Memorial
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Review
'Brilliant in its own right . . . has 15 or so perfect touches that show Oswald to be a considerable poet.' -- Craig Raine, Guardian Books of the Year >> '[One of] the two most impressive books of poetry I've read this year ... this brilliantly animates [The Iliad] as it creates a poignant new lament for war dead.' -- Andrew Motion, TLS >> 'A wonderful book, the most profound reimagining of Homer since Derek Walcott's Omeros.' -- Peter Thonemann, TLS >> 'Takes off from The Iliad to find a brilliance and resonance all of its own.' -- Anne Chisholm, Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year >> 'An uncompromising rewriting of The Iliad, stripping away its epic narrative to foreground its fallen foot-soldiers.' -- Josephine Balmer, The Times Books of the Year>> 'An elegy of quite extraordinary power.' Andrew Motion, The Times Books of the Year >> 'A deft and plangent reworking of Homer's Iliad.' --Sarah Crown, Guardian Books of the Year
Book Description
A glitteringly original new poem which is also a version of Homer's Iliad, from prize-winning poet Alice Oswald
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Memorial elevates Alice Oswald to the position of England's premier poet in my view, building on her superb earlier books. This work is both moving and relevant. Decribed as an "excavation" of Homer's "The Iliad" it can be enjoyed as a stand-alone poem in its own right. A dramatic and serious tone is set from the beginning, with the first few pages listing the names of the war dead: each soldier's name being given the respect and gravity of an individual line. Astonishing writing follows, full of powerful simile and metaphor that made me gasp out loud at times. Oswald is one of only a few modern poets to truly be influenced by Ted Hughes, but it should be stressed she has a distinctive, original, voice of her own. In addition to this her ideas, projects and way of working seem quite unique. She talked in a reading I once saw her give of being interested in oral narratives being passed on through the ages, not only classical but from various cultures around the world, and this interest has reached fruition in this work. The fact it has been written at a time when the poet's own country is deeply involved in war adds to its poignancy.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Would you like to read Homer's Iliad in under two hours? This 84-page book, including 8 pages of the names of fallen warriors, one after the other in the order as they had fallen. Their names appearing as in a memorial of the dead in single columns. Oswald tells us in the first line of her introduction that "This is a translation of the Iliad's atmosphere, not its story". It is a fast paced account of the heroic and tragic moments in tenth year of the war. She skips the proem of the Iliad, which is traditionally in book One, where Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek expedition and Achilles, arguably the most famous name in the Iliad are introduced. Excluded are thus the main events, including one of my favourites - the chariot race in honour of Patroklos' death (traditonally, Book 23). Can the atmosphere of the war be adequately captured with the omissions of those events? The modern reader, familiar with the Second World War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the more recent wars against faceless, nameless enemies known only as "Terrorists", will surely appreciate what this book seeks to achieve. Achilles the great hero was only mentioned in passing since only the dead were honoured in this memorial and given names in block letters. And Hector, the main Trojan closes Oswald's book with his death, told in Oswald's verse without fanfare or excitement, just profoundly; the words ring the entire Iliad - as it does all human strife:
"And HECTOR died like everyone else
He was in charge of the Trojans
But a spear found out the little patch of white
Between his collarbone and his throat
Just exactly where a man's soul sits
waiting for the mouth to open
He always knew it would happen".
"And HECTOR died like everyone else
He was in charge of the Trojans
But a spear found out the little patch of white
Between his collarbone and his throat
Just exactly where a man's soul sits
waiting for the mouth to open
He always knew it would happen".
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was persuaded to order a copy of this book by a very positive review in a newspaper but was not really sure what I was going to get. In fact it is a stripped down meditation on the Iliad responding to the many many deaths of the also-rans, the largely marginal figures in the story. The accounts of their deaths are brief almost incantatory cries of despair at the futility of war and the hollow-ness of nobility. Cumulatively they become something very powerful that has the immediacy and imaginative force of a great war memorial - one of the most affecting pieces of writing that I have read for a very long time and something to which I am sure I will return many times. I am in awe at what has been accomplished in this work.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Listen ...
Having had the good fortune to hear Alice Oswald perform 'Memorial' last week I recommend strongly that this is the way you first experience what she's done with The Iliad in... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Judi Moore
Stunningly beautiful
This is a work of astonishing imaginative power and humanity. It's written in a direct, vivid style that makes it come across with complete clarity the first time you look at it,... Read more
Published 5 months ago by E. R. A. Prestwich
Memorial Audio CD
The CD is definetely worth getting. Alice Oswald is a marvelous reader of her own work. It's only an hour long and can be listened to in one sitting.
Published 6 months ago by Madrigal
Beautiful - stunning
I have read and re-read stanzas of this poem over and over they are so evocative. A stunningly beautiful piece of writing.
Published 6 months ago by P. Radcliffe
Someone was there. And the next moment no one.
This powerful retelling and translation of Homer's Iliad, subtitled an "Excavation of the Iliad", consists of a haunting list of the men who die in it, each with perhaps some small... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Scot Mcphee
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