An interview with zachary mason by ted scheinman march 4th, 2010 october th, 2020 share this. Feb 05, 2010 the unlikely authorship is one of several unusual details about the lost books of the odyssey, a fragmented, nonlinear collage of narratives and riddles, presented as a recently translated tome. I found the lost books of the odyssey entertaining and thought provoking. A look at great reads from the editor of the times literary supplement. Feb 01, 2010 the lost books of the odyssey is punctuated with great wit, beauty, and playfulness. Subtitled a novel, the book is better treated as a series of explorations into the hidden substrata of homers original iliad and odyssey. Zachary mason is a computer scientist and the new york times bestselling author of the lost books of the odyssey and void star. About the author zachary mason is a computer scientist specializing in artificial intelligence. The lost books of the odyssey is, to my surprise, a wonderful book. Welcome one and all to a one of a kind live game event benefiting the autism society of ame. Winner of the 2007 starcherone fiction prize, the lost books of the odyssey is at once a mindbending literary fractal system and an. Yet in the lost books of the odyssey, zachary mason has achieved something remarkable. The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason audiobook.
The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason fiction. As the author points out in his preface, the iliad and the odyssey were born of an oral bardic tradition in which poets recounted competing versions of the same ancient events. The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason about the book bringing an ingenious new approach to the ancient tale of odysseus, debut novelist zachary mason has crafted a mesmerizing work withthe lost books of the odyssey. The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason book club. A brilliant and beguiling reimagining of one of our greatest myths by a gifted young writer.
Feb 01, 2010 zachary masons brilliant and beguiling debut novel, the lost books of the odyssey, reimagines homers classic story of the hero odysseus and his long journey home after the fall of troy. The lost books of the odyssey reading group guides. Books similar to the lost books of the odyssey the lost books of the odyssey. The lost books of the odyssey book king county library. Like many educated romans he had an exaggerated respect for greek learning, and, with the all the resources of empire at his disposal, was able to compile the most complete collection of classical greek texts then in existence. Book summary a reimagining of the classic story of odysseus and his long journey home after the fall of troy creates alternative episodes, fragment interpretations and revisions of homers original. With luke gygax, xander jeanneret, matthew lillard, satine phoenix. Nov 15, 2019 directed by holly pearson, douglisio rudolpho dimuccio, rob d miller. Any list of the ancient greek works that have firmly influenced modern culture would be entirely incomplete without homers odyssey. Sometimes these are counterfactuals, sometimes these are sketches of other details, and yet others. It is a reimagination of homers odyssey mason, who wrote the book while working fulltime, won first prize and initial publication in a 2007 competition sponsored by starcherone books, an independent publisher in buffalo, new york. But what of us, we readers, who wake up in the mortal world asking what the book was meant to tell us.
Zachary masons brilliant and beguiling debut novel, the lost books of the odyssey, reimagines homers classic story of the hero odysseus and his long journey home after the fall of troy. The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason 2011, trade. Zachary mason suggests that homers odyssey was merely one particular ordering of the events of odysseus return to ithaca after the trojan war. More a series of thematically connected stories than a true novel, the lost books of the odyssey purports to be fragmentary sections of the story of odysseus that. The lost books of the odyssey allows us to recognize how surely that questing odysseus has gotten his wish. Weaving together precisely drawn vignettes, fragments, and. About the author zachary mason is a computer scientist and the new york times bestselling author of the lost books of the odyssey and void star. Choose from contactless same day delivery, drive up and. With brilliant prose, terrific imagination, and dazzling literary skill, mason creates alternative episodes, fragments, and revisions of homers original that taken together open up this classic greek myth to endless reverberating interpretations. The premise, delightfully conceived, is that a number of alternative accounts of the trojan war and odysseus illfated journey home circulated in the ancient world, and that these tales were denigrated in favor of the official accounts that have been handed down to us in the iliad and the odyssey. Why might the author have included a passage devoted to alexander, and a medieval chapter record of a game. But it is intelligent, absorbing, wonderfully written, and perhaps the most revelatory and brilliant prose encounter with homer since james joyce. In the game, you must take control of a ship docked at the harbor to escape through a magical portal or the story will reset and start over. From the far corners of the dnd multiverse, the streamers unite.
Discuss the many versions of telemachus presented in the lost books of the odyssey. The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason 2011. Feb 14, 2010 the lost books of the odyssey calls itself a novel, but masons approach is decidedly that of a short story writer, and he often hangs everything on a chapters final lines searing it closed. The lost books of the odyssey by firsttime novelist zachary mason retells odysseuss voyage back to ithaca from troy, interwoven with. As the author points out in his preface, the iliad and the odyssey were born of an oral bardic tradition in which poets recounted competing versions of. The twists and turns of the poem offer us, then, at least one contrapuntal narrative, a mighthavebeen. The first recorded accession of the lost books was into the emperor marcus aureliuss library. Jul 14, 2017 paris under water, the lost books of the odyssey, and sonnets. Buy the lost books of the odyssey by mason, zachary from amazons fiction books store.
The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason 2010. Zachary mason touches, tickles, and strikes these wires in the lost books of the odyssey and, in the end, creates nothing short of a synaptic fireworks display. A brilliant and beguiling reimagining of one of our greatest myths by a gifted young writer, zachary masons brilliant and beguiling debut novel. With brilliant prose, terrific imagination, and dazzling literary skill, mason creates alternative episodes, fragments, and revisions of homers original that taken together open up this classic greek myth to. Achilles, the ideal of the hero, provides a particularly compelling example of masons. Homer is remembered for having crafted these disparate stories into perhaps the worlds greatest epic poems.
