Rating: 
Summary: Would give six stars if possible!
Review: A GREAT read for those who love plot, theme, or a mix of the two! Just the right amount of action and blood and emotion. cAnNOt compare with brainrotting cliff notes or any other translation I have read!
Rating:
Summary: A most well prepared translation of an ancient work.
Review: For nearly three thousand years the poems of Homer have thrilled listeners of every culture and epoch. Allusions to The Iliad and The Odyssey are so pervasive in our western culture that they are almost required reading for anyone who wishes to study western literature. Briefly, The Iliad is the story of the ten year long Trojan War, which climaxes with the destruction of the city of Troy by the Greeks through the deception of the Trojan Horse, and The Odyssey is the telling of the many adventures of the Greek Chieftan Odysseus (also known as Ulysses) during his long journey home. Filled with tales of the heroes and gods of ancient Greece, the poems are noted for the masterful use of wonderfully illustrative similes and metaphors, which become all the more wonderful with the understanding that Homer is believed to have been blind! Translations of Homer which try to adhere to the original poetic structure and be as literal as possible are immensely difficult to read by all but the most focused scholars. Other translations have completley deviated from any resemblance of poetry in an effort to be more accessible to the average reader. Here Mr. Fagles has achieved a translation which is not only easy to read and understand, but which retains the poetic lyricism of the original. Homer's works should be on the bookshelf of anyone who is interested in the classics, and with this translation you don't have to be a University Professor to appreciate them.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I don't know whether it is the font size, the appropriate spacing, or the translation, or even, the combination of all three. This was the most accessible, approachable, and engaging version I have ever read. I am no scholar of these works so I cannout vouch for the literary accuracy, but I suspect the main literary themes are left unadulterated: War is hell and gruesome; both sides suffer; stife breeds conflict even among allies; life is an odyssey with free will being buffetted by many uncontrollable forces (gods?); graciousness, courtesy, wit, wisdom, and personal responsibility are attributes that will help us through this journey. I highly recommend this version as well as this 2700 year old work of art. Literature doesn't get any better than this.
Rating:
Summary: what a masterful translation!
Review: I have read the Lattimore translation, but Fagels has far out done this earlier work. The story's prose, flow and verbage capture the emotion and grandeur of the event. The stories are older than the written word, and therefore I will not go into detail about the plot save to mention that Fagels has done a masterful job at making these ancient classics much more accessable to a modern audience, while still managing to maintain a sense of the lyric origins of the original.
Rating:
Summary: what a masterful translation!
Review: I have read the Lattimore translation, but Fagels has far out done this earlier work. The story's prose, flow and verbage capture the emotion and grandeur of the event. The stories are older than the written word, and therefore I will not go into detail about the plot save to mention that Fagels has done a masterful job at making these ancient classics much more accessable to a modern audience, while still managing to maintain a sense of the lyric origins of the original.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Translation of these Classic Epics Tales!
Review: I highly recommend this boxed hardcover set, because after reading Robert Fagles translation, you'll want to keep it as a part of your personal book collection..to re-read again and again. I have read many fine and not-so-fine translations of these works (including the admirable Robert Fitzgerald and the classic Richard Lattimore translations), but Robert Fagles' translations are by far the best I've seen. Fagles manages to bring the stories to life while still maintaining a sense of the poetic beauty of the original. I especially liked the Illiad. These translations are far from being dusty and archaic, but instead are very much "alive", capturing the excitement and beauty of these classic tales. If your first exposure to these classics was a very negative one, try again with Fagles (you'll be very glad you did!)... and if you're a great fan of Homer, you'll definitely want to read these wonderful new translations by Robert Fagles. Also, the "introductions" by the well-respected classicist, Bernard Knox, are a great source of additional,up-to-date information about these works and the Homeric period of Ancient Greece.
Rating:
Summary: This IS the translation for this generation
Review: I've read several versions of these works in my 30 years of life, and being a modern, this is the only version that was pure pleasure to read. Fagles' translation is in a clear, natural english that presents no obstacle to the enjoyment of this work for the modern reader. (PS- I can see you've all been wisely dismissing this Tod Munroe character. His insipid critique of Homer quite misses much the point of the great work.)
Rating:
Summary: Finally Free to Love Homer in Print!
