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venla_reads's review against another edition
1.0
One star just because I appreciate this as a piece of western literature, but oh my was that rough to get through. Can't really say I understood anything: just skimmed through it and then turned to my friend Wikipedia. (But honestly, university schedules suck. Who has the time to actually read this brick of a book in a week??)
I have zero interest for religious stuff, so this just wasn't for me. Plus it was sooo hard to understand, the old timey, poetic prose is exhausting to read.
I have zero interest for religious stuff, so this just wasn't for me. Plus it was sooo hard to understand, the old timey, poetic prose is exhausting to read.
juulisbad's review against another edition
3.0
I'd say this is a very difficult book. But it is beautifully written and poetic. I liked Inferno most, then Purgatorium and Paradiso was the lamest thing I have ever read in my life. That's why this book only gets three stars from me. Sorry Dante
esthersweet08's review against another edition
4.0
Es un libro maravilloso y lo he disfrutado muchísimo, para mí el infierno y el purgatorio tendrían un 4 y el paraíso un 3, porque esta última parte es bastante densa y aburrida (lo que ha hecho que me gustase un poco menos el libro).
bruinuclafan's review against another edition
3.0
Really interesting book but a difficult translation to read. I should have known better since it was the same translator who did the Aeneid.
The boom is about Dante’s tour though the various circles of hell. He is taken on this tour by his guide, Virgil, author of The Aeneid. I enjoyed the parts of he book that tied in with that story, as well as The Odyssey and The Iliad. I thought it was pretty funny that Odysseus ended up in one of the deepest circles of hell: Dante was obviously a Trojan sympathizer.
I’m glad I read it, but also ready to move on to something else. I’ll revisit a different translation in a few years.
The boom is about Dante’s tour though the various circles of hell. He is taken on this tour by his guide, Virgil, author of The Aeneid. I enjoyed the parts of he book that tied in with that story, as well as The Odyssey and The Iliad. I thought it was pretty funny that Odysseus ended up in one of the deepest circles of hell: Dante was obviously a Trojan sympathizer.
I’m glad I read it, but also ready to move on to something else. I’ll revisit a different translation in a few years.
die6die's review against another edition
4.0
RitToC 27 -
Backstory - so I read the Divine Comedy in high school and it blew my young mind. It changed me from a militant atheist to a flakey agnostic, it made me appreciate poetry, it got me interested in medieval philosophy. That said I’ve been hesitant to revisit it in the decades since - would it hold up?
Inferno -
The Inferno continues to be great, most of the ironic punishments are great, the demons saluting with farts still makes me laugh. I like that Dante the character evolves through the story, from empathizing with the damned to anger at them. It’s kind of like listening to funeral doom metal - I feel this kind of despair throughout the whole thing but it’s a good despair. Cathartic, maybe.
Definitely the best of the trilogy.
Purgatorio-
See, when I read this decades ago I really enjoyed this one as well since it’s central theme is hope. There are still ironic punishments but they’re temporary. We actually meet a soul who ascends into heaven.
This time around I wasn’t as into it, especially with the pageant in the Garden of Eden at the top of the mountain. The endless symbolism was frankly rather dull. In retrospect I should’ve taken this as a warning sign of what was to come in Paradiso.
Not as good as Inferno, but still good overall.
Paradiso -
Man oh man. So I thought the theme was joy, but for me the theme was boredom. This whole book was a joyless slog to get through, some cantos took some hardcore skimming to get past.
So in heaven everyone is in a stadium in the shape of a rose watching God, many souls leave to other planets to chat with Dante on Italian politics, theological minutia, and moral philosophizing that is just tedious. 33 cantos in a row of “Well actually Dante...” is kind of the worst.
I think I’ll just stick with Inferno and sometimes Purgatorio. Yikes. I’m wondering now what 17 year old me saw in Paradiso that filled him with wonder. Hmm.
Backstory - so I read the Divine Comedy in high school and it blew my young mind. It changed me from a militant atheist to a flakey agnostic, it made me appreciate poetry, it got me interested in medieval philosophy. That said I’ve been hesitant to revisit it in the decades since - would it hold up?
Inferno -
The Inferno continues to be great, most of the ironic punishments are great, the demons saluting with farts still makes me laugh. I like that Dante the character evolves through the story, from empathizing with the damned to anger at them. It’s kind of like listening to funeral doom metal - I feel this kind of despair throughout the whole thing but it’s a good despair. Cathartic, maybe.
