Customer Reviews

No-Man's Lands: One Man's Odyssey Through The Odyssey

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At age 44, having finally read James Joyce's Ulysses (which he had vowed never to do), Scott Huler immerses himself in Homer's epic tale, The Odyssey, and embarks on an adventurous six-month pilgrimage to retrace Odysseus's return from the Trojan war to Penelope and Telemachus, his wife and son, in Ithaca.

When Polyphemus the Cyclops demands to know Odysseus' identity, Odysseus replies, "My name is No-man." Later, when the Cyclops cries out, "No-man is killing me!" his fellow Cyclopes think he is not in any trouble. Hence the book's title, and Huler's determination to boldly go where No-man has gone before.

Along the way, we encounter the Lotus-eaters, the Cyclopes, the Laestrygonians, the witch Circe, the kingdom of the dead, the island of the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, the cattle of the sun, and enjoy many other episodes.

Whether The Odyssey is historical/geographical or a mythological tale imagined by a poet ("The poets always lie," said Plato), cannot be ascertained. However, Huler quotes many ancient Greek and Roman writers--Thucydides, Strabo, Herodotus, Ovid, Pausanias, Polybius--who provide a plausible itinerary for Odysseus's travels.

Reading Huler's travelogue/memoir is a sheer delight! Filled with self-deprecating humor, No-Man's Lands provides numerous chuckles and laughs. The book is more than slapstick humor, however. The author's critical analyses reveal an impressive knowledge of Homeric questions, and his sensitive judgments takes the answers he learns and sagely applies to our own lives and world.

Back in 2001 author and radio commentator Scott Huler swore that he would never read James Joyce's "Ulysses" after a number of failed efforts to do so. Inevitably, soon afterwards Huler found himself a member of a reading group focused on reading "Ulysses". And Huler found himself thinking more and more about Homer's "Odyssey", the fountain from which "Ulysses" sprang. He determined to re-read "The Odyssey", but then found to his chagrin that he could not "re-read" it because he had never actually read it in the first place, beyond a junior high school exposure to the book which -- like most such high school exposures to the great classics -- was much more an exercise in escaping reading "The Odyssey". So, as a mature adult Huler began genuinely reading the epic poem and became entranced by it, to the point that he decided to undertake a journey to follow Odysseus's path across the Mediterranean and seek to better understand the places experienced and the lessons learned by the ancient Greek hero, "the man of twists and turns." These are lessons applicable to everyday life, it would seem -- not that Huler ever adopts a didactic (or even overtly "inspiring") tone. Rather, "No-Man's Lands" is pleasantly rambling.

"No-man's Lands" is Huler's tale of his journey, as much of a journey through his heart and mind as through the Mediterranean. It is good-natured and thoughtful. And along the way, the reader learns with Huler much about the real soul of "The Odyssey".

A very interesting book. Scott Huler does a very good job of blending an ancient tale of travel and adventure with his own personal wanderings around Southern Europe. Scott's obsession with "The Odyssey" becomes the reader's obsession too. - Ray Charlton

As Huler admitted, I gave only a cursory read to "The Odyssey" back in grade school. Since then, I've heard that it is the genesis of all story prototypes, heard that it is a critical piece of oral and written literary traditions, and even repeated these mantras as if they were my own realizations. Upon reading Huler's fine book, though, I finally see what professors, lit-snobs, and well-bred readers actually mean with those comments. Huler quite ingeniously presented The Odyssey through lessons, asides, and the narration of his own trip, in a way that penetrates the language (er, poetry) barrier and shows me what all the buzz is about. He also entertains on nearly every page, weaving his story very well around the original Odyssey, making me laugh and cringe and read passages out loud to hear echoes of my own inner monologue in his words. I'd be glad to heist a brew with Huler; I feel more confident now in discussing the Odyssey; most importantly, I feel my money and time were very, very well spent on his book. Perhaps next he could take a road trip tracing Sherman's March to the Sea...

I'm sorta like the author at the beginning of this book in that I haven't read the Odyssey but feel like I have because I've been exposed to so many elements of the story from other sources. Hence, I enjoyed the author taking us through the book and explaining the underlying meaning of Odysseus' adventures (though I'm unsure I agree with his interpretation. I also found the discussion on what places might best represent the places Odysseus' visited. The author's travelogue of his visits to those places was reasonably interesting though I thought his efforts to periodically tie his rather pedestrian adventures to those of Odysseus were often strained (though I think the author was aware of this). The ending drags (as with the Odyssey itself), when the author returns home and start expounding on the birth of his first child and the meaning of life and how it all relates. This meandering sentimentality kind of spoils the finish, but otherwise this is a interesting and worthwhile read.

This is an unusual interesting book combining a synopsis of Homer"s Odyssey with a travelogue describing the current state and feel of the most likely locations. It offers insights into the mindset of the habitual voyager, and masks serious scholarly research under an unassuming self effacing narration. I just got back from Greece yesterday and this book was a constant companion and a joy.I had visited Troy 2 years ago and the author articulates some of my own thoughts and feelings only better! I recommend it highly.
Ajay Parghi

Exceptional. Read this with one eye on Homer's version and the other on Huler's. An epic journey all comes together.

This is probably one of the best books I've read in a while. As a teacher of Mythology, I happened upon this book when I was searching for supplements for my Odyssey unit. While I didn't find much that high-schoolers would enjoy in this book, I found much that I enjoyed. Huler does an excellent job of picking apart Odysseus' journey, analyzing, and comparing it to his own life. By the end of the book I had been entertained, enlightened, and, honestly, even a little moved. Not bad for under 300 pages. Check it out. It's definitely worth it!

I love travel books that throw in lots of history and this book does that and more. Just plain fun to read, especially if you have any background in reading The Odyssey.

The author's quest to retrace the path of Odysseus (a.k.a. Ulyssses) through the Mediterranean, with back pack in hand and without tour group or pre-booked accommodations, truly captures to essence of the traveler versus the tourist. Like Odysseus (a.k.a. Ulysses), the traveler is carried along by events as they unfold, never knowing exactly lies around the next corner or next headland, following his or her nose vice tour group guide with pennant. For a similarly addicted traveler, this narrative lays bare, often painfully humorously, the emotions and motivations of one driven always to see "just a little more," to do it on my own like the "locals," or to assuage that fear that one might not make it back again this way, so see it all now. But moreover, Scott Huler reminds us that we travel, ultimately, to learn about other people and ourselves by constantly comparing what we see "out there" to how we live our own day-to-day life. I stumbled upon this book by chance, like life, in a pile of used books. I could not have been more thrilled; buying copies for all my friends.