Review: It is not perfect, but it is still one of the best books I've ever read. I believe this is a better story than "The Iliad". There are a lot more journey's and adventures. Besides fighting the Egyptians, Odysseus has to battle the goddess Circe, the Cyclopes, a Monster in a cave that he can't defeat, as well as get by the Sirens. He meets merpeople, and visits many foreign lands. He has to avoid lightning bolts, Hurricane's, Crashing rocks, and even go to Hades to consult with the dead. After all of this the prophets foretell that he will lose his ship and all of his men, but that one day he will make it home again. After all of this will he finally reach home only there to be killed? After the war at Troy, Odysseus is plagued to travel the world for twenty years before returning home because he killed one of Poseidon's sons. While he is away nobody has heard news of Odysseus and can only assume that he has been killed, but since they can not confirm this, they can not give him a proper burial and pass his property on to his son Telemachus. Suitors who believe Odysseus will never return vie for the hand of Odysseus' wife Penelope. They use this as an excuse to use up all of Odysseus' property and to waste away all of Telemachus' inheritance. There are 108 suitors who represent the best young men of Ithaca and they all come from noble family's. These men have no honor however and behave very badly, so the gods are not on their side. While on his journey home Odysseus visits Hades and there sees Agamemnon, Achilles, Ajax, Heracles, and many of the other Achaean heroes. It is here that he learns the fate of king Agamemnon who's wife plotted his murder upon his return. Odysseus becomes concerned about his own wife's honor and instead of returning home openly, instead the goddess Athene helps disguise him a beggar so that he can return home unnoticed and plot his revenge against the suitors, and to see if his wife has remained faithful to him during his long absence. He is not as young as he used to be, and is greatly outnumbered, but he has the gods on this side. The only part of the storyline that I didn't like was where the goddess Athene has Odysseus' son Telemachus take a journey to see if he can find out news of his father. I believe Homer just used this as an excuse to give you an update on Nestor and Menelaus who seem to be the only other heroes that are still alive out of all the Achaeans who fought in the War at Troy. I did like the fact that the gods aren't quite as whiny in this story as compared to how they behave in the Iliad. Athene plays a very big role. Overall this story was very entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: The Odyssey Book Review
Review: It is not perfect, but it is still one of the best books I've ever read. I believe this is a better story than "The Iliad". There are a lot more journey's and adventures. Besides fighting the Egyptians, Odysseus has to battle the goddess Circe, the Cyclopes, a Monster in a cave that he can't defeat, as well as get by the Sirens. He meets merpeople, and visits many foreign lands. He has to avoid lightning bolts, Hurricane's, Crashing rocks, and even go to Hades to consult with the dead. After all of this the prophets foretell that he will lose his ship and all of his men, but that one day he will make it home again. After all of this will he finally reach home only there to be killed? After the war at Troy, Odysseus is plagued to travel the world for twenty years before returning home because he killed one of Poseidon's sons. While he is away nobody has heard news of Odysseus and can only assume that he has been killed, but since they can not confirm this, they can not give him a proper burial and pass his property on to his son Telemachus. Suitors who believe Odysseus will never return vie for the hand of Odysseus' wife Penelope. They use this as an excuse to use up all of Odysseus' property and to waste away all of Telemachus' inheritance. There are 108 suitors who represent the best young men of Ithaca and they all come from noble family's. These men have no honor however and behave very badly, so the gods are not on their side. While on his journey home Odysseus visits Hades and there sees Agamemnon, Achilles, Ajax, Heracles, and many of the other Achaean heroes. It is here that he learns the fate of king Agamemnon who's wife plotted his murder upon his return. Odysseus becomes concerned about his own wife's honor and instead of returning home openly, instead the goddess Athene helps disguise him a beggar so that he can return home unnoticed and plot his revenge against the suitors, and to see if his wife has remained faithful to him during his long absence. He is not as young as he used to be, and is greatly outnumbered, but he has the gods on this side. The only part of the storyline that I didn't like was where the goddess Athene has Odysseus' son Telemachus take a journey to see if he can find out news of his father. I believe Homer just used this as an excuse to give you an update on Nestor and Menelaus who seem to be the only other heroes that are still alive out of all the Achaeans who fought in the War at Troy. I did like the fact that the gods aren't quite as whiny in this story as compared to how they behave in the Iliad. Athene plays a very big role. Overall this story was very entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Finally Free to Love Homer in Print!
Review: Most of what needs to be said about the Fagles' translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey has been covered in the previous reviews. I would simply add that, despite years of loving the tales of Homer, I was never able to read his works clean through until Fagles returned the fluid poetry of oration to the works.
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