These sentences - well made, revealing and funny - are typical of Mendelsohn’s book. At its core, it is a funny, loving portrait of a difficult but loving parent: a 'much-turning man.' Read Full Review > An Odyssey is a thoughtful book from which non-classicists will learn a great deal about Homer. An Odyssey is a stellar contribution to the genre – literary analysis and the personal stories are woven together in a way that feels both artful and natural. Memoirs about reading are an interesting hybrid, located somewhere between criticism and personal recollection. It gives a vivid picture of Mendelsohn’s anger, anxieties and embarrassments about his father – a man wary of hugs, reluctant to praise and stubbornly set in his ways. The book also explores how stories and shared memories help people to form deep connections with one another across time. Most powerfully, Mendelsohn contrasts his account of Homer with his father’s more critical response. The book shows us how his desire to become a classicist was shaped in part by the desire to please his difficult father (who regretted abandoning his high school study of Latin), and how he shares some of his father’s need to be always right.
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