Published translations of the Iliad run into many dozens, if not hundreds, but none present the story in the form of sonnets.
The sonnet works well, conveying the story fluidly and giving a sense of the marvellous poetry that is found in Homer. The narrative within the Iliad is followed closely; major omissions being those relating to exploits prior to the siege of Troy, as related by elders such as Nestor, and much of the detail of one-to-one combat involving the minor characters.
The 317 poems within this volume may well be the longest, strict, sonnet sequence ever written in English.
BUY THE BOOK
Sonnets from the Iliad is available from all good bookstores around the world. You may need the ISBN 9780956083814 (paperback) or 9780956083807 (hardback).
Or you can order from Amazon using these links:
Buy Sonnets from the Iliad from Amazon.co.uk
Buy Sonnets from the Iliad from Amazon.com
Kindle edition: Price £0.99, or free with Kindle Unlimited.
REVIEW
“For many poets, the writing of a long sonnet sequence would be a difficult, if not impossible, feat. And to write such a sequence based on Homer’s Iliad would not only be impossible but probably unthinkable as well. Which means that Etchell has achieved both the impossible and the unthinkable. He has successfully translated the Iliad into a remarkable sequence of no less than 317 sonnets, and all written during a seven month period of intensive activity. This is a book that deserves to be noticed.” Review by H. Mellon (posted on Amazon.co.uk)