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sorinahiggins's review against another edition
5.0
Exalted to the fifth heaven, Dante wrote:
And here my memory defeats my wit:
Christ’s flaming from that cross was such that I
can find no fit similitude for it…
my seeing Christ flash forth undid my force.
(Paradiso XIV: 103-105, 108)
This is the central contradiction of Paradiso and other visionary works: the supra-sensory vision of Christ is beyond language, yet the mystic poet inscribes ineffability.
Ecstatic experience is beyond comprehension. The utterly inexpressible—God the Son, glorified—is too large a signified to be borne on a linguistic signifier. Authors of transcendence resort to the distortions of simile and metaphor. However, reiterations of putative spiritual failure are accessory to literary achievement. Some writers retreat into stated silence; others exploit the power of the fragment; others rely on repetition—techniques designed to enhance the emotional power of the account. This paper proposes that Dante’s “weak” words comprise a consummate piece of craftsmanship. Only in admission of failure can a visionary succeed; only by inscribing the incompatibility can he overcome it. “Passing beyond the human cannot be / worded” Dante claimed (I:70-71)—eliciting admiration for how far his do travel, after all.
Such journeys are not without precedent. God Himself communicated encounters with Christ in the Scriptures. Christ is a mystical poem incarnate: the Word made flesh. Because of His leap from ineffable timelessness into expressive time, all who see Him will continue to scribble furiously, capturing the holy passion in fragmentary words, offering the success of their failure to all who will read and hear.
And here my memory defeats my wit:
Christ’s flaming from that cross was such that I
can find no fit similitude for it…
my seeing Christ flash forth undid my force.
(Paradiso XIV: 103-105, 108)
This is the central contradiction of Paradiso and other visionary works: the supra-sensory vision of Christ is beyond language, yet the mystic poet inscribes ineffability.
Ecstatic experience is beyond comprehension. The utterly inexpressible—God the Son, glorified—is too large a signified to be borne on a linguistic signifier. Authors of transcendence resort to the distortions of simile and metaphor. However, reiterations of putative spiritual failure are accessory to literary achievement. Some writers retreat into stated silence; others exploit the power of the fragment; others rely on repetition—techniques designed to enhance the emotional power of the account. This paper proposes that Dante’s “weak” words comprise a consummate piece of craftsmanship. Only in admission of failure can a visionary succeed; only by inscribing the incompatibility can he overcome it. “Passing beyond the human cannot be / worded” Dante claimed (I:70-71)—eliciting admiration for how far his do travel, after all.
Such journeys are not without precedent. God Himself communicated encounters with Christ in the Scriptures. Christ is a mystical poem incarnate: the Word made flesh. Because of His leap from ineffable timelessness into expressive time, all who see Him will continue to scribble furiously, capturing the holy passion in fragmentary words, offering the success of their failure to all who will read and hear.
witherskeleton's review against another edition
2.0
This just kinda sucked. And I say that as someone who really liked Inferno and Purgatorio, this was just incredibly boring conversations with barely anything else to keep it interesting. Kinda shocking how much of a quality dip this is.
roseloganm's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
whimsicallymeghan's review against another edition
3.0
Well, I can say that this has been off to a better start than Purgatory. Maybe it was a combination of not caring about the content as much and the translation, because even though I’m still not 100% into the content of Paradise, I think the translation is better. This was translated by Mark Musa (same guy who translated Inferno); it’s more conversational and feels less like reading an academic essay. I’ve made it to paradise… and yet still there are layers to paradise. I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised, if the last two had layers, this was bound to have them, too. There are 9 Angels who circle God and so Dante is making his way to reach them. But with each layer he uncovers truths about the world and himself; it’s feels sorta retrospective in a way and has piqued my interest to read more.
I feel like I’ve been reading this for ages, and I can feel myself burning out of it. The entire Divine Comedy is a long road, but I know I’m almost there so I’m not going to quit, but gosh am I losing focus. I keep saying I want to love it, but with each passing day that I go to read this, it feels like a slog. It’s not the translation because I’m actually liking how this is written (although the notes have gotten longer and longer), it’s really the content. Now that we’re in paradise I feel like we’re in heaven essentially and there are a lot of bible references. What I have liked are the references to philosophy, those are the parts that are engaging, too bad there aren’t as many. Only 20 more cantos to go!
