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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
RIP Dante you would have loved self inserts, Kendrick Lamar style dis tracks, and fan fiction
If you like notes and introductions then this is a really nice edition. The notes are often essential to understanding even with the very modern translation.
I read Inferno and Purgatorio along with 90% of the notes but I have to admit I skimmed Paradiso just to get to the end.
The descriptions of hell are very vivid and the highlight for me was the forest of the suicides (also see the Don Paterson version which is great). I did enjoy the Inferno finale when they crawled through the ice up Satan's body, but I was a bit disappointed not to hear more from Satan himself.
Purgatorio did get a bit tedious with the political content seeming to dominate and not much interesting content around the actual purging of the seven sins.
I found Paradiso the most poetic of the three books and the themes of humility under the grace of God and the limitations of human understanding are really hammered home.
On the whole I found The Divine Comedy a really interesting read and this edition helped me get as much as I wanted out of it.
I may go back and read a bit more of Paradiso at some point since I didn't give it the attention that it probably deserves.
(Oh but this guy is just a bit too obsessed with this Beatrice character - who falls in love at 9 years old anyway?)
I read Inferno and Purgatorio along with 90% of the notes but I have to admit I skimmed Paradiso just to get to the end.
The descriptions of hell are very vivid and the highlight for me was the forest of the suicides (also see the Don Paterson version which is great). I did enjoy the Inferno finale when they crawled through the ice up Satan's body, but I was a bit disappointed not to hear more from Satan himself.
Purgatorio did get a bit tedious with the political content seeming to dominate and not much interesting content around the actual purging of the seven sins.
I found Paradiso the most poetic of the three books and the themes of humility under the grace of God and the limitations of human understanding are really hammered home.
On the whole I found The Divine Comedy a really interesting read and this edition helped me get as much as I wanted out of it.
I may go back and read a bit more of Paradiso at some point since I didn't give it the attention that it probably deserves.
(Oh but this guy is just a bit too obsessed with this Beatrice character - who falls in love at 9 years old anyway?)
Hell gets three to four stars. It's twisted, hypnotic and fascinating. The very nature of the place draws you in, descending level to level, with new punishments for each new sin described. Virgil makes for a great guide: he chivvies Dante along when he tarries too long with former acquaintances, protects Dante's when he inadvertently endangers himself, (and he has a working knowledge of Hell, having been ascribed a place in Hell purely for the 'sin' of being born in the pre-Christian era). I read this section in a few days.
Purgatory is ok: two to three stars. Virgil is still the guide, it has moments of interest. Read this section in about a fortnight.
Heaven: not even one star. Good lord, tedious beyond belief. I persevered, because I promised myself I'd finish it, but dear me...Beatrice is sickeningly perfect, and a poor substitute for Virgil (not allowed to heaven, of course). I've plodded through probably two cantos a week, until today when, at last, I'm done.
Purgatory is ok: two to three stars. Virgil is still the guide, it has moments of interest. Read this section in about a fortnight.
Heaven: not even one star. Good lord, tedious beyond belief. I persevered, because I promised myself I'd finish it, but dear me...Beatrice is sickeningly perfect, and a poor substitute for Virgil (not allowed to heaven, of course). I've plodded through probably two cantos a week, until today when, at last, I'm done.
It's hard to rate classics that I love and teach. I give the language, the imagery, the terza rima, and the plot five stars. As a reader, I give it all the gold, but as a teacher to impressionable, incredibly sheltered youth, I give it, myself, and all the lessons thus far no more than a consoling pat on the back. One thing leads to another and suddenly I'm explaining what pimps do for a living. Love the book, need to re-work the lessons.
George Steiner notes that likely it is only music and mathematics which can begin to reflect the expansive majesty of thought. Philosophy pursues such but an inclination to systems and other ordered orientation tempers the vigor. He then states that it is the aphoristic thinkers who come closest and it is from that vantage that one can revel in the grandeur of poetry. Valery and Heidegger understood this. It is a vision of the cosmos which likely extends back to the pre-socratics. I’m not sure if this exclusive project was the ambition of Dante, but who else could carry the torch from Virgil and Ovid, who else could synthesize the disparate of both Grace and what exists Beyond Good and Evil?
Predictably I loved the Inferno, liked Purgatory (especially Virgil and the poets) and pondered the implications of this Green Zone, I mean Paradise. Negotiating the strictures and commandments is tricky. I didn’t find any overt abatement of beer drinking. Unfortunately local politics mar this endeavor. History and Tom Eliot appear to have given the Florentine a pass.
This was an encouraging instance of literary fidelity, one where I read the Commedia from beginning to end, with no distraction, dalliance or pursuit of anything else.
Predictably I loved the Inferno, liked Purgatory (especially Virgil and the poets) and pondered the implications of this Green Zone, I mean Paradise. Negotiating the strictures and commandments is tricky. I didn’t find any overt abatement of beer drinking. Unfortunately local politics mar this endeavor. History and Tom Eliot appear to have given the Florentine a pass.
This was an encouraging instance of literary fidelity, one where I read the Commedia from beginning to end, with no distraction, dalliance or pursuit of anything else.
challenging
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lang leve de voetnoten, want zonder had ik niks van De goddelijke komedie begrepen. Het boek staat bol van de personages en verwijzingen die vrijwel niemand nu nog kent en dat maakt het soms lastig door te komen.
Uiteindelijk wel echt de moeite waard en hoewel in de 14de eeuw geschreven nog steeds relevant. Vooral het gedeelte hel (inferno) spreekt wat mij betreft tot de verbeelding.
Uiteindelijk wel echt de moeite waard en hoewel in de 14de eeuw geschreven nog steeds relevant. Vooral het gedeelte hel (inferno) spreekt wat mij betreft tot de verbeelding.
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes