Homer / The Odyssey [Unabridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Homer (Author), Ian McKellen (Reader), Robert Fagles (Translator), Bernard Knox (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1996

By its evocation of a real or imaged heroic age, its contrasts of character and its variety of adventure, above all by its sheer narrative power, the Odyssey has won and preserved its place among the greatest tales in the world. It tells of Odysseus' adventurous wanderings as he returns from the long war at Troy to his home in the Greek island of Ithaca, where his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus have been waiting for him for twenty years. He meets a one-eyed giant, Polyphemus the Cyclops; he visits the underworld; he faces the terrible monsters Scylla and Charybdis; he extricates himself from the charms of Circe and Calypso. After these and numerous other legendary encounters he finally reaches home, where, disguised as a beggar, he begins to plan revenge on the suitors who have for years been besieging Penelope and feasting on his own meat and wine with insolent impunity.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

There is no better way to encounter an epic that derives from an oral tradition than to hear it narrated by a fine Shakespearean actor. This requires a great translation, and this shining new verse translation by Robert Fagles?who also translated The Iliad (Audio Reviews, LJ 7/92)?has been rightly hailed as a masterpiece. It captures, in swift rhythms and flawless utterance, the tone, the temper, the very life of Homer's antic world without once sounding antiquated. The tale of Odysseus's long-awaited return from the Trojan Wars is majestically realized by Ian McKellan (seen most recently on film in Cold Comfort Farm and Richard III). Resisting every temptation to ham Homer's bardic lines, the sonorous-voiced McKellan hits home with truthful simplicity throughout, as if he were spinning out a heartfelt story during a long night in a pub. A fine introduction by Bernard Knox is included, but Penguin has reached new heights in bad presentation values, insuring instant destruction of the plastic containers within, while the music sounds like a petrified chicken on an infant's keyboard. But the words, like Homer's gods, are deathless. What more can a listener ask for? Highly recommended for all collections.?Peter Josyph, New York
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile

That "man of twists and turns," the great Odysseus, is a fitting hero for modern contemplation. He is a powerful warrior, an adventurer, a man of honor and tenderness. He is a survivor. He is also a victim of fate, a trickster and a ruthless avenger. In Robert Fagles's masterful translation we have a fresh look at this old story. Fagles chose to preserve the iambic pentameter form which, as Ian McKellen presents it, is never singsong but always singing. The story dances quietly along, pulling the listener toward the inevitable cadence that concludes each book. It's a deeply satisfying experience to listen to McKellen's subtle, resonant voice weave the story. Cherish the images as the web of this great tale is woven before the eyes of the mind. L.R.S. Winner of AUDIOFILE's Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks; Unabridged edition (November 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014086430X
• ISBN-13: 978-0140864304
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.7 x 4.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,105,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Books on Cassette > Authors, A-Z > ( H ) > Homer
  • #17 in Books > Books on Cassette > Literature & Fiction > Poetry, Drama & Short Stories
  • #50 in Books > Books on Cassette > Literature & Fiction > Literary Classics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Muses sing!, September 27, 2004

By 

Molly M (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Homer / The Odyssey (Audio Cassette)

Homer's Odyssey was not written to be read on a page. In fact, it was not written on a page at all over much of its career. The Odyssey was designed for telling aloud. It sings. It rolls and rollicks along, or it burbles quietly, perhaps even seductively. Reader Ian McKellen and translator Robert Fagles understand all this very well, so well that you almost think the story is telling itself.

I've listened to this unabridged reading of Fagles' translation at least a dozen times, and I hope to hear it a hundred more. Though the reading takes many cassetes, there are stories and stories here, and though they flow from one to another, the tales are self-contained enough to listen to one by one. There is a chord or two of music between major sections, a stringed instrument fanfare to convince you that you've slipped back into the Bronze Age.

The accompanying booklet is useful and interesting, and I found the fold-up packaging to be secure and convenient.

I also own the Fagles Iliad, read by Derek Jacobi, and think it a wonderful example of Derek Jacobi reading Derek Jacobi --I could never get beyond half a tape. This version is also abridged (according to reviews, the audio publishers judged the world's best-known war story, or perhaps anti-war story, too violent for modern tastes and cut the worst, or best, of the gore.)

