Note: The thread title is supposed to read "Paradiso a Let Down." My mistake.
I'm continuing this conversation from another thread (the list the books you read this year thread), where the following conversation has started, and since not everyone sees that thread, I thought I'd make this so maybe we can get input on some of the Dante scholars we have on this board.
Yeah, I felt pretty much the exact same way. It's beautifully written, and probably "deeper" than the first two parts, but it just didn't grab me. It was almost like, okay, he's in heaven, so now what? We get to hear about how wonderful it is for 33 cantos? I really don't care--after Dante left Purgatory, his journey was over for me.
It kind of reminded me of the end of the third Lord of the Rings movie, where Sam and Frodo are sitting on Mount Doom having just destroyed the ring, and Frodo says that wonderful line, "I'm glad to be hear with you Samwise Gamgee, at the end of all thing," and the screen fades, it you think, "Man, what a perfect ending." And then it comes back, and the fellowship reunites, and you think, "Okay, not as good of an ending as it could have been, but still good," and then it does this like four more times, and by the end you're ready to get up and go. That's how it felt to me, anyways.