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User Reviews about The Lost Books of the Odyssey: A Novel

In this remarkable book Zachary Mason 're-imagines' The Odyssey of Homer from a number of different viewpoints. Forty-four retellings of the greatest story ever told. It kept me spellbound for hours.

Tackling small chunks of the original story, Mason sometimes introduces a new twist, or changes the narrator, alters the books internal logic or remixes the original with fascinating results.

So you have a version in which Odysseus finds himself bored on Ithaka so sets off to retrace his steps, revisiting the scenes of his adventures.

In another, The Iliad is revealed to be an elaborate set of rules for playing chess.

Or the suggestion that Paris was, in fact, another name for Death and is was the Grim Reaper himself who stole Helen, leading Menelaus to declare war on Hades rather than Troy.

And one chapter is narrated by the cyclops Polyphemus, offering a slightly different take on the version of legend.

The Lost Books of the Odyssey is not, I would suggest, a book to sit down and read from start to finish. It isn't intended as a linear narrative - many of the chapters contradict themselves - and is, instead, a volume to dip into over a couple of weeks. Although, be warned, it is hard to leave it alone for very long.

This is a short work of epic imagination. It will, I am sure, prove a delight to anyone who has ever read and loved Homer's two epic poems, although those unfamiliar with them may well wonder what all the fuss is about. They are very much favourites of mine and it is high praise indeed when I say that I will be shelving this book alongside them.

I confidently predict that The Lost Books of the Odyssey will feature prominently in the book of the year round ups, but don't wait till then, treat yourself now. -- from the Me And My Big Mouth blog

One of the things that really makes THE LOST BOOKS OF THE ODYSSEY work is that everyone, at some point in their lives, has likely read Homer's epic of The Odyssey, the story of Odysseus and his beleaguered journey back to Ithaca after the Trojan War. But even if you aren't familiar with The Odyssey, the story itself is so widely known that readers are bound to find themselves in familiar territory when taking up Zachary Mason's brilliant debut novel.

THE LOST BOOKS OF THE ODYSSEY is no mere retelling of the old tale. Held between its covers is a collection of what amounts to 44 episodes, or rather 44 bardic tales set to anywhere from four to ten pages each, quick enough for one sitting and reminiscent of the oral style of the traditional passing down of such stories. One could argue, though, that it would have been better served written in poetic form a la Homer.

The magic of the book comes from its segmented story design. Over and over, readers see Odysseus return home to Ithaca. Sometimes his wife, Penelope, greets him; other times, she does not. This leaves one to wonder which is true. Perhaps neither, if one of the stories is to be believed, wherein it is said that The Odyssey and its troublesome journey for our hero is merely a story the wounded Cyclops told himself. One of the more intriguing stories is the telling of Death's kidnapping of Helen, where Mason beautifully describes the shores of Ilium as being nothing more than ground bone.

Mason does a masterful job of description throughout the novel, giving simple yet vibrant and vivid imagery that springs to life in your mind. He also tinkers just enough with points from the original myth --- twisting them into a slightly askew direction --- but one that still feels just right for the moment and that sometimes make you pause to wonder Is that how it always was?

THE LOST BOOKS OF THE ODYSSEY is a winner, a fun and magical work that hopefully will not go overlooked by readers. Those who love myth, and the epic adventure and daring within, will find Mason's first novel to be a perfect companion on a cold winter night. -- Not Merely a Retelling but a Fun and Magical Work

Taking Homer's Odyssey as his text, the author spins a series of delightful yarns about the characters and well-known events of the epic. Not a novel in the ordinary sense, this is a collection of short pieces illuminating different aspects of Odysseus, the Trojan War, the long road home, and what happens, or could have happened, or might have happened when he got there. Stories of a proud, hard, aggressive man--wily Odysseus as he was known--and what he could have or should have or might have experienced in different versions of the story.

As a one-time Greek and Latin major in college, I could appreciate dipping into a new and different Odyssey, a fanciful Odyssey, one that strays pretty far from the original and illumines some dark corners of human nature.

Author Zachary Mason writes in clear, flowing prose, developing an endless series of challenging scenes, allegories, and parables that float around the original Odyssey. I found the book enjoyable, but also disconnected--one episode having little relationship to the next. It took a little effort to stay engaged, but all in all it was worth reading to the end. I recommend it but not for everyone. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber. -- Allegories and Parables

A collection of alternative versions of Homer's "The Odyssey". Clever, innovative, beautifully written and interesting, particularly for lovers of the Classics.

Zachary Mason suggests that Homer's "Odyssey" was merely one particular ordering of the events of Odysseus' return to Ithaca after the Trojan War. "Echoes of other Odysseys", he suggests exist, including a 44-episode variation in a "pre-Ptolomeic papyrus excavated from the desiccated rubbish mounds of Oxyrhnchus" and this is what is "translated" here. So we are presented with these 44 often very short stories that reconstruct elements of the Odyssey in a kind of alternate reality, asking "what if it were slightly different", and what emerges is a non-linear, mosaic of stories. If Homer had decided to present his book in DVD format, these would be in the "extras" of alternative "takes" on things. The result is like a jazz riff on the original stories.

Even if you are not intimately acquainted with the original "Odyssey" of the worst commute home from work of all time, you will probably be familiar with some of the imagery and stories. There's Penelope waiting for her husband's return, the Cyclopes, the Sirens attracting sailors to their death on treacherous rocks. Well, they're all here but each tale is slightly altered or viewed from a different angle. I confess that my last encounter with the original was at school and a detailed knowledge of the "Odyssey" is not absolutely necessary to appreciate this book, although I suspect the more you know, the more you will appreciate this book. Certainly some passing familiarity with the story would be advantageous.

Mason effectively and cleverly writes in a very similar style to the Homeric epic. It's episodic, poetic, often beautifully written but with an added dry humour. In the very first chapter I was completely charmed by Odysseus' return home after his 20-year journey, noticing that a gate had been mended in his absence which struck me as particularly poignant. There are several such instances throughout the book. In the same chapter, he goes on to note that seeing Penelope "without the eyes of a homecoming, only an echo of her beauty remains".

We are presented with several conflicting versions of events - in one story Odysseus marries Helen rather than her sister Penelope, and in several he returns home to find different scenarios. In one story, Homer himself makes an appearance.

I would not have been at all surprised to find that Mason was a Classical scholar, but remarkably he is a computer scientist and this his is his first book.

However, for all its qualities, I found the short length of most of the pieces ultimately a little frustrating. I can understand the desire to replicate the episodic style of Homer, but it means that it lacks much to `get your teeth into' and I began to weary of the clever riffs. And the use of footnotes is peculiar. There are not that many of them, but it seemed to me that it needed either more to illustrate the variations from the original story, or less to stand alone as a work that didn't need explanation. The result is neither one thing nor the other.

If you have enjoyed this book, then I'd highly recommend David Malouf's Ransom: A Novel which re-visits "The Iliad" too. The other book it put me in mind of is John Banville's The Infinities (Borzoi Books). -- Clever riffs on the worst journey home from work of all time

Don't worry if you've never read the Odyssey. I haven't. This book stands on its own as an original work of literature. I absolutely loved this book. It took me completely by surprise. Mason exhibits a polished ability to pull together in few pages stories that wrench the heart or fill it full to bursting. These stories stayed with me for days. Get your hands on this book, read and read it again. -- Find yourself in the "Lost Books"