Inferno by Dante Alighieri

The Inferno by Dante Alighieri is one of three parts his trilogy of poems "The Divine Comedy."

The Inferno is the tale of Dante who was traveling along a path in the woods but becomes lost. Upon stumbling through the Dark Forest he is met by Virgil, who would become his guide through his journeys. Virgil then leads Dante through the various circles of Hell showing him what Sinners are being punished by which ways and showing which Sins are the greatest. Along the way Dante meets with various people from his time and before which offers historical background into what the author believed about these public figures.

The Story is very well written, but it is a long poem and requires some amount of strength in the mind department to squeeze out certain information from complicated lines. The descriptions are presented in such a way that I myself can imagine and feel for those who are suffering in Hell. But sometimes the tale can feel smothering towards the end and it made me want to slow down, take a break, and read something of a lighter sort.

It is obviously a classic and the most popular of the divine comedy... I will still continue to read it but I need a break from all of Dante's rambling.

I would give it a 8/10

Is this a translation or the original? If a translation, which translation?

Haha...I don't blame you for getting a break from it all. Whata task!
All all due respect to you Thomas for having a go for I could not even if I tried, not the sort of thing I like to ponder about..too contrived for me I am afraid.

The Copy I read says as follows:
"Dante Alighieri... The Divine Comedy... Translated by Allen Mandelbuam... Printed by Alfred A. Knopf New York Toronto..."

The copy I read actually was very good it was a translation of course, but contained besides all three epics, a notes section of what seems 350 pages of inormation pertaining to every referance in the book, and at least 40 pages of an introduction plus a timeline. I did not need the notes except when it came to certain allusions that did not click in my mind. If you are curious to exactly which book i speak of it is ISBN: 0-679-43313-9

ALSO my inbetween books so far was, Animal Farm by
George Orwell (read the whole book before I went to bed), and today I started The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglass Adams. So It seems that soon enough i will start Purgatorio by Dante Alighieri.... :)

Mandelbaum is the best translation I have come across so far of the Comedia.

Haha...I don't blame you for getting a break from it all. Whata task! All all due respect to you Thomas for having a go for I could not even if I tried, not the sort of thing I like to ponder about..too contrived for me I am afraid.

How can you judge a book when you haven't read it? You seem to have a lot of preconceived notions about "the classics" based on ???

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stlukesguild

Haha...I don't blame you for getting a break from it all. Whata task! All all due respect to you Thomas for having a go for I could not even if I tried, not the sort of thing I like to ponder about..too contrived for me I am afraid.

How can you judge a book when you haven't read it? You seem to have a lot of preconceived notions about "the classics" based on ???

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How do you know I have not read it?
I don't agree with the all the classics that is my choice. I am allowed my opinions and Dante's is not my idea of fun.

How do you know I have not read it?
I don't agree with the all the classics that is my choice and I am allowed my opinions and Dante's is not my idea of fun.

I don't know if you have read it or not. All I have to go on is what you have written, and when you state:

All all due respect to you Thomas for having a go for I could not even if I tried...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stlukesguild

How do you know I have not read it?
I don't agree with the all the classics that is my choice and I am allowed my opinions and Dante's is not my idea of fun.

I don't know if you have read it or not. All I have to go on is what you have written, and when you state:

All all due respect to you Thomas for having a go for I could not even if I tried...

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Well I have read most of it and I have to admit that there was no way I could make head or tail of it plus it had a depressive feel to it.
I get put off by ambiguities and harsheness in meanings and franlky I could not be bothered with it because I could not see why I had to try and second guess what Dante was going on about.
Each reader is different and I understand that you enjoy and like Dante and I can see why you would.
I personally prefer to read and understand more or less without too much difficult if I am top enjoy it and appreciate it.
The other issue I had was why call it Comedy and it obviously was not.
The problem with Dante is that ambiguity lies in the language,in the meanings, in its historical background it is literally everywhere and the only poeople I know who could just about understand what it is Dante was trying to get at were those doing a thesis on it.
Now you can imagine someone without that bit more baggage/knowledge it is totally lost on them.

It does follow the pattern of "comedy" when you take it as a whole. There is more than just the Inferno

I can understand what you mean Cacian when you say it is hard to understand, the Divine Comedy very much can seem more like puns and humor towards what was going around during the time it was written.