Reviews

The Paradiso by John Ciardi, Dante Alighieri

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.

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.

thomcote's review

5.0

The Paradiso is the most difficult part of the Divine Comedy and Ciardi's translations deserves a lot of credit for making it reasonably digestible. The footnotes are also very useful for understanding and appreciation of Dante's remarkable talent for both line-by-line style and grand-scale structure.

boneyking's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

emilymadeline's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

kpdoessomereading's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

3.0

shaavit's review against another edition

4.0

Had beautiful moments, and finished the commedia well. Wasn’t as fun to read as inferno, but still a classic.

rissasreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

3.5

I already knew Paradise was probably going to be my least favorite out of the whole Comedy but it was such a chore for me to get through. Overall, I still enjoyed some of the imagery we got in this but I found the writing to be less enjoyable than the previous Cantos. I know Dante wrote this very close to the end of his life which probably impacted that and he still put something amazing together but it wasn't what I wanted.

I'm not religious nor was I raised in a religious family so some of the references were completely lost on me, but I enjoyed the fact that Dante calls out the "modern" church (for his time) and some of what is said is still very much true about the people that are looked up to. I think more people that are religious should read this. Even though I'm not religious I thoroughly enjoyed some of this.

fierymoon's review

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

dante is so in love with beatrice i'll actually cry likeeee the way he talks about her???? THE WAY SHE IS LITERALLY QUITE LITERALLY HIS HEAVEN AND SHE WALKED HIM THROUGH THE ACTUAL HEAVEN????? oh i'll kill myself it was so beautiful to read