The Inferno

wack Dante is a hater but so am i My final judgment is purgatorio > inferno > paradiso

had a much better time reading this than inferno

I can appreciate a good classic but, I had the displeasure of reading this on my own (I love to suffer apparently), i feel like I'd like it much much more if i listened to the audiobook, my head hurts now

rip dante he would’ve loved ao3

Read this along with the 100 Days of Dante series. I really enjoyed the broad sweep of the narrative, and along the way there were several moments that made an impression. The Inferno especially provided a lot of interesting material to reflect upon vis-a-vis one's own sinfulness and self-deceit, and Dante had clever ways of revealing the true character of many sins. For example, why is usury such a grievous sin, even more than fornication? It is a rejection of the commission to bear fruit and be productive in the world, and is an attempt to get rich out of thin air. Very stimulating! It was also a lot of fun to meet various figures from the scriptures and classical literature along the way. I must say, I struggled with Longfellow's translation, though the grandeur was (probably) appropriate. (I appreciate that this must be an especially difficult work to take out of the original language.) I enjoyed the Commedia enough that I'd like to read it again in the future, but I'll try a different translation.

Third time through and it never gets old! Incredibly thought provoking and wildly fun to read!

4.5* “You will from this be able to deduce that all our knowledge will be wholly dead when all the doors of future time are closed” This book was so ridiculously stunning. I’m truly not even sure how to rate it - with a story as old and cherished as this one, it feels weird to add my thoughts to it. It doesn’t really need them, so I’ll try to keep this brief. Reading this at the brink of autumn was such a joy. It’s no secret Hozier and his new album piqued my interest for this story and I’m just so glad it did. I didn’t realize this was poetry when first looking for it at the bookstore (can you believe?), and that surprise alone was worthy of the read. But the journey really kept me going - how Dante weaved us along on this spiral down the different roads and ridges of hell…it was all just so fascinating. This story is just dripping in references, many of which I didn’t understand and had to research. My favorite though were the greek mythology references - it was so fun hearing about everyone in this seemingly unrelated text. It really put into perspective how important those stories were back then and still are to this day. The story is just rich with names and places and remarks about the time period. The notes section (which i didn’t realize was there until Canto 30!) in the back of the book was really eye opening and helpful in conjunction with the book, but it was also really fun figuring it out on my own. I also really loved reading this as an agnostic person - seeing what the different rings/circles meant and the seemingly arbitrary order that they’re in; reading the different punishments and passages about God. Again, just so fascinating. I can’t wait to continue on with the divine comedy. Definitely in need of a breather in between, but can’t wait to see what else he has to say.

Look, I can see he's doing something very impressive that I do not have the background to begin to understand but it's just not as fun as watching him write all the people he didn't like into the various contorted tortures of hell.

took me 2 days to decide if I should give this 4 or 5 stars. I first wrote 4.5 but I cannot stop thinking about it until this very moment so 5.

my fav sorta fanfiction where in i go to the inner layers of hell with my love my fav poet virgil, a perfect date idea!

This is, and probably will remain, a work in progress. Recommendations for others who deserve their own place in hell are welcome. Top 40 radio DJs: Now bodiless entities that only have their senses of hearing intact, they drift through the airwaves listening to the MOST IRRITATING SONG they ever broadcast. Over and over and over again. For all of eternity. "Oh, don't tell my heart / my achy breaky heart" "I'm a barbie girl / in a barbie world" "My hump my hump my hump, my lovely lady lumps!" The Presidents and Vice Presidents of Wal-Mart: They would start their time in hell in a large room full of the greatest sculptures and paintings of all time. Then, they would begin the process of rapidly figuring out ways to produce similar artwork for lower prices. This process would continue forever, their pool of resources getting smaller and smaller until they had nothing left to recreate the artwork with and they were forced to "close," and sit in the empty rooms forever...or maybe after closing, they'd get to be full-time Wal-Mart cashiers without breaks for the rest of eternity. Yeah, that's the one. TO BE CONTINUED....

James claims Cultural Amnesia took him 40 years to write and that this translation took 50. Lucky he saw the two keystones to the end! I was surprised by how much of Dante’s audacious fleshing out of vague Scripture is revenge verse; standing in judgment over his historical (Alexander, Attila) and contemporary enemies (his Latin teacher). He was probably echoing Church proclamations, but still: the author as towering demigod. After Book One you’d be forgiven for thinking that most people in hell are Italian. It’s impossible to ignore Dante’s medieval sneer in places (even though he was a big liberal by the going standard): he parades the Church’s varied idiot retributions, some of which persist, e.g. promising suicidal folk that they are going to get fucked up, or having sweet modest Epicurus roasted alive forever for holding the soul to be mortal. The final, most irredeemable circle of hell is reserved for, well, me: childless anti-nationalist atheists. Didn't quite have the stamina, but I'll be back.

I may not be sophisticated enough or just suffer from not being a native English speaker but I have had my challenges keeping with the story as a result of the language used. Furthermore, the last third of the book is a long list of people who once lived in southern Europe and hence lack the environment descriptions that made the first two thirds interesting to follow. Still, I'm very happy to have read the book and now know the story of Dante.

Dropped. Inferno was really nice though.

The only reason I rated this so highly is because of the cultural significance this has as being, quite possibly, the most significant poem ever written.

A very descriptive poem of Dante, being led by the poet Virgil, through the 9 circles of hell. Each with their own torment based on the life that was lived. They move through these circles on the way to God. **I will admit that I did have to use some Sparknotes to understand some of the verbiage.

★★★★ I am a novice when it comes to good vs. bad translations. In this one I got a good sense of Dante, but perhaps not as good as it could have been. Is it possible to fairly judge a translation when one knows only one language? I would think so, but it’s hard to explain why. Perhaps when the translation is compared with the writer’s other writings it can be fairly judged, or, if the other writings have not been read by the reader, one can measure up the translation with what trusted sources have said about the writer.

What a wild tale. Pinsky does a cracking job with the rhymes, imo. Probably one of the top 3 poems I've ever read.

Read Inferno for class. I might read Purgatorio and Paradiso aloud to my baby, when he or she arrives in a few weeks.

Sort of strange edition but you can't deny the poem is sublime.

Huge if true

I wanted to rate this book 3 stars, purely because the cantos were hard to read (in the sense that it was hard to observe the sinners and their torture) but, I guess that was the point, in which case it was extremely well written. The way Dante weaved aspects of history and myth through out the book was amazing. The only reason I give it 4 stars is because I would be lost on the text alone and relied on the introductory blurbs and the commentary to get me through the text.

Bitchin'.

Inferno: 4 Purgatorio: 3 Paradiso: 3