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The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters
- Narrated by: Dugald Bruce Lockhart
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
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Editorial reviews
Publisher's Summary
Longlisted for the 2014 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction
"A thrilling and complex book, enlarges our view of Homer.... There's something that hits the mark on every page." (Claire Tomalin, Books of the Year, New Statesman)
From where does Homer come? And why does Homer matter? His epic poems of war and suffering can still speak to us of the role of destiny in life, of cruelty, of humanity and its frailty, but why they do is a mystery. How can we be so intimate with something so distant?
The Mighty Dead is a magical journey of discovery across wide stretches of the past, sewn together by some of the oldest stories we have - the great ancient poems of Homer and their metaphors of life and trouble.
In this provocative and enthralling book, Adam Nicolson explains why Homer still matters and how these vital, epic verses - with their focus on the eternal questions about the individual versus the community, honour and service, love and war - tell us how we became who we are.
Critic Reviews
"Bursting with enthusiasm, erudition and eccentricity: a travelogue, a memoir, a work of literary criticism and, at bottom, an archaeology of the western imagination. Completely thrilling." (Susan Hill, Books of the Year, Spectator)
"Only the hardiest immune systems will be able to resist his unselfconscious adoration of the poet. Anyone who feels they never 'got' Homer should read this book." (Books of the Year, Sunday Times)
"Astounding. Scholarly, but so up-close and personal that you feel it in the guts...it transcends genre...you come away exhilarated." (Sofka Zinovieff, Books of the Year, Spectator)
"A brilliant, passionate, world-wandering love letter to Homer...far more inspirational than any dry academic exegesis. If the only real test of any book about Homer is that it should make you want to go back to Homer, then The Mighty Dead passes in a blaze of glory." (Sunday Times)
"A hosanna to Homeric wandering and wanderlust...breathes new life into an ancient adventure." (Observer)