Jacobi also reads an abridged Odyssey and if you are debating which to buy, do try to listen to both the McKellen and the abridged version.

A copy of the Fagles translation might be a useful accompaniment, though it's hard to imagine that a buyer of the audio version wouldn't already have it.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic brought to life through translation and performance!, May 20, 2002

By 

Chess Heart "paxbear" (Canton, OH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Homer / The Odyssey (Audio Cassette)

Many of us (perhaps TOO many of us) were required to read at least ONE of the Great Works of Ancient Western Literature, like the Odyssey, the Iliad or (if we were lucky, the shortest one of the lot) Beowulf. Most of us hated the work because it was really, REALLY long and really, REALLY complicated. I mean, how many people still read and write in hectambic octameter, or whatever the heck it is...?? Most of us have enough difficulty sloughing through the works of Shakespeare and his sonnets. So, I think it's fair to say that most of us have been at least EXPOSED to Homer, though we've likely not gotten much out of it.

It took a few centuries, but there is finally a translation that brings the story more up-to-date for modern audiences. The translator, Mr. Fagles, has done away with the rhyming scheme of the original and instead put the text into a more readable format of sentences and paragraphs. This move alone has made the story more readable than any other translation I've attempted (and it should be noted, even at 13 hours on audio, this is the first translation of Homer I've been able to understand and, more importantly, *finish*). Expressions of gratitude also go out to him for reducing the amount of "thus"es and "heretofore"s and other elements of ancient speech that are commonly found in Greek translations. While I did notice that he sometimes used very modern words like "potluck", it is this very modernization that allowed me to more fully get into the text and comprehend it.

I therefore disagree with a friend of mine, a Classics professor, who says that Fagles is "dumbing down" Homer's work by making it more readable ("Homer is NOT Stephen King! It's a story that's over 2,800 years old!! Of COURSE it's going to be difficult to read!", he grumped). As a writer, storyteller and teacher of English writing and reading, my feelings are that if you have lost your audience, then you might as well be writing to the rocks and trees-the purpose of a story is to be told and UNDERSTOOD; if the audience doesn't understand you, then what have you got? Nothing! So, while I concede that Mr. Fagles might have taken some liberties with the translation and style by making it narrative text vs. poetic -meter, I believe it has only served to enhance the story so much more.

Much of the Odyssey, of course, are stories and retellings of the great deeds of the hero, Odysseus, who set forth from his native land of Ithaca to do the sorts of things that heroes do, mostly conquer armies. Odysseus of course becomes shipwrecked and endures a number of different adventures, including the Island of the Lotus-Eaters, Polyphemus the one-eyed Cyclops, and the destructive singing of the Sirens. Meanwhile, at home his wife, Penelope, awaits his return while suitors take over the kingdom and try to win her affections, devouring the goods of the realm in the process.

For a modern audience with all the convenient of CD-ROM's, the Internet, cable TV and whatnot, the repetitive nature of The Odyssey might grow a bit dull and tiresome if one were to read the whole thing in print, but thanks to the stellar voice talents of Ian McKellen, I breezed through the 12 cassettes in an astoundingly short time, so drawn in was I by his voice. His soothing tones, rising and falling with the action, pausing here, growing louder there as some battle is raged, is so perfectly matched to the text that you can easily picture him sitting there in some ancient stone hall telling the story as if it were his own and Odysseus his best friend. I was not bored for an instant with him as my narrator and guide through this ancient story, and I can't recommend this audio version highly enough.

In closing, the tapes are packaged with a short but informative and densely written book by Mr. Bernard Knox. Admittedly, I didn't use or refer to this book often, being more interested in just the story itself than all of the infinite details.

An astounding feat of translation, performance and research!! Highly, HIGHLY recommended!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting new look at an old friend., May 8, 2000

By 

MLPlayfair (Ravenna, OH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Homer / The Odyssey (Audio Cassette)

You know the story, but you have NEVER heard it like this before! Ian McKellen brings The Odyssey to life with his extraordinary gift. Fagles' translation is superior to any other I've found. Together they have breathed so much life and beauty into this ancient story that there were some passages I listened to again and again. What a lovely, lovely experience.