Reviews

The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso by Dante Alighieri

sams84's review against another edition

3.0

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this as I'm not a big poetry reader as I find the reading of such books a bit slow and arduous. I have to say on the whole Carson's translation was vivid and flowing and what I would image the original to have been like. It was a bit slower and clumsy-ish in parts but on the whole it was very enjoyable, descriptive and imaginative. I flicked through a few different versions in the library and this was the one that stood out as the most reader friendly of all the translations. The descriptions of each circle were brilliantly descriptive and brought to mind full colour, sound and life of each to the mind of the reader. I thoroughly enjoyed Dante's combination of mutliple faiths, religions and myths in the people present along his journey through the Inferno. I found this particularly refeshing and amusing.

kulka's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.75

antananarywa's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

jkyer3178's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

4.0

gingerjones's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

zwischenzeilen's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

lumbagofio's review against another edition

2.0

entiendo por qué es considerada un clásico y me gustan varias cosas pero, en general, menudo pastel

venla_reads's review against another edition

1.0

One star just because I appreciate this as a piece of western literature, but oh my was that rough to get through. Can't really say I understood anything: just skimmed through it and then turned to my friend Wikipedia. (But honestly, university schedules suck. Who has the time to actually read this brick of a book in a week??)

I have zero interest for religious stuff, so this just wasn't for me. Plus it was sooo hard to understand, the old timey, poetic prose is exhausting to read.

juulisbad's review against another edition

3.0

I'd say this is a very difficult book. But it is beautifully written and poetic. I liked Inferno most, then Purgatorium and Paradiso was the lamest thing I have ever read in my life. That's why this book only gets three stars from me. Sorry Dante

esthersweet08's review against another edition

4.0

Es un libro maravilloso y lo he disfrutado muchísimo, para mí el infierno y el purgatorio tendrían un 4 y el paraíso un 3, porque esta última parte es bastante densa y aburrida (lo que ha hecho que me gustase un poco menos el libro).