Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Odyssey by Homer

22 reviews

therealslimkatie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Death, Cursing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Torture, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and War

Moderate: Cannibalism

Minor: Incest

bookishly_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A

4.5

At over 500 pages, Emily Wilson’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey is a hefty read. It is also immensely engaging and readable, with straightforward prose that definitely captures the sense of a world very different from our own. The only reason this wasn’t a five-star rating is because I’ve heard from people with more familiarity with Ancient Greek that it isn’t the most literal translation, which poses a few issues, but as an act of interpretative literary translation I think it’s incredible. Wilson makes some excellent translational choices that are well outlined in the Introduction and Translator’s Note, which I believe nobody should skip. Honestly fabulous, a much enjoyed reread.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, War, Death, Violence, Murder, Gore, and Blood

kariwoods's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Can be challenging, it's kind of dry in places. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Suicide

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Alcohol, Gore, Murder, Violence, Death, Grief, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Rape, War, and Classism

matomies's review against another edition

adventurous challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore

xandra_lyn's review against another edition

adventurous informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is the best translation of the Odyssey I've ever read (I've read 3). I really respect Emily Wilson's translation decisions. It made the boring parts of the Odyssey interesting and fast paced 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Gore, and Slavery

Minor: Rape

Rape: it's mentioned the slave girls were raped, but doesn't go into details

xandra_lyn's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

The Odyssey has never been my favorite (I prefer the Iliad). Perhaps it was the translation, but if really felt as if it was one giant propaganda poem to show how great Odysseus is. (Which is probably true - historically it looked back to a time just before the Mycenaean civilization fell)

But the translation is very readable, which is why I bought it in the first place.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood and Gore

conspystery's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 “Tell me about a complicated man.” 

Understatement of the century (centuries?), and goodness gracious, is it a great one. I don’t know what I can say about this translation that hasn’t been better said elsewhere, so I’ll stick with this: Wilson’s writing is incredible, and I think the feeling it evokes while reading it is probably similar to that of the experience of hearing The Odyssey performed, as it would have been in its original language, hundreds of years ago. The meter is especially impressive. Overall, though, my favorite aspect of this translation is how it maintains its complexity while still being completely accessible to the average reader. I got this from the library, but the first line was enough to convince me to buy my own copy. It’s genuinely exceptional. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Animal death, Death of parent, Violence, Misogyny, Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: War, Rape, and Sexual assault

I mean, it's The Odyssey. It gets pretty rough at points.

mxpringle's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I found this interesting to analyze because of the ways that rhetoric is used to have a more powerful analysis of what it means to share stories through poetry. I appreciated having read this because it's a classic that is referenced so often in other works. However, it is relatively boring and dense for the things that happen within the poem, and the characters are incredibly unlikeable. If you're interested in Greek mythology for the plot, this may not be what you're interested in, but it can be more enjoyable in more of an academic setting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Animal death, Classism, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

mmefish's review

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The translation by Emily Wilson is very accessible. The usage of modern language ("bully, random, hobo") makes some parts sound incredibly funny.

As for the story itself, Odysseus is such a dick tbh.

"Dear friends! We are
experienced in danger. This is not
worse than the time the Cyclops captured us,
and forced us to remain inside his cave.
We got away that time, thanks to my skill
and brains and strategy. Remember that."

And slave girls deserved better!!! Who cares that they were sleeping around while he was away??? They're SLAVES and it's been TWENTY YEARS. smh get over yourself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Animal death, and Gore

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Rape