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fsb95's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
In truth, I didn’t finish - I fought my way through to the end of the Inferno (ha) and then gave up.
In fairness to Dante, it is probably more readable in the original, because there, the poetic merit probably compensates a good deal for the tiresome self-indulgence of the author. I attempted to read this book because of the tremendous impact it has had on Western culture and tropes, and admittedly Dante’s world-building is probably on par with someone like Tolkien.
Having been pleasantly surprised by “Candide” just before I started this, I expected more of the same - a gripping read. But the “Comedy” in the title misleads - though of course it does contain elements of satire and humour (much of which just wasn’t that funny to me), it is more comparable to a religious text, which of course in a sense it is.
At least to the modern reader, it isn’t something you can really just read, it’s a book you would need to study and interpret. I constantly found myself referring to the notes section, and I learnt lots of things about late mediaeval Italy in general, and Dante’s life in particular. Which I wouldn’t have minded had that been what I had set out to do, but it wasn’t. I was looking to read for pleasure, not learning. Of course, with some books you can do both, but for me this just wasn’t one of them.
In summary: Unless you’re already intimately familiar with both Dante’s biography and this particular period of Italian history, this is not a book you can really read for pleasure. If you do want to learn about that though, and don’t mind “studying” this book rather than simply reading it in a leisurely way, then I’d really recommend it. If not, you’re better off just reading the Cliffs Notes summary of each canto.
In fairness to Dante, it is probably more readable in the original, because there, the poetic merit probably compensates a good deal for the tiresome self-indulgence of the author. I attempted to read this book because of the tremendous impact it has had on Western culture and tropes, and admittedly Dante’s world-building is probably on par with someone like Tolkien.
Having been pleasantly surprised by “Candide” just before I started this, I expected more of the same - a gripping read. But the “Comedy” in the title misleads - though of course it does contain elements of satire and humour (much of which just wasn’t that funny to me), it is more comparable to a religious text, which of course in a sense it is.
At least to the modern reader, it isn’t something you can really just read, it’s a book you would need to study and interpret. I constantly found myself referring to the notes section, and I learnt lots of things about late mediaeval Italy in general, and Dante’s life in particular. Which I wouldn’t have minded had that been what I had set out to do, but it wasn’t. I was looking to read for pleasure, not learning. Of course, with some books you can do both, but for me this just wasn’t one of them.
In summary: Unless you’re already intimately familiar with both Dante’s biography and this particular period of Italian history, this is not a book you can really read for pleasure. If you do want to learn about that though, and don’t mind “studying” this book rather than simply reading it in a leisurely way, then I’d really recommend it. If not, you’re better off just reading the Cliffs Notes summary of each canto.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Excrement, Death, Homophobia, Confinement, Body horror, Blood, Sexual content, War, Religious bigotry, and Violence
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