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Best book you've read this year?

I guess for me it was the Odyssey by Homer
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DrWatson · 70-79, M
Persuasion, by Jane Austen.

I've read two different translations of the Odyssey, but for some reason I have not been able to get as excited about it as I am with the Iliad and the Aeneid.
Bella112 · 36-40, F
@DrWatson Maybe the Iliad and the Aeneid touch more the ones who have a better taste for warfare narratives.
DrWatson · 70-79, M
@Bella112 Maybe, but in my case that's not the reason. I don't naturally gravitate to war stories or movies.

I loved the interplay among the gods, and between the gods and mortals, in the Iliad and Aeneid. And I loved all the foreshadowing and fulfillment of prophecy in the Aeneid, as well as Virgil's extended metaphors.

I've also managed to work through parts of the Aeneid in Latin, so that adds to the enjoyment of it.

But I have also found that for me, books have their seasons. I might start a given book at different times in my life and put it down because it does not hold my interest. Then, one day, I pick it up again, and I'm hooked on it!

Maybe my Odyssey season is still ahead of me!
Bella112 · 36-40, F
@DrWatson Oh, I see. Yes, these books are so vast and they can speak to people in so many different ways. In the Iliad, I loved the all too human flaws and beauty of the heroes: Achilles suffering the loss of his best friend, Achilles raging through the battlefield, Hector inside the Trojan walls with his family …
As for the Odyssey, I marveled at the narrative construction, how the story is told in a complex order, how fate is foreseen in the small details, the intensity of the characters, the language, even the little formulaic parts like “When young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more” gave me the thrills.
DrWatson · 70-79, M
@Bella112 What you just said only reinforces my notion that a good time with the Odyssey still awaits me! (I think I ought to read some literary analysis of it first, to help guide my path the next time.)

Oh, one other thing about Virgil: his description of how the Trojans were dancing with joy as they brought the horse into the city is just....heartbreaking.