Stanley Lombardo translated and edited both
The Iliad and
The Odyssey and compiled them into one book,
The Essential Homer. The book is fast-paced, as it is written in a contemporary style containing many common
idioms of today. It is also roughly half the length of a full
translation.
The text comes from his experience as an actual "
bard", as he travelled (and still does) around the country performing sections aloud, sometimes accompanied by
drum or
harp/
lyre. Because his performances required shorter, faster verse, his translations were much shorter, and hence the shorter
book.
I personally had a chance to see him perform sections of
The Iliad when he performed at the
University of Texas at Austin. I recommend both the book and his performances for even the less literary-inclined; I realize not everyone is a
Liberal Arts major.
He is currently also a professor of
Classics at the
University of Kansas.