An Odyssey: A Father, A Son, And An Epic
by Daniel Mendelsohn /
2017 / English / EPUB
5.6 MB Download
From award-winning memoirist and critic, and bestselling author
of
From award-winning memoirist and critic, and bestselling author
ofThe Lost:
The Lost: a deeply moving tale of a father and son's
transformative journey in reading--and reliving--Homer's epic
masterpiece.
a deeply moving tale of a father and son's
transformative journey in reading--and reliving--Homer's epic
masterpiece.
When eighty-one-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enroll in the
undergraduate
When eighty-one-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enroll in the
undergraduateOdyssey
Odyssey seminar his son 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 the great literature he'd neglected in his youth--and, even
more, a final opportunity to more fully understand his son, a
writer and classicist. But through the sometimes uncomfortable
months that 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's famous voyages--it becomes clear that
Daniel has much to learn, too: 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
seminar his son 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 the great literature he'd neglected in his youth--and, even
more, a final opportunity to more fully understand his son, a
writer and classicist. But through the sometimes uncomfortable
months that 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's famous voyages--it becomes clear that
Daniel has much to learn, too: 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 theOdyssey
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,
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
An Odyssey is a renowned author-scholar's most
triumphant entwining yet of personal narrative and literary
exploration.
is a renowned author-scholar's most
triumphant entwining yet of personal narrative and literary
exploration.