own and treasure it. Just do not mislay it, you never know ...!

Wanted to read this for ages and it didn’t disappoint. Recommend if you’re into classics.