Odysseus has arrived back in ithaca, but hes met a penelope who has already married someone else. Zachary mason is the author of the new york times bestselling novel the lost books of the odyssey and, more recently, void star, which has been optioned for film. The lost books of the odyssey is punctuated with great wit, beauty, and playfulness. The lost books of the odyssey hardcover the elliott bay. The lost books of the odyssey ebook by zachary mason.
The lost books of the odyssey is a 2007 novel by zachary mason, republished in 2010. Review of the lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason. I had expected it to be rather preening, and probably thin. Hes written a first novel that is not just vibrantly. A brilliant and beguiling reimagining of one of our greatest myths by a gifted young writer, zachary masons brilliant and beguiling debut novel, the lost books of the odyssey, reimagines homers more. This brilliant and beguiling debut novel reimagines homers classic story of the hero odysseus and his long journey home after the fall of troy. The odyssey, in this flight of fancy, a fantastic parody of a chess book, a treatise on tactics to be used after the game has ended and the board been abandoned by the players, the pieces left finally to their own devices and to entropy. Bringing an ingenious new approach to the ancient tale of odysseus, debut novelist zachary mason has.
It was published by microsoft game studios in 2007 in japan and 2008 in western territories. The lost books of the odyssey by zachary masonaudiobook. The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason book. A brilliant and beguiling reimagining of one of our greatest myths by a gifted young writer, zachary masons brilliant and beguiling debut novel, the lost books of the od yssey, reimagines homers classic story of the hero odysseus and his long journey home after the fall of troy.
Welcome one and all to a one of a kind live game event benefiting the autism society of amer. The lost books of the odyssey by zachary masonaudiobook excerpt. Feb 18, 2010 but the lost books also raises questions about the odyssey itself, and its unprecedented and still puzzling feat of storytelling. The lost books of the odyssey by mason, zachary, 1974publication date 2010 topics odysseus greek mythology publisher new york. The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason ebooks scribd.
With hypnotic prose, territic imagination, and dazzling literary skill, mason creates alternative episodes, fragments, and revisions of homers. The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason is one of the more fascinating books to come out recently. The lost books of the odyssey by firsttime novelist zachary mason retells odysseuss voyage back to ithaca from troy, interwoven with flashbacks from the trojan war. It is thus peculiarly suitable to the treatment that zachary. Listen to this audiobook excerpt from zachary masons novel the lost books of the odyssey. Winner of the 2007 starcherone fiction prize, the lost books of the odyssey is at once a mindbending literary fractal system and an enthralling collection of tales. The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason is a series of 44 short chapters, some of which are loosely based on homers the odyssey and some of which are creative reimaginings, scenarios, and whatifs that are so far removed from the homeric poem theyre no longer recognizable as offshoots from the original. Taking the wily odysseus himself as his model, zachary mason proves a master of deception in his novel, the lost books of the odyssey. The story of his 10year journey home employs a narrative structure as complex as its protagonist and has inspired versions by writers as. The novels preface, delivered in the voice of a classics scholar, states that the fortyfour variations omit stock epic formulae in favor of honing a single trope or image down to an extreme of clarity. As this fragment serves to remind us, a large swath of the poem is. Paris under water, the lost books of the odyssey, and sonnets. Zachary mason after ten years journeying odysseus returns, again and again, to ithaca.
Zachary masons brilliant and beguiling debut novel, the lost books of the odyssey, rei magines homers classic story of the hero odysseus and his long journey home after the fall of troy. With brilliant prose, terrific imagination, and dazzling literary skill, mason creates alternative episodes. Thanks for exploring this supersummary plot summary of the lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason. What accounts for the endurance of tales related to the trojan war. Thence we sailed sadly on, glad to have escaped death, though we had lost our comrades, and came to the aeaean island, where circe livesa great and cunning goddess who is own sister to the magician aeetesfor they are both children of the sun by perse, who is daughter to oceanus. The lost books of the odyssey zachary mason macmillan. The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason diotima. The idea of the book is that these fortyfour variations on the plots and characters of homers odyssey arent the work of mason instead, they are translations of snippets he found on a papyrus that contained a version of the story that didnt end up making it into homers final draft.
The lost books of the odyssey summary supersummary. Rosuto odessei is a japanese roleplaying video game developed by mistwalker and feelplus for the xbox 360. The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason is exactly what it sounds like, plus a little extra. Recent books have their own thrill, but theres just as much pleasure in returning to a classic.
The lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason paperback. The lost books of the odyssey is one of those books. In 2007, zachary mason published his first novel, the lost books of the odyssey. Zachary masons brilliant and beguiling debut novel, the lost books of the odyssey, reimagines homers classic story of the hero odysseus and. With brilliant prose, terrific imagination, and dazzling literary skill, mason creates alternative episodes, fragments, and revisions of homers original that. By the third page of zachary masons stunning debut novel, which purports to recuperate lost versions of the odyssey, we already know that were sailing in unfamiliar terrain.
According to mason, it bestows contradictory multitudes on us. I have read and taught the odyssey every year for the last 10 years, and my students and i never get tired or bored with the text as we do with so many others. A brilliant and beguiling reimagining of one of our greatest myths by a gifted young writerzachary masons brilliant and beguiling debut novel, the lost books of the odyssey, reimagines homers classic story of the hero odysseus and his long journey home after the fall of troy. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction.
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