Is it good times? I'm thinking about buying the book after seXMas.

you ll love it

I loved it. Very hard to read, though. Not only is it extremely complex poetry, but it's very old and very political, often referring to obscure and minor historical events, several of which affected Dante's life personally.

I read the John Ciardi translation, which is great, because he includes tons of footnotes and endnotes explaining a lot of the stuff--everything from the more challenging sybolism to a lot of the obscure events and historical characters. I'd highly recommend that one, although it only has the English translation, not the original Italian, if that matters to you.

I am very much an atheist, but Dante's description of God at the end is the single most beautiful thing I've ever read. The Inferno is the best of the three poems, though.

I've read some overviews of The Inferno, cool stuff. The little bit of the 3rd poem I read kinda sound like HK philosophy to me, but I only read a little bit of it.

It's really awesome stuff. Of all the epics poems, it's by far the best, IMO. It can be pretty challenging, though. But I definitely recommend it.

The Purgatorio and Paradiso can get a bit repetative, but they're still great.

I'd recommend either majoring in English or reading it with someone who is if you're going to tackle it...

Or just get some good cliff notes. Freely available online.

That's boring though. Interpretation should come from within, not from some hackneyed, boring summary of a true masterpiece.

Great points, Auggie! The Inferno section of the poem was my favorite as well, because Dante was so enigmatic when he described each level of hell. It was incredibly visual and overwhelmingly intriguing, not just because of the way he told of the journey, but because of his creativity here, creating a level for different types of sinners and sins, and weighing out which sins were the most evil. Obviously, treason was the crime for which he thought punishment was greatly needed.

The whole thing was engrossing to me, but that version of Hell really stuck out when I first read it. I am very much a spiritual person, so this epic always held significance for me in that sense. I don't think Dante meant for it to be taken literally. I think it was important as a spiritual journey. I loved it for that.

I'm not saying take it exactly as the cliff notes give it. But, like I said earlier, there's a LOT of stuff in there that no one without a doctorate in medieval and classical political history will understand. Not even an English major is going to be able to point out most of his references or explain who most of the people he meets through his journey are. You really need an extensive guide to even begin to try to interpret it.

Hmm. I see your point now. Could you recommend a good translation instead of the Cliff Notes? I've got a version, but haven't started it yet and I'm afraid that I'll not get the whole meaning of the tale.

Yeah, the John Ciardi translation is excellent. He includes extensive endnotes at the end of each Canto where he explains almost all of the references. He doesn't try to interpret too much for you, but mainly sticks to facts about the various faces Dante meets and adds a little bit of conjecture about some of the more obscure symbolism.

He also includes a synopsis at the beginning of each Canto where he explains exactly what is about to happen, which I found a bit odd. But I made sure to skip the summary before reading each Canto. Although it can be helpful afterwards, because Dante's writing gets to be a little convoluted, especially in the latter two books and it can be hard to follow exactly what he's doing sometimes.

But, yeah, get the John Ciardi translation.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... s&n=507846

Awesome, man. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Sure. Anytime. Always remember, Auggie loves you.

I read the Inferno a few weeks ago in English and I loved it. I didn't think it was too hard to read, either. It's really interesting to discuss the various punishments and note how and why some are punished more harshly than others. Ciardi's notes are really helpful, too.

It gets a little slower in the latter books. Mainly because the saints are much less intriguing than the sinners, so to speak. But it just kinda turns into a lovefest, especially in the Paradiso.

Yeah, that's what I heard. My teacher compared it to people who watch car accidents... we only like the gory stuff.