Φοβάμαι ότι οι Έλληνες φέρουν δώρα! 
You know, I remember about 17 words in Greek (and can even decline or conjugate a few of them).
So that was funny. 
I remember the Latin version from reading Asterix. 
In college, I took three semesters of Latin and two of New Testament Greek. I might be able to read them today if I used the respective grammars and dictionaries, but no way could I write (or speak) them coherently.
The 2018 translation by Emily Wilson is perhaps the best I’ve seen.
It’s in blank verse, but highly readable.
Odysseus ripped off his rags. Now naked,
he leapt upon the threshold with his bow
and quiverfull of arrows, which he tipped
out in a rush before his feet, and spoke.“Playtime is over. I will shoot again,
towards another mark no man has hit.
Apollo, may I manage it!”He aimed
his deadly arrow at Antinous.
The young man sat there, just about to lift
his golden goblet, swirling wine around,
ready to drink. He had no thought of death.
How could he? Who would think a single man,
among so many banqueters, would dare
to risk dark death, however strong he was?
Odysseus aimed at his throat, then shot.
The point pierced all the way through his soft neck.
He flopped down to the side and his cup slipped
out of his hand, and then thick streams of blood
gushed from his nostrils. His foot twitched and knocked
the table down; food scattered on the ground.
The bread and roasted meat were soiled with blood.Seeing him fall, the suitors, in an uproar,
with shouts that filled the hall, jumped up and rushed
to search around by all the thick stone walls
for shields or swords to grab—but there were none.
Thanks!
I wish that existed when I had to read it (old fart here).
I honestly may give that a try. Well, really honestly I probably won’t but I feel like I should. 
Also, perhaps not irrelevantly, it has many female characters. LOTR has what, two?
One of the great scenes in all of literature. That piece of crap Antinous, that freeloading asshole, finally gets what’s coming to him. If the Odyssey had been a movie (yes, I know, it’s been done, but they all suck), the audience would have stood up and cheered.
I haven’t read Wilson’s translation, but I’ll have a look. I loved Fagles’ translation, but everything can be improved upon.
Fair point. Susan and Lucy Pevensie (especially Lucy) are great characters. Not to mention Jadis, who is a surprisingly complex character.
Maybe true, but one of my retirement projects was to read all of Shakespeare. After a few plays the language became quite readable, in fact I was dreaming in blank verse. It helps to start with the fun ones like Henry V or a few comedies.
I’ve been slogging through Anna Karenina for about the last six months. I’ve been debating whether or not to power through it until the end, but I think you’ve convinced me it’s not worth it.
Only one with a really significant role. Off the top of my head, I count 7 more with bit parts, but I had to count Shelob to get that high.
I felt that way about “Watership Down.” I also gave up on “Arrowsmith” rather quickly, because I just plain old didn’t like the main character. “The Handmaid’s Tale” isn’t that good either, I don’t care what it’s about.
I have decided that I need to read classics, because I didn’t do much of that when I was young, and recently finished “The Good Earth” and am currently reading Marilynne Robinson’s “Gilead”, which is on its way to classic status.
I read “Catcher in the Rye” a couple years ago. I enjoyed it, although I can see why a lot of people didn’t.
(No need to spoiler, because if you’ve read it all, you’ll know what I’m talking about) When I got to the last two chapters, that’s when I started to wonder how that ever found a publisher in 1951.
I liked “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”. My HS Lit teacher was half appalled. She (and her kids) thought it was trite twaddle. She observed that I was pessimistic and depressed to start with, so JLS was an attractive and uplifting viewpoint, whereas she (and her kids) were basically happy and optimistic anyway, and found depressing literature attractively grounded.
Glad to be of service! 
The thing is, Anna Karenina is a far inferior work to War and Peace.
Anna Karenina did nothing for me, it left me cold. But War and Peace is one of the best books I’ve ever read.
I read Gormenghast (Mervyn Peake) when I was young, had good eyesight, and read everything. But … even then, I couldn’t see the point.
That’s one of the first that came to my mind. Loved the movie. Everyone did at the time. The book was a worldwide best seller. When I finally got around to reading the novel, some 30 or 40 years later, I was very disappointed. So many characters, known by so many different names that often you lose track of who is who, and just an overall lack of any real tension or drama. I have to credit Robert Bolt for crafting such a dull novel into a compelling screenplay.
That’s one where the translation matters (assuming you’re reading it in English).
My wife and I once decided to read Madame Bovary side-by-side, chapter by chapter together, so we went out and bought two paperback copies. I think we were only a few chapters in when I said something to the effect of, “I’m having trouble imagining a pigeon-breast colored parasol,” and my wife said something to the effect of, “what the hell are you talking about? The word ‘pigeon’ doesn’t even occur in my version.”
It turns out we had two different translations, and either one of the translators had taken a lot of poetic license, or the other one had taken a really reductive view. Either way, our translations were radically different, and after a few more comparisons we abandoned the project.