Choosing the First Book.

For my first book, I wanted to read something that was significant. With the reading of this first book I am stepping off into taking this challenge from an idea into reality. I wanted something strong and powerful to spur me on.

All of these thoughts led me to also thinking about the title of my blog. After all, I think that titles tell more of the story than many people believe. When I realized that making this list and reading through it was more of a journey than anything, the title of the blog clicked to mind: A Literary Odyssey.

And of course, The Odyssey by Homer is on that list. What better way to start my journey through the classics than to read one of the greatest journeys committed to paper?

Odysseus has been away from home fighting the Trojan War for ten years when he begins his journey home to Ithaca and the wife and son he left there. Along the way he is delayed by monsters, witches, Poseidon, and many others. His ten year journey home tests his determination and his moral compass.

I am sure that through reading this list I will also be tested; by life, by frustration, and by the absolute “bigness” of what I am trying to accomplish. So perhaps by reading through the journey of Odysseus first, I can gear myself up for opening each of the 250 books I have chosen.

So tonight, September 1, 2009 I am starting my own journey by opening book 1 of 250, The Odyssey.