Homer’s Odyssey requires no introduction for hard-core fans of literature, but reading this great work in its original translation can be daunting to older kids and young adults. Fortunately, Punter and Fiorin retold this classic in a graphic novel. They maintain the basic storyline and illustrate the action with imagination.
Fans of Dog Man and other graphic novels will appreciate this form of one of the best stories ever told in human language. It’s action-packed (as its original recipients would have heard it), but as recast, it’s also imaginative and playful. Graphic novels done well bring to life creative storylines to intermediate readers in ways that mere words-on-a-page cannot.
This adaptation uses several devices to make it accessible. First, the story is retold in a modern style with plain word-choices. Vivid pictures bring the words to life. A map of the Mediterranean at book’s front explains Odysseus’ travels in space. The authors summarize the Odyssey’s action in brief form, which makes it readable in short time.
The plot, classically retold, reflects a storyline appreciated by the West for millennia. Odysseus travels home from Troy to Greece, only to be blown off course. He upsets Poseidon, the sea god, and his seamen and ship encounters a series of otherworldly travails. Will Odysseus ever get home? And what kind of home awaits him? These questions haunt this book as the reader ponders the world’s richness. We ask ourselves, “In light of earth’s diversity and trappings, will we ever get home to peace?” Punter and Fiorin effectively cultivate these very human themes in older children and young adults. We should thank them for their contribution to English-reading civilization.
The Odyssey
By Russell Punter and Fabiano Fiorin
Copyright (c) 2018
Usborne Books
ISBN13 9781474938099
Page Count: 104
Genre: Graphic Novel, Classic
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