Definitely the best of the trilogy.
Purgatorio-
See, when I read this decades ago I really enjoyed this one as well since it’s central theme is hope. There are still ironic punishments but they’re temporary. We actually meet a soul who ascends into heaven.
This time around I wasn’t as into it, especially with the pageant in the Garden of Eden at the top of the mountain. The endless symbolism was frankly rather dull. In retrospect I should’ve taken this as a warning sign of what was to come in Paradiso.
Not as good as Inferno, but still good overall.
Paradiso -
Man oh man. So I thought the theme was joy, but for me the theme was boredom. This whole book was a joyless slog to get through, some cantos took some hardcore skimming to get past.
So in heaven everyone is in a stadium in the shape of a rose watching God, many souls leave to other planets to chat with Dante on Italian politics, theological minutia, and moral philosophizing that is just tedious. 33 cantos in a row of “Well actually Dante...” is kind of the worst.
I think I’ll just stick with Inferno and sometimes Purgatorio. Yikes. I’m wondering now what 17 year old me saw in Paradiso that filled him with wonder. Hmm.
thaurisil's review against another edition
4.0
In the 12th century Italy, there were two political factions, the Ghibellines, who supported the Holy Roman Emperor, and the Guelphs, who supported the pope. Later, in Florence, the Guelphs split into the Black Guelphs, who supported the pope, and the White Guelphs, who supported the emperor. Dante was a White Guelph, and when the Black Guelphs rose to power, Dante was exiled and sentenced to death, and lived in exile for the rest of his life.
This context is particularly important in reading Divine Comedy. Dante, lost in dark woods (which symbolises his exile), journeys through the three stages of afterlife, inferno (hell), purgatory, and paradise. He learns how each area is divided (hell into stages of worsening sin, purgatory into stages of redeemable sin, and paradise into different types of holy beings), and sees the people that populate each area. In hell and purgatory, he is led by Virgil, the Ancient Greek poet, but in paradise, which Virgil is not allowed to enter as he did not know Christ, Dante is led by Beatrice, a lady whom he loved but died early.
Divine Comedy is both a religious and political commentary. As a religious work, it shows Dante's personal and sometimes unique beliefs. Hell for example is interestingly divided in increasing severity of sin into the sins of incontinence (e.g. the lustful, the gluttonous), sins of violence (against others, then self, then God), sins of deceit against those who have no cause to trust (e.g. flatterers, hypocrites, thieves), and finally sins of deceit against those who have cause to trust (traitors). Each division is further subdivided into different types of sin. The classification is interesting in that it is not murderers who are judged to have the worst sin, but instead sin is judged based on intention. In paradise, Dante reveals that goodness is essentially defined by love, and the greatest good is in those with the greatest love. We learn along the way of his favourite saints, of who he deems to be the best Christians and the worst sinners, and of his thoughts of virtues like charity and faith.
As a political and social commentary, Dante uses Divine Comedy to lament about the corruption in Florence. He attacks his political enemies as well and corrupt rulers, popes and religious leaders, and praises the people he respects and his friends. His most brutal attacks are reserved for people like Pope Boniface, who was the main driving force behind Dante's exile. His journey from hell to paradise serves as a form of hope and a reminder that his real-life exile is not permanent.
I read the Kirkpatrick translation and it is excellent. The introduction are annotations are informative and helpful in explaining the context of the text, the different people Dante mentions, the locations he mentions, and the symbols he uses. The annotations are sufficient to give an adequate understanding of the text, although they do get occasionally too lengthy in the third section, and I had to skim them to avoid hampering my reading pleasure of the text. As Kirkpatrick explains, it is difficult to translate both the Italian rhythm and rhyme, as Italian words, unlike English words, tend to end in vowels. However he did adhere to the terse rim, reproducing the poetic meter while balancing this well with the accuracy of the translation.
This context is particularly important in reading Divine Comedy. Dante, lost in dark woods (which symbolises his exile), journeys through the three stages of afterlife, inferno (hell), purgatory, and paradise. He learns how each area is divided (hell into stages of worsening sin, purgatory into stages of redeemable sin, and paradise into different types of holy beings), and sees the people that populate each area. In hell and purgatory, he is led by Virgil, the Ancient Greek poet, but in paradise, which Virgil is not allowed to enter as he did not know Christ, Dante is led by Beatrice, a lady whom he loved but died early.
