Daniel Mendelsohn on the Odyssey(octavian.substack.com)
octavian.substack.com
Daniel Mendelsohn on the Odyssey
https://octavian.substack.com/p/daniel-mendelsohn-on-the-odyssey
9 comments
I enjoyed the read. Thanks!
Never been a huge fan of the classics. Not because I think them impractical, but because someone has told me that I have to read them, and I have a serious "up yours" streak to my personality. It's ameliorated, as I've gotten older, but I didn't appreciate having reading shoved in my face by people that I considered "bitter old people."
I'm getting my comeuppance, now. I'm the millennial's "bitter old person."
I guess there's a classic that talks about that...
Never been a huge fan of the classics. Not because I think them impractical, but because someone has told me that I have to read them, and I have a serious "up yours" streak to my personality. It's ameliorated, as I've gotten older, but I didn't appreciate having reading shoved in my face by people that I considered "bitter old people."
I'm getting my comeuppance, now. I'm the millennial's "bitter old person."
I guess there's a classic that talks about that...
Rebelling for the sake of rebellion can be blinding. We all have issues to work through. I wish you luck yours.
Oh, those days are loooong gone...
If anyone is interested in more in depth examinations of parts of the Odyssey I would recommend 'Watch What You Hear: Penelope's Dream Of Twenty Geese' by Edward Teach(The Last Psychiarist).
https://www.amazon.com/Watch-What-You-Hear-Penelopes/dp/1734...
It is a a "rigorous psychoanalytic interpretation of the Homeric dream of twenty geese" and although can be tough to get into I dound it a very rewarding mental journey.
This being HN, I honestly thought there was a 50% chance that this would be about the game console.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnavox_Odyssey
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnavox_Odyssey
I was hoping for the synthesizer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARP_Odyssey
I generally find it very difficult to read/enjoy old classics... I much prefer the analyses of those text that explain their relevance for our culture and the context in which they were written. I will make some time to read this article.
> I generally find it very difficult to read/enjoy old classics
I found a ‘top 100 books of all time’ list and decided there were a few near the top I should read/reread. I’m pretty sure I had never read any of them. I knew the author and I had a vague idea of the plot and characters.
Every single one of them was excellent to the point where I need to reread them again.
I found a ‘top 100 books of all time’ list and decided there were a few near the top I should read/reread. I’m pretty sure I had never read any of them. I knew the author and I had a vague idea of the plot and characters.
Every single one of them was excellent to the point where I need to reread them again.
Our whole culture is so shot through with the effects of these works that it is virtually incomprehensible, even to those who devote their lives to the study. I guess my point is that it is not like reading a 'novel'. It is a work that has shaped, and actively shapes, us as humans.