School reading first five parts plus the introduction

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Fascinating book with beautiful imagery and lots of sly inclusion of political topics from Dante’s era and personal life/party in Italy. Has ridiculous humor and times and grief and beauty at others. Great read!
adventurous challenging dark slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous challenging reflective tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: N/A
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I'm one,' my leader answered, 'who descends with this still-living man from ledge to ledge. 
My purpose is to show him all of Hell.'

dante, o pai da fofoca (e quanta fofoca boa!)

Don't know why I felt so intimidated to read this, surprisingly found myself quite enjoying it and will end this review by quoting one of my favorite Tumblr posts:

"Dante Alighieri is Regina George and he wrote an entire book about a bunch of people he hates and why he hates them. Dante took out his pink gel pen and wrote out in big cursive letters: Achilles is a slut."

i skipped so much senior year of high school that i missed almost all of this one and now i can finally say that i've read it! but i'm not gonna lie i mostly read this for the new Hozier album and also Over the Garden Wall. i really enjoyed the introduction and the analyses from the footnotes though! i thought a lot of the analysis of Dante's work and legacy was fascinating. i imagine that reading this in Italian is probably much more enchanting and impressive, although I’m still pretty impressed at Dante’s intellectual ability and pettiness 

Wow. What can I say but wow. This was my first pass through the work and there is just to much to discuss. I can happily and proudly say I understand about 25 - 35% of the entire thing, enough to understand the direction and some intricacies but not quite enough to be able to link the story together in a sequence. There is a HEAVY italian focus and my italian history is even worse then my poetry. Alas, the book was fantastic, challenging, terrifying and unbelievably wretched in its use of imagery to conjure up sites saw in the worst of all imaginable places.

The only negative I found in this book was the disappointing ending. The last cave they encountered with the "boss" himself was rushed, felt not well thought out and generally disappointing. I could wager a few guesses as to why this was the case, but ultimately, it was rushed.

I don't want to spoil the book for you, just go read it. It's worth the short amount of time you need to invest and it will enthral you as you begin to realize that almost all modern religious culture in regards to damnation and hell is built on the premises established in this text.
challenging dark reflective medium-paced