/lit/ - Literature

When he was drunk Achilles would take his knife and try to pierce his hand or, if he was very drunk, his heart, and thereby were the delicate blades of many daggers broken. Odysseus, who had seen more than one such demonstration, rained praise on him for his extraordinary mettle, which made Achilles bridle like a puppy, but privately worried that a man immune to death must soon despise the mortals around him. Certainly Achilles thought little of the Trojans. Odysseus had seem him emerge from battle bristling with black arrows---as he undressed to bathe, the shafts came away with armor and he would loll in a bronze tub while Briseis washed his unscathed limbs and Patroclus told jokes

Wounds fascinated Achilles. When Patroclus got a scratch Achilles would fuss over him like an old nurse, endlessly bandaging and salving what could as well be left alone. But when a Greek was mortally wounded, even one of his own men, Achilles would not so much as look at him. When the bodies of the fallen were wound in orange sheets and burned on a pyre, Achilles was always elsewhere.

On the field Achilles was haggard with rage, to all appearances pursuing a vendetta, as though the Trojans had plotted to steal his cattle or his standing. His style was uninformed by tactics or consequences. A high wave surging onto shore, breaking over a dune and washing the sand away in a foaming tumult—so it was when Achilles struck an enemy line. Odysseus often trailed behind him to pick off the wounded and terrified.
Odysseus noticed that although Achilles was indifferent to blows, he received very few, apparently because his enemies were too dismayed to attack him intelligently. Odysseus considered imitating him but decided that the enabling recklessness had to be deeply felt. He did, however, make a mental note to be cautious of men with nothing to lose.

Achilles barely suffered the presence of King Agamemnon—he would talk over him in council and walk past him in camp without so much as a nod. With uncharacteristic self-possession, Agamemnon put up with it, perhaps because it was not clear how he could retaliate. The aristocracy joined Agamemnon in hating Achilles but the rank and file loved him—when the mood took him he would beggar himself in generosity, giving away his gold and spears and slaves to some warrior whose smile he liked or who had done a brave thing in battle.
(Continued)

Thanks Femi and anon.

Have either of you read The Lost Books of the Odyssey?

>>4703735
What? I've no idea. "racing you"?

>>4703681
>Modeling your story after The Odyssey is a tired idea.
It's not my story, it's an homage and a framework for other stories to fit into.
>I'd be interested in a more creative project.
And I already gave the creative boundaries.

>>4703692
>anyone but these clowns.
Oh I know I know. That's the reason I never brought this idea up before. That other thread >>4701053 asked for something ambitious, so I just had to let this out.

I'd like to assign professional authors like maybe Donna Tart. Haven't read anything of hers, but don't you think she'd be able to write some of it? Also Zachary Mason, because it's this book that inspired the idea

>>4655322

>>4637887
Book for you OP.

>>4637921
He's from Ithaca. Weren't all the Jews/Hebrews in Persia at this time?

I read the titular Pastoralia from George Saunders (and his children's book Very Persistent Gappers Frip) but I haven't gotten around to the rest of them.

Lost books of the Odyssey is a very fun collection

>>4457243
What's "ahl"?

Crowned king oulio. I quite liked Cities and Signs 4: Hypatia, Trading Cities 2: Chloe, Thin Cities 5: Octavia, Hidden Cities 2 and 5: Raissa and Berenice.

Along a similar type of avant guard novellas, Lost Books of the Odyssey is just a joy to read

In before Lovecraft or Poe.

<-I loved this very much. Need to know The Odyssey. Each chapter is a short version all unto itself.

OP, the rest of you, you're going to love this book. So much fun.

And for anyone who has read the Odyssey, I highly recommend Lost Books of the Odyssey. Not an epic poem, but a fun read.

Several of these. Such fun.

>>2590306
Or you could go the fun rout and read The Lost Books of the Odyssey.

Nominees this year.
"Train Dreams," by Denis Johnson
"Swamplandia!" by Karen Russell
"The Pale King," by the late David Foster Wallace

Bombs. The lot of them.
<- I liked this recent book. Already thinking of rereading some chapters.

Don't forget to pick this one up afterwards

The Illiad
>A sissyboy "immortal" star quarterback who dies, leaving Odysseus to save the day with brain power.
The Odyssey
>Odysseus defies a god and a ton of monsters just to get back to his wife and son.
You know Athena wanted him.

>>2405304
This.

>>2405306
Very not this. Its not a "slog" and its superior to the Iliad.

Also read this right after. Some stories are meh, but some are so damn good, you want to see them put into the original text. The rest are merely great.

Like ruining sunny-side-up eggs?
Does it really?

My recommendation to you (If you've read the Odyssey first of course)

>>2356572
The Odyssey
And then The Lost Books of the Odyssey

>>2335876
No. You don't need to read it. They revisit characters from the Iliad, and do some flashbacks, but its not necessary.
There are also other stories happening at around the same time, with Agamemnon for instance.

Pic related. Still really loving this little book. Chapter 13 Epiphany brought me to tears. It could fit in perfectly if read just before Hermes arrives on Calypsos island

So yeah, this a great little book of short stories.
Especially recommending to all the Odyssey fans of course.

>>2310037
Doing what?
I read a passage from a book and something funny happened to my understanding of it.
Later, I see shit on the front page and bump it.

Later still I see shit on page 0. Bump it again, and then have a brief exchange about Hendricks weight.
Nobody wants to save it by talking about The Odyssey or who they would cast in it. So I leave it again.

>>2228328
Iranian scum!
>>2228838
Warmonger scum!
>>2228853
Roman scum!
>>2228306
>>2228863
Oh, well, I guess you have a point there.