Divine Comedy is both a religious and political commentary. As a religious work, it shows Dante's personal and sometimes unique beliefs. Hell for example is interestingly divided in increasing severity of sin into the sins of incontinence (e.g. the lustful, the gluttonous), sins of violence (against others, then self, then God), sins of deceit against those who have no cause to trust (e.g. flatterers, hypocrites, thieves), and finally sins of deceit against those who have cause to trust (traitors). Each division is further subdivided into different types of sin. The classification is interesting in that it is not murderers who are judged to have the worst sin, but instead sin is judged based on intention. In paradise, Dante reveals that goodness is essentially defined by love, and the greatest good is in those with the greatest love. We learn along the way of his favourite saints, of who he deems to be the best Christians and the worst sinners, and of his thoughts of virtues like charity and faith.
As a political and social commentary, Dante uses Divine Comedy to lament about the corruption in Florence. He attacks his political enemies as well and corrupt rulers, popes and religious leaders, and praises the people he respects and his friends. His most brutal attacks are reserved for people like Pope Boniface, who was the main driving force behind Dante's exile. His journey from hell to paradise serves as a form of hope and a reminder that his real-life exile is not permanent.
I read the Kirkpatrick translation and it is excellent. The introduction are annotations are informative and helpful in explaining the context of the text, the different people Dante mentions, the locations he mentions, and the symbols he uses. The annotations are sufficient to give an adequate understanding of the text, although they do get occasionally too lengthy in the third section, and I had to skim them to avoid hampering my reading pleasure of the text. As Kirkpatrick explains, it is difficult to translate both the Italian rhythm and rhyme, as Italian words, unlike English words, tend to end in vowels. However he did adhere to the terse rim, reproducing the poetic meter while balancing this well with the accuracy of the translation.
kessler21's review against another edition
5.0
This is a narrative poem that Dante wrote from exile from Florence Italy. In the poem, he starts in a dark forest, lost and disoriented and he is trying to find the light. Virgil, author of Aeneid, comes and guides him through Inferno (hell) and Purgatorio (purgatory) then two different guides takes him though Paradiso (Heaven).
First, I could not and probably still cannot read this poem and fully understand it. So I listened to The Great Courses college lecture of Dante's Divine Comedy by William R Cook and Ronald B Herzman. Many what a journey.
My high school education of Inferno was horrible and at times just wrong. My perception was Dante was exiled and then wrote The Divine Comedy to fillet his enemies in hell. WRONG!
The two professors state that you cannot fully appreciate and understand Dante and what he is trying to say unless you travel the whole journey from hell to heaven, and neither can you grasp the Divine Comedy unless you travel in the correct order, staring in hell and ascending to heaven.
The Divine Comedy is fill with so many allusions and symbolism and references and people I knew nothing about. Just as Dante needed Virgil and others a guides, I need a guide of my own. I am so thankful for The Great Courses: Dante's Divine Comedy.
They start with wonderful background information of Florence, Dante, the political and economic scene at the time. They also explain most of the people met especially the local individuals of Florence that we are not familiar with. It is not a verse by verse lecture (though at times it is) but they provide so much information. As with how Dante organized his poem. First 33 cantos in each level of the afterlife comprised of 9 levels plus 1 different for a total of 10 levels. His rhyme scheme is A-B-A, B-C-B, C-D-C, D-E-D so 3 out of 6 lines have to rhyme for the whole poem.
It is an amazing piece of literature that is also so profound. Dante covers some serious issue from moral to political to social, salvation and so much more. Dante has to be on the level of the smartest people in history. The Divine Comedy should be studied much more thoroughly in our public education.
I was amazed by the Divine Comedy. So why the 3.5 stars. Its not a knock on content and philosophy. Instead, this is not a work that can just be picked up read for several reasons. Also, this is a piece that desires to be read multiple times to gain all it has to offer. And this is a work that requires study. Even with the lectures and the notes in my translation, the actual reading was difficult.
First, I could not and probably still cannot read this poem and fully understand it. So I listened to The Great Courses college lecture of Dante's Divine Comedy by William R Cook and Ronald B Herzman. Many what a journey.
My high school education of Inferno was horrible and at times just wrong. My perception was Dante was exiled and then wrote The Divine Comedy to fillet his enemies in hell. WRONG!
