ODYSSEUS A Life

Here’s an interesting book that both is, and isn’t, a biography in the historical sense because the main character’s very existence is somewhat of a mystery. Most people have come in contact with Odysseus through Homeric works. This book expands on what we know with what is possible. Mark Bramhall has the daunting task of straddling the elusive line between fact and fiction. He can be neither too dramatic nor professorial, and, as a result, he comes out boring. Bramhall’s nasal voice doesn’t rise enough for the exciting fiction, and it falls and slows for the historical parts. He paces his reading well but undermines himself once he gets going by cutting off the ends of many words. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 04]