weave my words into worlds

I had to skim a lot of this because we read it in a very short period of time. Add in the fact that I'm a procrastinator, and... yeah.

Ulysses is easy to read in terms of vocabulary and comprehension and whatnot. At the same time, it's very difficult to read because it's so horribly written. The writing style is basically as follows:

"Ulysses did this. Then he did this. He felt like this. Then he did this again."

There is absolutely no excitement whatsoever. I'm not motivated to keep reading. I don't really understand why Evslin retold the story of The Odyssey, because I'm sure the original in poem form is much easier to like and put up with. Why retell a story when you can't do it well?

This book is also horribly redundant. The author added in some obstacles that weren't necessary and only added to the cycle Ulysses and his men are stuck in. The gods tell them to do something, they don't obey, a few men are lost, Ulysses is seduced by some woman, repeat. It's just conflict after conflict. The characters don't make up for it, either. All Ulysses' men are curious idiots who can't get themselves out of trouble no matter what, and the majority of the females in this book are hopelessly smitten with Ulysses. I don't get that, because he's flat as a pancake. He shows no emotion... ever. Ever heard of "show, not tell", Evslin?

If you're considering reading this book, I hate to be harsh, but go pick up the real Odyssey instead. And if that's not as enjoyable as I would think it is, at least you've spent your time on classic literature rather than a poorly-written retelling.