The two professors state that you cannot fully appreciate and understand Dante and what he is trying to say unless you travel the whole journey from hell to heaven, and neither can you grasp the Divine Comedy unless you travel in the correct order, staring in hell and ascending to heaven.
The Divine Comedy is fill with so many allusions and symbolism and references and people I knew nothing about. Just as Dante needed Virgil and others a guides, I need a guide of my own. I am so thankful for The Great Courses: Dante's Divine Comedy.
They start with wonderful background information of Florence, Dante, the political and economic scene at the time. They also explain most of the people met especially the local individuals of Florence that we are not familiar with. It is not a verse by verse lecture (though at times it is) but they provide so much information. As with how Dante organized his poem. First 33 cantos in each level of the afterlife comprised of 9 levels plus 1 different for a total of 10 levels. His rhyme scheme is A-B-A, B-C-B, C-D-C, D-E-D so 3 out of 6 lines have to rhyme for the whole poem.
It is an amazing piece of literature that is also so profound. Dante covers some serious issue from moral to political to social, salvation and so much more. Dante has to be on the level of the smartest people in history. The Divine Comedy should be studied much more thoroughly in our public education.
I was amazed by the Divine Comedy. So why the 3.5 stars. Its not a knock on content and philosophy. Instead, this is not a work that can just be picked up read for several reasons. Also, this is a piece that desires to be read multiple times to gain all it has to offer. And this is a work that requires study. Even with the lectures and the notes in my translation, the actual reading was difficult.
chris_dech's review against another edition
3.0
I'm too lazy to write a proper review, but The Divine Comedy is certainly deserving of its reputation.
As a whole it's great: moving, grand in scale and vision, and thought-provoking. It's rich in thought, reference, knowledge, and philosophy. And it's just such a labour of love, literally, that one can't help but admire the work that went into it.
But it's also frustrating at the pace with which it moves, and it can be overwhelming with the number of people met in the work. It has this weird tugging between slow and fast, where scenes can seem to drag on, even though it's only contained within one chapter, or canto, as they are called. And that, quite honestly, really can hamper the experience.
Kirkpatrick's translation is serviceable, at best. But it's rather stiff and not very poetic, so I'd suggest looking for another one.
6, maybe 6.5/10.
As a whole it's great: moving, grand in scale and vision, and thought-provoking. It's rich in thought, reference, knowledge, and philosophy. And it's just such a labour of love, literally, that one can't help but admire the work that went into it.
But it's also frustrating at the pace with which it moves, and it can be overwhelming with the number of people met in the work. It has this weird tugging between slow and fast, where scenes can seem to drag on, even though it's only contained within one chapter, or canto, as they are called. And that, quite honestly, really can hamper the experience.
Kirkpatrick's translation is serviceable, at best. But it's rather stiff and not very poetic, so I'd suggest looking for another one.
6, maybe 6.5/10.
viryr's review against another edition
4.0
Una libro de la literatura clásica, un libro majestuoso una magistral obra literaria, un libro que trasciende el tiempo: mas de 7 siglos de haber sido publicada por primera vez, fue la inspiración de pintores (como Sandro Botticelli), un vistazo al purgatorio y al infierno para la religión cristiana.
Su estilo muy apegado a la época, su forma de escribir, de describir pareciera ¡que no es imaginación! da la ilusión de que Dante fue al infierno literalmente, la forma que describe la corrupción humana, los pecados, lo inmoral, el sufrimiento, la agonía, y lo que haríamos por amor redactado de forma tan poética y a veces un poco sínica.
Es magnifico que una obra siga teniendo tanto éxito.
“No hay mayor dolor que recordar la felicidad en tiempos de miseria”
Su estilo muy apegado a la época, su forma de escribir, de describir pareciera ¡que no es imaginación! da la ilusión de que Dante fue al infierno literalmente, la forma que describe la corrupción humana, los pecados, lo inmoral, el sufrimiento, la agonía, y lo que haríamos por amor redactado de forma tan poética y a veces un poco sínica.
Es magnifico que una obra siga teniendo tanto éxito.
“No hay mayor dolor que recordar la felicidad en tiempos de miseria”
odaniels's review against another edition
4.0
A lot went over my head but enjoyed it over all! I feel like I’d like it more if I was familiar with dead Italians