Reviewed by: The Goose

How often does Oral History make it on to a Top-Ten Book list? Under normal circumstances probably not very often. Then again, nothing can be called ‘normal’ about Homer’s Odyssey.

It is ARCHETYPAL.

That means it is the first of its type. Just about everything that was written after it copies themes, devices, constructs, et cetera from Homer. By way of example nothing really new has been published in Fantasy since Tolkein published his Lord of the Rings and even that is based primarily on the Arthurian Cycle. Similarly, the construction of fiction whether it is Epic or Novel relies heavily on Homer.

The Odyssey is a written collection of oral stories about a man, Odysseus. Now, Classicists will argue about the authenticity of The Odyssey compared toThe Iliad because it lacks a continuous ‘High Style’.

Bully for them I say! Of course the style is not continuous. It is a collection of stories, not a single story like Iliad. The style is that of those who related the stories, the average Greek Joe. So the stories will sound slightly different in tone from each other depending on who the storyteller was.

“So why, Goose, is this original?” you might ask. Well, in Europe at least, this had never been done. You must remember that The Odyssey was written at least 2900 years ago. It was doing things that wouldn’t be done again for a long, long time. That alone makes it original.

I was about to give you a semi-detailed outline of the plot, but decided against it. These reviews are meant to tease you all into reading and discovering the book for yourselves. Now if I told you all about it, what fun would you have reading it?

Let’s just say that Odyssey has EVERYTHING. Wrath of Gods, War, Revenge, Lost Love, Young Lust, Intrigue, Homecoming and in the end somebody gets WHACKED.

**I think that when BM was describing what it takes to get on the Top Ten List he had The Odyssey in mind.**

Keep in mind that there are myriad translations of The Odyssey out there. Not just any will do it justice. For those who are intrepid enough, find a strict translation of the original work. The language will be a little sticky at first but is more full of meaning than ‘looser’ translations. A few years ago BM gave me a priceless gift. It is a translation done by T.E. Shaw. The name’s not familiar? I’m not surprised, he is better known as T.E. Lawrence, or “Lawrence of Arabia.” It is an excellent translation and a good read. It is a ’strict’ translation in all ways but one: it is a prose translation. Rather than sticking dogmatically to the iambic hexameter, Lawrence let it flow out in paragraph form. The ironic part is that the beat, the cadence, is still there but it reads a little smoother. If you find a reprint of this translation I highly recommend it. Don’t think of finding an original, it was printed in the Thirties and is now rare. Only BM knows how expensive it is. Fitzgerald has a respectable translation and is the one you are most likely to find at your average bookstore.

Hardcover – 327 pages Oxford Univ Press; ISBN: 0195068181; Dimensions (in inches): 1.24 x 9.51 x 6.44

Reviewed by: The Blind Monkey

On a quiet Christmas Eve, I was compelled to find treasure in my Grandfather’s book collection. Twinkling out from rows and rows of carefully preserved spines, I made a sparkling discovery… James Hilton’s Lost Horizon.

Now many of you are probably much smarter than the Monkey. You probably already knew about this timeless classic. But I’m sad to admit, I did not. In fact, when I began the first pages, I didn’t even know what the book was about. But as I continued, I knew that I had read it before. No doubt, at a much younger age when I couldn’t appreciate it or recognize its beauty.

In case you don’t know.. or if you, like me, have forgotten, let me reintroduce you to this remarkable story. Published in 1933, Lost Horizon introduced the world to the Tibetan utopia known as Shangri-La. It is the story of three men and one woman who are kidnapped and taken to a remote and secluded lamasery in the Himalayas. There, these travellers undergo a physical, mental, and spiritual transformation.

This story has an amazing timelessness, and could as easily have been written today as it was back in the early 1930’s. The simplest way to put it is that it rings of ‘truth’. The spiritual and intellectual journey of these characters is one that most dream of achieving. A means to shedding the pressures and torment of everyday life to discover a greater understanding of the individual and the world at large.

I highly recommend it to any monkey looking for entertainment and introspection.

Mass Market Paperback – 231 pages Reissue edition (October 1991) Pocket Books; ISBN: 0671664271; Dimensions (in inches): 0.65 x 6.73 x 4.17