I will say, this week’s reading of Paradise hasn’t been as bad as past weeks. I actually found something quite interesting while reading - there’s a heavy influence and talk of the eagle and how that’s a big symbol in the Christian faith, which I had no idea. It got me thinking about the US and how their country animal is the bald eagle, yet an eagle nonetheless and how the US put so much faith in God and Christianity (I mean it’s on their money, “In God We Trust”). So I just thought this was an interesting parallel and one that I wouldn’t be surprised was thought out. I mean, this could all be well known knowledge, I’m just seeing it now. I have to say, this has gotten a little more interesting and given me some life in reading it.
I am so close to the finish line with this. Dante is now in the eighth sphere of heaven, out of 10. There isn’t any real marker for the passage of time; it’ll just get briefly mentioned and I’m like ‘oh that’s where we are’. Not that I mind anymore because I’m just trying to enjoy the ride. I thought it was interesting this point that the translator, Mark Musa, brought up in one of his notes. He talked about how God liked one of Dante’s answers and let him proceed to the next stage of heaven - but if Dante is showing us his idea of how the soul reaches heaven, then wouldn’t it be assumed God would like all his answers? He wouldn’t need approval? I thought it was interesting. Because to me, the whole point of the Divine Comedy is to capture this journey. Anyhow, I’m curious to see where the top tier of heaven takes us!
I did it! I made it to the end; it felt like a long time coming, but we’ve reached enlightenment essentially. Dante has now seen God in all his glory and it was blissful. I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy this because I did, there were parts that dragged a bit for me, but the concepts and the journey was interesting. I don’t know if I’d ever want to go on this whole journey again though. I think out of the three volumes, Inferno is the inferior volume and that’s the one that I’d probably see myself reading again. These other two volumes felt like more of a slog to get through and held my attention less. In the end, I’m glad I read all three and got to experience it once.
lizetteratura's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
wack
Dante is a hater but so am i
My final judgment is purgatorio > inferno > paradiso
Dante is a hater but so am i
My final judgment is purgatorio > inferno > paradiso
heyimaghost's review against another edition
5.0
How I feel about Dante's Divine Comedy can only be summed up through a quote from the last canto:
Oh quanto è corto il dire e come fioco
al mio concetto! e questo, a quel ch'i' vidi,
è tanto, che non basta a dicer "poco."
Or, translated by Allen Mandelbaum:
How incomplete is speech, how weak, when set
against my thought! And this, to what I saw
is such–to call it little is too much.
Oh quanto è corto il dire e come fioco
al mio concetto! e questo, a quel ch'i' vidi,
è tanto, che non basta a dicer "poco."
Or, translated by Allen Mandelbaum:
How incomplete is speech, how weak, when set
against my thought! And this, to what I saw
is such–to call it little is too much.
jklbookdragon's review against another edition
1.0
I finally made it through the whole thing! I think the main problem that I had with this book - beyond its cloying, fawning lack of anything really happening - was that coming from a 21st century perspective I recognize how such a major work (You *know* it's a major work from a major author because of how often he tells you that it is!) must have influenced the ideas of the Dark Ages. Things like:
Victim blaming ... she took vows of celibacy when she became a nun. But she was kidnapped from the convent and raped, so she's a vow-breaker.
Ptolemaic view of the universe ... the music of the spheres etc.
Anti-Muslim sentiment ... yeah, the leaders of the Crusades feature prominently in Paradiso.
Anti-Semitism ... Jerusalem deserved to be destroyed because the Jews killed Jesus?
And frankly, I don't care AT ALL about the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. And reading a great deal about them didn't change that in the slightest.
If the version I'd been reading had the original Italian like Inferno did, I might have been able to appreciate the beauty of Dante's poetry, but it didn't.
0.1 stars.
Victim blaming ... she took vows of celibacy when she became a nun. But she was kidnapped from the convent and raped, so she's a vow-breaker.
Ptolemaic view of the universe ... the music of the spheres etc.
Anti-Muslim sentiment ... yeah, the leaders of the Crusades feature prominently in Paradiso.
Anti-Semitism ... Jerusalem deserved to be destroyed because the Jews killed Jesus?
And frankly, I don't care AT ALL about the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. And reading a great deal about them didn't change that in the slightest.
If the version I'd been reading had the original Italian like Inferno did, I might have been able to appreciate the beauty of Dante's poetry, but it didn't.
0.1 stars.
annmaries's review against another edition
2.0
I hate to say this, but honestly, Hell and Purgatory were better. Perhaps it's because I find Dante's concept of Paradise not very paradisiacal, but Paradise was rather boring.
basilbasil's review against another edition
3.0
I actually read Sayer's translation of the Inferno, but as I couldn't find it listed on Goodreads, I just used this one instead.