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An odyssey : a father, a son, and an epic / Daniel Mendelsohn.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: �2017 Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, [2017]Copyright date: ©2017Edition: First editionDescription: 306 pages ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780385350594
  • 0385350597
Subject(s): Genre/Form: DDC classification:
  • 306.874/2 23
LOC classification:
  • CT275.M46919 A3 2017
Contents:
Proem (invocation): 1964-2011 -- Telemachy (education): January-February 2011 -- Apologoi (adventures): March-June -- Nostos (homecoming): April -- Anagnorisis (recognition): May -- Sêma (the sign): April 6, 2012.
Summary: Presents the story of a father and son's transformative shared journey in reading in the wake of the father's late-in-life enrollment in his son's undergraduate seminar, where the two engaged in debates over how to interpret Homer's classic masterpiece.Summary: "When eighty-one-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enroll in the undergraduate seminar on the Odyssey that his son Daniel 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. But through the sometimes uncomfortable months that follow, as 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' legendary voyages-it becomes clear that Daniel has much to learn, too: for 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 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, An Odyssey is a renowned author-scholar's most revelatory entwining yet of personal narrative and literary exploration."--Jacket.Summary: After enrolling in an undergraduate seminar on the Odyssey that his son teaches, Mendelsohn hoped to learn the great literature he'd neglected in his youth. Instead he was presented with an opportunity for a father-and-son philosophical journey, engaging in debates over how to interpret Homer's classic masterpiece. The two then retraced Odysseus' voyages in a Mediterranean journey that helped them overcome long-held secrets, and learn the meaning of home.
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Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
BOOK BOOK Harrison Memorial Library BIOGRAPHY Adult Nonfiction MENDELSOHN (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 31624003824968
Total holds: 0

Proem (invocation): 1964-2011 -- Telemachy (education): January-February 2011 -- Apologoi (adventures): March-June -- Nostos (homecoming): April -- Anagnorisis (recognition): May -- Sêma (the sign): April 6, 2012.

Presents the story of a father and son's transformative shared journey in reading in the wake of the father's late-in-life enrollment in his son's undergraduate seminar, where the two engaged in debates over how to interpret Homer's classic masterpiece.

"When eighty-one-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enroll in the undergraduate seminar on the Odyssey that his son Daniel 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. But through the sometimes uncomfortable months that follow, as 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' legendary voyages-it becomes clear that Daniel has much to learn, too: for 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 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, An Odyssey is a renowned author-scholar's most revelatory entwining yet of personal narrative and literary exploration."--Jacket.

After enrolling in an undergraduate seminar on the Odyssey that his son teaches, Mendelsohn hoped to learn the great literature he'd neglected in his youth. Instead he was presented with an opportunity for a father-and-son philosophical journey, engaging in debates over how to interpret Homer's classic masterpiece. The two then retraced Odysseus' voyages in a Mediterranean journey that helped them overcome long-held secrets, and learn the meaning of home.

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