Telemachos

Download or read book Telemachos written by Michael Köhlmeier and published by Ariadne Press (CA). This book was released on 1998 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kohlmeier's novel weaves together in highly original fashion two different literary traditions: Homeric epic and the German Bildungsroman or developmental novel. Its action rests on a framework suggested by Books One to Four of the Odyssey, the section called the Telemachy. This is the basis for a novel of universal proportions, spanning Western history from its origins as described in Greek creation myth to the present day.Modern Telemachos, son of Odysseus, is here a normal, intelligent, sensitive youth with a girlfriend, an uneasy relationship with his mother Penelope, and the uncomfortable burden of responsibility to the inheritance of a heroic father. The goddess Athene has little success in her efforts to transform him into a warrior hero. They founder on his modern, very human sensibility.We are dealing with a stable, luxuriant fabric composed of stories and history, with a matted flying carpet over time and space.