Reviews

INFERNO
Dante Alighieri

[*****] 5 Stars.

The Divine Comedy tells us about the character Dante and his journey through Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso in the course of the three final days of Easter.

The Divine Comedy is an allegory to the author Dante and his political and love life; a journey of the soul.

Thanks to his political allegiance he was exiled from his country. He also regretted the lost opportunity at love with an acquaintance of his younger days.

His mayor influence in written works —Virgilio— is his guide throughout the story and his lovely maiden —Beatrice— his muse. Many important personalities of the time make an appearance.

Character Dante goes through a spiritual journey to find that what he lost. Author Dante uses his words to try to redeem himself from the decadent state he found himself in at the latter stages of his life while presenting us with his own vision of the society of the time.

First he needed to acknowledge his sins, then purify his self and finally be reborn as a new being. Inferno itself is the first part of that process and it's beautifully done in embellished verse form.

I was recommended this by my Literature teacher back in the time and read it in Spanish (my native language) with annotations in italian (the language of the original work). Then I had to actually reread and analyze it for my Global Literature class the following year. I became obsessed and somehow managed to fell more deeply in love with it. This book is a brilliant work of art and everyone should read it.

leoward123's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

paz_books's review against another edition

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3.0

It is clear this book is a classic for a reason. It has such an interesting and philosophical basis and includes some of my favourite literary quotes. The only reason I have rated it 3 stars despite this is that I really did struggle with the writing style and to get through this one. It felt like an exhausting stretch just to get to the next fascinating quote, be amazed, and then lug through again.

gaybf's review against another edition

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4.0

this distracted me from the hell of my real life :)

Where in a moment there had risen erect
three hellish Furies dyed and stained in blood,
members and gestures of the female sex,
Gartered with greenest hydras round their waists;
adders and small horned vipers formed their hair,
twisting about the temples of those beasts. (goes on...)
So from the splintered limb came forth at once
both blood and speech;
(to Brunetto Latini) And I: "I beg you, please, with all my heart!
And if you wish me to sit down with you,
if he with whom I go is pleased, I shall."
(Geryon) --through that thick air
I saw a figure swimming in the night,
such as would stun the surest heart with wonder,
Just as a diver surfacing, who's gone
below to pry an anchor loose from rocks
or something hidden in the sea, will stretch
His arms and ruck his legs to thrust again.

arxchiell's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

podemos dizer que foi um Inferno de ler *gets hit with a baseball bat*

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