In his brilliant rendering of eight books of Homer's Iliad, Logue here retells some of the most evocative episodes of the war classic, including the death of Patroclus and Achilles's fateful return to battle, that sealed the doom of Troy. Compulsively readable, Logue's poetry flies off the page, and his compelling descriptions of the horrors of war have a surreal, dreamlike quality that has been compared to the films of Kurosawa. Retaining the great poem's story line but rewriting every incident, Logue brings the Trojan War to life for modern audiences.
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Amazon.com Review
George Steiner, praising Christopher Logue's brilliant reconstruction of Homer's work, writes that this book has the "mystery of a creative echo," that it is a "translation of genius." Some combination of a translation, an adaptation, and a new poem inspired from an old wellspring, War Music is violent, beautiful, hypnotic, and terrifying. This is Homer for the era of Stephen King and Quentin Tarentino.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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In his brilliant rendering of eight books of Homer's Iliad, Logue here retells some of the most evocative episodes of the war classic, including the death of Patroclus and Achilles's fateful return to battle, that sealed the doom of Troy. Compulsively readable, Logue's poetry flies off the page, and his compelling descriptions of the horrors of war have a surreal, dreamlike quality that has been compared to the films of Kurosawa. Retaining the great poem's story line but rewriting every incident, Logue brings the Trojan War to life for modern audiences.
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54 of 54 people found the following review helpful
By Wilbourg
Format:Paperback
This is a flat-out triumph. Logue fills his take on Homer with dazzling imagery and stunning word-music. The Iliad falls right into our laps because Logue has given it a mighty shove. Only Professor Fagles' recent translation of the poem betters it and that is because Dr. Fagles has actually rendered the WHOLE poem in crisp, biting English that for the first time actually walks Homer up to our faces. In Fagles we can smell the breath of the blind poet, Logue brings us to the sweaty armpits.
As a styling, however, "War Music" has no peer and if Dr. Fagles has a slight edge it is because he has, after all, wrestled with the Greek text and got us into Homer's world all the way. Logue brings into the world but chooses to give us a whirlwind tour while Fagles allows us to slum awhile.
Still as much as I adore Dr. Fagles now celebrated translation, I am haunted. Logue's great re-imagining has left me shaken. The worship scenes are boffo and the Pax chapter that ends this fine "War Music" contains some of the sharpest, most moving, most eloquent, most rugged, and most manly, epic English verse since Marlowe's majestic "Tamburlaine" made kings into footstools.
And finally, there is this: As a work of English poetry, leaving Homer on the rocks for just a moment, "War Music" stands as one of the great collections of modern verse in the 20th Century.
"War Music" turns staid old men like me into groupies.
Bravo!
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Christopher Logue has a lot of guts. He's gotten into the ring with the likes of Fagles, Lattimore, Fitzgerald, Pope, and most courageously, Homer himself - and acquitted himself well. Mr. Logue has pulled "The Iliad," into the 21st Century with less a translation than a re-write. It appears there are numerous volumes containing sections of Mr. Logue's work, and it's a little hard to keep track, but two editions offered on Amazon.com's website, "War Music," and the wondrously titled, "All Day Permanent Red," seem to contain it all.
Mr. Logue writes in a robust verse form that retains the epic language while exploring possibilities for a cinematic look on scenes and situations, as well as opening the field to modern metaphor. Unlike Barry Unsworth's interpolations in "The Songs of the Kings," Mr. Logue's don't jar, but rather deepen. A sample line, "Ajax, grim underneath his tan as Rommel after `Alamein..." lifts the story from some mythical past to something that is played out continually. A great device considering "The Iliad" is arguably the blue-print for every war story ever written.
When "War Music," opens outside the actual text of "The Iliad," and introduces us to Achilles - angry, petulant, bent on revenge, summoning his mother and laying grief for Agamemnon - Mr. Logue provides character depth missing from the original, and immediately lays out his plan to re-write and enrich rather than re-tell. His plan unfolds magnificently through both books.
I think "War Music" would work for readers with no pre-knowledge of the source, and I know it worked beautifully for me, and I've been through at least three previous translations.
Five Stars!
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What stands out is the utter beauty of Mr. Logue's language. He creates images that resonate within the reader long after the book has been put down. Far from being an empty exercise in post-modern hipness, "War Music" is a new classic that manages to bring Homer to life again for the contemporary reader. It can proudly take its place on the bookshelf right next to the Fitzgerald or Fagles translation of Homer's "Iliad." Indeed, my only regret is that Mr. Logue has not seen fit to reinterpret the remainder of the "Iliad" for those of us who fell in love with his fierce, but lovely "War Music." Hint-hint.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Moments of posturing and murder before the fall of Troy
A exquistely written and consistently gripping new version of parts of the Iliad, starting from Achilles' quarrel with Agamemmon and ending with Achilles arming for battle against... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Aidan J. McQuade
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fighting words
I have looked for a dramatic adaptation of the Iliad for years. This is Logue, not Homer. But we don't really have Homer unless we speak, and think, Ancient Greek. Read more
Published on December 9, 2009 by Dikran Utidjian
5.0 out of 5 stars
A vibrant dream
Nothing is easy. Nothing is free. Pain is the price of gain. You know the story -
Logue breathes startling and vivid life into this translation. Read more
Logue breathes startling and vivid life into this translation. Read more
Published on September 25, 2009 by Steven R. Valliere
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Trojan War Updated.
Christopher Logue's reinterpretation of Homer's Iliad is not only a masterful historic achievment; it is fine poetry in its own right. Read more
Published on November 10, 2006 by Mungo MacCallum
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Iliad since Homer
In creating his own account of Homer's Iliad, Logue has in fact succeeded in creating very much his own poem. Read more
Published on March 23, 2006 by M. Heintz
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best poetry.
This is just about the best, most beautiful, most powerful poetry I've ever read. I'd also suggest this book for reading and discussion groups, as it has so much to talk about in... Read more
Published on September 2, 2005 by ibuyer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mind-blowing!
Every good thing you've read about this book and Christopher Logue's work is true.
The bronze age struggle comes through clearly despite the 'modern' references and word... Read more
The bronze age struggle comes through clearly despite the 'modern' references and word... Read more
Published on June 22, 2004 by Jessica Walden
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read aloud with friends
We gathered some friends together, some experienced actors, some not, and read Kings and War Music aloud. Voices create moments of transcendent beauty and horror. Read more
Published on May 7, 2004 by Michael O'Brien
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than Homer?
I've only recently become aware of Christopher Logue's retelling of Homer's Iliad. Logue's been working on his translation for decades, though. Read more
Published on July 18, 2003 by Joe Kenney
3.0 out of 5 stars
Inspired by the Iliad
Some of the language in War Music is exceptional--Her breasts so lovely that they envy one another-- And he quit being-- His soul crawled off his tongue and vanished into... Read more
Published on March 29, 2000 by Joseph Winkler
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