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303 reviews for:
La Divina Commedia: The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri
Melville Best Anderson, Dante Alighieri
3.86 AVERAGE
303 reviews for:
La Divina Commedia: The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri
Melville Best Anderson, Dante Alighieri
3.86 AVERAGE
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
O! That I could speak and read in a 2nd language, I've attempted to, but the passage of Babel alludes me still. How if I could traverse that tower to the unspeakable tongues (if there were a tower amalgamated of tongues), should I step by step one two to some mischievous height where this slippery eel-like mussel adorn me in the oleaginous goop of fluidity... Alas, Italian is a lost cause, tho how this would make a great study of the vernacular. Duolingo had a satisfactory Italian lesson by which I propagated the stygian wellspring of flordilatte... & On milk flower of sylvans we gallivant the timbral terpsichordean flounce of sempiternity.
"But if it please you, I should willingly
learn just how far it is we still must journey:
the slope climbs higher than my eyes can follow."
Purgatorio is an lukewarm tap water, a medium-well hamburger, a room temperature torture chamber for the sinning, a sphere of the dead, a concomitant other-world vertex lay the weeping, the insuperable oddities of the dividedly: could be they had to house the deceased in innumerable 'houses' people have always been interested in archetypes, the seven deadly sins are another one of those, & then to invest in your kindnesses eternal scourge, spanning eons of cyclical time with no hope of reprieve, but to enact faith; faith, regardless of your deceitful actions, faith that upon thine eyelights dimming to claustrophobic bleakness, the encroaching darkness, the warm radiant gleam of God's light... isn't the Buddhan a fine example of teaching faith: respect other's beliefs, seek from within oneself the path of understanding?!
"Having become a soul (much like a plant, though with this difference-a plant's complete, whereas a fetus still is journeying,)"
Is every flesh body and bone with genetic DNA yet another singular soul kept in prisons of iniquity? Or are there replicas and doppelgangers, perhaps aligned with ourselves still yet on a different plane, different eyes, & a different brain?! & different choices, different voices, different vices, different auspices?! Tho we are dreaming beings, realities dreams and anguishes dreaming, we float along our countenances in genuflection of...?
"But if it please you, I should willingly
learn just how far it is we still must journey:
the slope climbs higher than my eyes can follow."
Purgatorio is an lukewarm tap water, a medium-well hamburger, a room temperature torture chamber for the sinning, a sphere of the dead, a concomitant other-world vertex lay the weeping, the insuperable oddities of the dividedly: could be they had to house the deceased in innumerable 'houses' people have always been interested in archetypes, the seven deadly sins are another one of those, & then to invest in your kindnesses eternal scourge, spanning eons of cyclical time with no hope of reprieve, but to enact faith; faith, regardless of your deceitful actions, faith that upon thine eyelights dimming to claustrophobic bleakness, the encroaching darkness, the warm radiant gleam of God's light... isn't the Buddhan a fine example of teaching faith: respect other's beliefs, seek from within oneself the path of understanding?!
"Having become a soul (much like a plant, though with this difference-a plant's complete, whereas a fetus still is journeying,)"
Is every flesh body and bone with genetic DNA yet another singular soul kept in prisons of iniquity? Or are there replicas and doppelgangers, perhaps aligned with ourselves still yet on a different plane, different eyes, & a different brain?! & different choices, different voices, different vices, different auspices?! Tho we are dreaming beings, realities dreams and anguishes dreaming, we float along our countenances in genuflection of...?
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found this book to be slightly more interesting than Inferno, but it was also confusing at times. It was a lot more uplifting to read this book because I had the knowledge that the punishment of the souls in purgatory was not eternal and their punishments seemed less harsh than those in the inferno. Dante does a better job of explaining himself in this book than he does in the Inferno as well. Things are much clearer. Overall, this was better than Inferno, but still not that extraordinary.
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. I know the first time I tried reading Purgatory it was a slog and I gave up on the Comedy when I finished Purgatory but this time I quite enjoyed it.
For this particular edition, I do really like the illustrations from Gustave Dore and the notes in the back and appendices are all really helpful for understanding the text. And I was struck by how much time Dante spends complaining about Florence. Definitely a humanizing moment, how frustration with a place you love can span centuries.
And I really like the change of pace here, in Hell everyone was so dang spiteful but here everyone is encouraging to each other and celebrates when someone ascends a level in Purgatory. I mean it feels obvious in hindsight but it's uplifting to read.
And I find that idea how pride is the base or root sin really interesting and then as they ascend the sins get less serious as they become more about disordered appetite. And Dante's humility, commenting that he's going to spend a long time in the circle of pride. It's tough to glean out sometimes and the notes definitely helped me to understand but I think there's real gems in here.
For this particular edition, I do really like the illustrations from Gustave Dore and the notes in the back and appendices are all really helpful for understanding the text. And I was struck by how much time Dante spends complaining about Florence. Definitely a humanizing moment, how frustration with a place you love can span centuries.
And I really like the change of pace here, in Hell everyone was so dang spiteful but here everyone is encouraging to each other and celebrates when someone ascends a level in Purgatory. I mean it feels obvious in hindsight but it's uplifting to read.
And I find that idea how pride is the base or root sin really interesting and then as they ascend the sins get less serious as they become more about disordered appetite. And Dante's humility, commenting that he's going to spend a long time in the circle of pride. It's tough to glean out sometimes and the notes definitely helped me to understand but I think there's real gems in here.
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
I liked the pacing of the Inferno better, but overall Dante outdid himself again!
3.85/4 stars
3.85/4 stars