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An Odyssey: A Father, A Son and an Epic
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
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Summary
From the award-winning, best-selling writer: a deeply moving tale of a father and son's transformative journey in reading - and reliving - Homer's epic masterpiece.
When 81-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enrol in the undergraduate seminar on The Odyssey that his son Daniel teaches at Bard College, the two find themselves on an adventure as profoundly emotional as it is intellectual. For Jay, a retired research scientist who sees the world through a mathematician's unforgiving eyes, this return to the classroom is his 'one last chance' to learn about the great literature he'd neglected in his youth - and, even more, a final opportunity to understand his son.
But through the sometimes uncomfortable months that follow, as the two men explore Homer's great work together - first in the classroom, where Jay persistently challenges his son's interpretations, and then during a surprise-filled Mediterranean journey retracing Odysseus' legendary voyages - it becomes clear that Daniel has much to learn, too, for Jay's responses to both the text and the travels gradually uncover long-buried secrets that allow the son to understand his difficult father at last. As this intricately woven memoir builds to its wrenching climax, Mendelsohn's narrative comes to echo The Odyssey itself, with its timeless themes of deception and recognition, marriage and children, the pleasures of travel and the meaning of home.
Rich with literary and emotional insight, An Odyssey is a renowned author-scholar's most revelatory entwining yet of personal narrative and literary exploration.
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- Longshanks
- 10-12-18
Two journeys, one story...
Wonderful highlights of the Odyssey with insights to hidden meanings while weaving in a voyage of discovery between father and son and that of finding a peace. Brought tears and smiles. Really enjoyed this telling, thank you.
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- SJ
- 18-03-21
Intriguing insight into the story of the Odyssey
This is a beautifully written and read part memoir, part academic study of Homer’s epic.
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- A. Russell
- 11-09-18
A story well told
Excellent narrator for a fascinating story about father, son and Homers tale the Odessy. Recommended!
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- Mrs Curzon Tussaud
- 29-12-19
An Odyssey ...
This is up there in my top five Audible listens. It is a terrific autobiography, telling of the relationship between father and son while at the same time giving an overview of the Odyssey by recounting much of the seminar on it which the author gives, and which his father attended. Much of the autobiographical sections are delivered in flashback and also in the ring-like retelling which are a core technique in Homer’s account of Odysseus’ journey home.
This is a superb and accomplished book and most sympathetically narrated. Thank you, Audible.
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