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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I wasn't in a place to enjoy the slow reading to appreciate the prose and references.
reflective
medium-paced
—
Abandoned all hope and gave up.
God saw I was reading this on the tube out of vanity, and punished me for being pretentious.
My bad. Now I’m behind on my reading goal.
Abandoned all hope and gave up.
God saw I was reading this on the tube out of vanity, and punished me for being pretentious.
My bad. Now I’m behind on my reading goal.
An infamous work. I read this for its significance in art and pop culture but also because it is essentially a self-insert Bible fan fiction that became a literary classic. The Inferno describes the journey of a fictionalised version of Dante himself through Hell, guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. As there are many translations and versions of this story, I did my research and compared texts to choose the translation that resonated with me most. This review will be for the version translated by John Ciardi. I loved that this edition had introductions to each chapter and notes that explained different historical contexts and references, it made this an easier read than I was expecting. I loved the descent into Hell and the way Dante explored Hell itself and all the different inhabitants. It felt so surreal reading the progenitor and inspiration to so many different stories and works of art. My favourite part of the story was the end where Dante and Virgil come upon Satan in the middle of the frozen lake. The imagery in this story was epic and imaginative. This feels like something I’ll have to read more than once to truly appreciate, and I’m excited to look into supplementary materials and video essays analyzing and dissecting this brilliant piece of fiction. Although I’ve only finished this first part of the story, which is one-third of the complete story, I do feel like this is just the beginning of my analysis of Dante’s Inferno.
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
medium-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
This is me prepping for katabasis by RF Kuang
I listened to the dramatized audiobook narrated by Corin Redgrave, Alex Jennings, Laurie Anderson, and Arthur Brown and it was actually very entertaining. Only 48 minutes, it covered all 9 levels of hell. The background noises really sounded like they were in the deep depths of hell and at some points I was a little scared.
Highly recommend this if you’re looking for a good summary of Inferno.
I listened to the dramatized audiobook narrated by Corin Redgrave, Alex Jennings, Laurie Anderson, and Arthur Brown and it was actually very entertaining. Only 48 minutes, it covered all 9 levels of hell. The background noises really sounded like they were in the deep depths of hell and at some points I was a little scared.
Highly recommend this if you’re looking for a good summary of Inferno.
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I am definitely not smart enough to have read this, but that is okay, I think it was good for me. The commentary proved very useful and I also came across a paperback of the SparkNotes for this at a library fundraiser book sale and that was also super helpful. So, while reading this did prove to be a bit of a task I did enjoy it. It was interesting, and actually quite funny.
A quote from Robin Kirkpatrick's commentary that really stuck with me was;
“Where traditionally, Hell is pictured as chaos, violence and ugliness, Dante sees a vision of terrifying order expressing the underlying structure of a world that God has created but sinners have refused to contemplate."
“Where traditionally, Hell is pictured as chaos, violence and ugliness, Dante sees a vision of terrifying order expressing the underlying structure of a world that God has created but sinners have refused to contemplate."
What a terrifyingly beautiful way to think of Hell. That your punishment is so purposeful and thought out. I also really like the idea that the deepest pits of Hell are freezing cold. To be so far from God's warmth that your tears freeze on your face before they can even fall. Beautiful.