geofrog 's review for:

The Inferno by Dante Alighieri

4.0

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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.