Hey, guys! Reading Dante's Inferno has been an end goal of mine for a few years. I kept hearing it referenced, and I thought I might enjoy it. I told a friend, and she leant me a copy to read while traveling. I basically wanted to read the idea of this book and knew absolutely nothing about it.
The Cover:
There are so many covers of this book. None of them I particularly like, so this is the version that I ended up reading. It shows a spiral, depicting the layers of hell. B cover.
Official Description:
Belonging in the company of the works of Homer and Virgil, The Inferno is a moving human drama, a journey through the torment of Hell, an expression of the Middle Ages, and a protest against the ways in which men have thwarted the divine plan.
Review:
Going into it, I knew the vague concept of this book and that was it. I opened it and was immediately surprised. The Inferno is composed entirely of poetry. It flowed beautifully, which is pretty amazing considering it was originally written in Italian.
However, it was also difficult to read. The poetry was beautiful, but it was easy to get lost in the words and lose the meaning. In fact, in this version, each chapter started out with a summary of the chapter in plain english and then moved on to the actual chapter in its poetic form. I don't know how much success I would have had reading this book if it wasn't for those summaries, either.
That being said, the ideas in The Inferno were just as solid as I had heard they would be. It is a mix of controversial statements (for example, there are many Popes in the deepest layers of hell) and political statements, as well as a commentary on what values to us as human beings and what justifies a crime, as well as what worthy punishments are.
My only other draw-back is that it got to be a bit repetitive halfway through. Basically each chapter would be Dante viewing the punishments of a group of sinners, talking with one, and then moving on to the next group. I feel like a lot of those repetitions were not entirely necessary. It dragged a bit in the middle as a result.
Overall, it was very difficult to read through. I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I could ever read it again. It is interesting from a cultural point of view, but you could probably skip half of it and get the same benefit. It was a challenge, but the ideas and concepts that it proposed are, largely, equally valid as they are now. I would recommend it, if you are also interested in the ideas and are willing to work through the dense poetry.
If You Liked This Book:
Check out the classics tag!
If you're looking for a good book, check out my Suggestions Page!
Happy Reading!
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There are so many covers of this book. None of them I particularly like, so this is the version that I ended up reading. It shows a spiral, depicting the layers of hell. B cover.
Official Description:
Belonging in the company of the works of Homer and Virgil, The Inferno is a moving human drama, a journey through the torment of Hell, an expression of the Middle Ages, and a protest against the ways in which men have thwarted the divine plan.
Review:
Going into it, I knew the vague concept of this book and that was it. I opened it and was immediately surprised. The Inferno is composed entirely of poetry. It flowed beautifully, which is pretty amazing considering it was originally written in Italian.
However, it was also difficult to read. The poetry was beautiful, but it was easy to get lost in the words and lose the meaning. In fact, in this version, each chapter started out with a summary of the chapter in plain english and then moved on to the actual chapter in its poetic form. I don't know how much success I would have had reading this book if it wasn't for those summaries, either.
That being said, the ideas in The Inferno were just as solid as I had heard they would be. It is a mix of controversial statements (for example, there are many Popes in the deepest layers of hell) and political statements, as well as a commentary on what values to us as human beings and what justifies a crime, as well as what worthy punishments are.
My only other draw-back is that it got to be a bit repetitive halfway through. Basically each chapter would be Dante viewing the punishments of a group of sinners, talking with one, and then moving on to the next group. I feel like a lot of those repetitions were not entirely necessary. It dragged a bit in the middle as a result.
Overall, it was very difficult to read through. I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I could ever read it again. It is interesting from a cultural point of view, but you could probably skip half of it and get the same benefit. It was a challenge, but the ideas and concepts that it proposed are, largely, equally valid as they are now. I would recommend it, if you are also interested in the ideas and are willing to work through the dense poetry.
If You Liked This Book:
Check out the classics tag!
If you're looking for a good book, check out my Suggestions Page!
Happy Reading!
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