Annalise’s Reviews > The Iliad > Status Update
1 like · Like flag
Annalise’s Previous Updates
Annalise
is 90% done
So. Close. To. Finished.
22.5 books down, 1 to go. Why didn't we choose to read The Odyssey first?! Battle descriptions are killing me (they go on and on), but the sections with real character development and intrigue between characters ("deathless gods" especially, but even mortals) are riveting via Fagles vivid translation. Homer is showing me that war is stupid, pointless, and wasteful. So modern.
— Mar 18, 2026 10:48AM
22.5 books down, 1 to go. Why didn't we choose to read The Odyssey first?! Battle descriptions are killing me (they go on and on), but the sections with real character development and intrigue between characters ("deathless gods" especially, but even mortals) are riveting via Fagles vivid translation. Homer is showing me that war is stupid, pointless, and wasteful. So modern.
Annalise
is 80% done
Slowly working our way through this one. My son and I read at aloud before bedtime, and I’m struck by the verse’s rhythmic power, even on the lips of my middle schooler.
It can be a slog whenever Homer goes on for pages telling us the names of the warriors and who their fathers were and lots of trivia about characters I’ve never heard of and don’t really want to know. Can we get on with the story?
— Feb 24, 2026 03:42PM
It can be a slog whenever Homer goes on for pages telling us the names of the warriors and who their fathers were and lots of trivia about characters I’ve never heard of and don’t really want to know. Can we get on with the story?
