Category: Blog
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The Brothers Karamazov, by Dostoevsky
This is one of the “Great Books of the Western World” series I’ve never read before, so I’m trying to fill the gaps in my education! I skimmed through some chapters, but read most of it and feel I gained a good understanding. I also listened to a few “Great…
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The Odyssey, Book V – Odysseus in the Storm (lines 221-453)
Kalypso takes Odysseus to the edge of her island where there are birch, poplar, and fir trees, ample resources for building a “raft.” She also gives him tools, including a bronze two-headed axe with a handle of olive wood, and an adze. Powell says this passage (224-239) is difficult to…
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James, by Percival Everett
Wed. June 24, 2026 I have to admit, I was somewhat skeptical when a friend recommended I read this “reimagining” of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, as I suppose I distrust any revision of an original work I admire. But I did like The Return, after all,…
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The Return — movie review
(I’m rethinking the content of my website and it looks rather bare right now. I’ll continue with my reading blog of ancient literature, but will try to add other things. Today, I’m posting a movie review related to the Odyssey. Spellings of Greek names are from Barry Powell’s translation the…
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The Odyssey, Book V (lines 132-220)
– Odysseus leaves Kalypso Kalypso tells Hermes, “I will gladly give him [Odysseus] counsel, and I will conceal nothing [a play on her name, which means ‘concealer’] so that he might arrive unscathed at the land of his fathers (132-35). This seems directly counter to the decree of Zeus (see…
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The Odyssey, Book V (lines 1-130)
– Odysseus leaves Kalypso (I’m going into more detail here with some of Powell’s notes) The narrative returns to the council of the gods on Mt. Olympus, so the action in Book 5 takes place at the same time as Books 1-4, according to Powell. Shifting timelines and parallel narratives…
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The Odyssey, Book IV
Telemachos in Sparta Powell summarizes Books 3 & 4, in which Telemachos rebukes the suitors for their profligate ways. They are infuriated, but he takes supplies from the palace stores and escapes by night, sailing to Pylos. There he meets with Nestor, but he has no news about Odysseus, so…
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The Odyssey, Book I
Telemachos in Ithaca Continuing my review of ancient literature, I move now to the Odyssey. I’m reading a modern translation by Barry Powell of the “essential books,” which isn’t in verse, but is very clean and forceful, maintaining the rhythms of the Greek — so reviews say, I only know…
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The Iliad, Book XXIV-XXV
Tues. Oct.1 The ransom of Hector’s body, and the end of Achilles’ anger. The gods intervene again, as Zeus sends Thetis to instruct her son to receive Priam, and sends Iris to persuade Priam to go to Achilles and beg for the return of his son’s body. Achilles is the…
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The Iliad, Book XXIII
Fri. Sept. 27 The funeral games for Patroclus. The shade of Patroclus appears to Achilles in a dream and demands proper funeral rites – the same rites he denied to Hector. These rites and funeral games provide a glimpse into Homeric culture, as they reaffirm the bonds between warrior and…
