The Dante Club: A Novel
by Matthew PearlSign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
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Read in October, 2007
This is a serial murder mystery in historical Boston where literary types (a small group of famous American writers and poets) translate and promote the translation of American/English-language editions of Dante's writings while battling the politics of a conservative Harvard review board. It is written by a man who's taught at Harvard, lives in Boston and has worked on the editing of a modern edition of Dante-- so one can expect that the contents of the book can be, quite solid.
The story is...more
The story is...more
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An interesting literary thriller.
The main characters in this are the great 19th century 'Fireside Poets', namely Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Olver Wendell Holmes, and three other lesser-known men (James Russell Lowe, George Washington Greene, and JT Fields, their publisher). They are preparing to publish the first American edition of Dante's Divine Comedy. This is controversial--almost no one in American is interested in the study of the Italian language, first of all, and also, Dante's wo...more
The main characters in this are the great 19th century 'Fireside Poets', namely Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Olver Wendell Holmes, and three other lesser-known men (James Russell Lowe, George Washington Greene, and JT Fields, their publisher). They are preparing to publish the first American edition of Dante's Divine Comedy. This is controversial--almost no one in American is interested in the study of the Italian language, first of all, and also, Dante's wo...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
everyone (except for kids under 15 years old, i think)
The book reached number 1 on Border's, Washington Post, and Boston Globe best seller lists, and also New York Times Best Seller List. The genre is fictional mystery.
This book has a strong relation with Dante's DIVINA COMEDIA (Divine Comedy).
You don't have to read the Divine Comedy first in order to understand this novel. But if you do already read Divine Comedy, it's very good, because you can have deep understanding about what is DANTE all about.
This novel is about a killer that d...more
This book has a strong relation with Dante's DIVINA COMEDIA (Divine Comedy).
You don't have to read the Divine Comedy first in order to understand this novel. But if you do already read Divine Comedy, it's very good, because you can have deep understanding about what is DANTE all about.
This novel is about a killer that d...more
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Read in April, 2003
Downloaded from Audible.com
Narrator: Boyd Gaines
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio, 2003
Length: 5 hours and 58 min.
Publisher's Summary
In 1865 Boston, the members of the Dante Club - poets and Harvard professors Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell, along with publisher J.T. Fields - are preparing to unveil Dante's remarkable visions to the New World. The powerful Boston Brahmins at Harvard College are fighting to keep Dante in obscurity, belie...more
Narrator: Boyd Gaines
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio, 2003
Length: 5 hours and 58 min.
Publisher's Summary
In 1865 Boston, the members of the Dante Club - poets and Harvard professors Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell, along with publisher J.T. Fields - are preparing to unveil Dante's remarkable visions to the New World. The powerful Boston Brahmins at Harvard College are fighting to keep Dante in obscurity, belie...more
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Read in June, 2007
This marvelous book is a superlative example of numerous genres: historical fiction and mystery being two examples. While the premise of engaging famous historical figures in a mystery is intriguing, Pearl never allows this element to drive the narrative. His characterizations of Longfellow, Holmes and Lowell are so brilliant, the reader forgets that they are icons of literary history, and views them as intense and vivacious fictional characters.
This is not beach-reading, but instead an inte...more
This is not beach-reading, but instead an inte...more
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Read in December, 2007
The Dante Club is Matthew Pearl's 2004 debut novel. It's set in Boston just after the close of the Civil War. A series of bizarre and gruesome murders are hitting the city. A local club of scholars working on an English translation of Dante's Inferno begin to see striking similarities between Dante's vision of hell and these recent murders.
I usually shy away from historical novels, especially mysteries, that have major historical figures as the detectives. They often seem too contrived to ho...more
I usually shy away from historical novels, especially mysteries, that have major historical figures as the detectives. They often seem too contrived to ho...more
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Read in August, 2008
I'm never swearing off an entire genre again. Last week (two weeks ago?) I swore off mysteries, and apparently have been irresistibly drawn to them ever since.
This is one of the best of the bunch, though. Pearl tells the story of a series of murders in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that are somehow (I'm being deliberately vague here; I'm not used to reviewing mysteries and I'm trying to avoid spoilers) tied to a group of local poets, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes...more
This is one of the best of the bunch, though. Pearl tells the story of a series of murders in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that are somehow (I'm being deliberately vague here; I'm not used to reviewing mysteries and I'm trying to avoid spoilers) tied to a group of local poets, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes...more
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Read in July, 2006
I believe this was Matthew Pearl's first novel. I really enjoyed it - liking the suspense/thriller aspect of the book. His descriptions are excellent. If you can make it past the first murder and all that entails (it's gruesome - you'll look at houseflies askance for awhile), you'll find a well-written historical thriller filled with literary figures. The characters don't just simper away in their studies, but are written as *people* each with his (predominantly male cast of characters) own foib...more
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Read in January, 2006
Possibly 3.5/5
A series of murders takes place in the late 1800s in Boston which are inspired by the book Dante’s inferno. I assume that if you are familiar with Dante’s inferno and enjoy it, you would appreciate this book all the more. I thought it was very well-written and a great murder mystery book. The gruesome nature of the killings is intriguing for some reason when it could very well be disturbing. The characters are interesting and I liked the backdrop of historical Boston pos...more
A series of murders takes place in the late 1800s in Boston which are inspired by the book Dante’s inferno. I assume that if you are familiar with Dante’s inferno and enjoy it, you would appreciate this book all the more. I thought it was very well-written and a great murder mystery book. The gruesome nature of the killings is intriguing for some reason when it could very well be disturbing. The characters are interesting and I liked the backdrop of historical Boston pos...more
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For some reason, it took me simply forever to get through the first half of this book. After that, though, I burned through it. Murders based on Dante's Divine Comedy. An interesting idea, and a pretty gruesome one at that. Just goes to show you that inventive means of hurting someone isn't at all new to us, as some people would want us to believe. (I usually point out various means of torture throughout the Middle Ages when someone tries that argument with me.)[return:][return:]I have to...more
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Read in June, 2008
This is a great book for anyone who likes historical fiction (I do!) and doesn't mind a little murder and mayhem thrown into the mix. A group of writers in Boston (whose names you might recognize) are setting about translating Dante's Divine Comedy into American English. They call themselves the Dante Club. However, it seems as soon as they translate each canto from the Inferno, a grisly murder is played out using that particular hellish torture on a prominent Bostonian figure. How is the mu...more
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Read in June, 2008
Very engrossing! This is the story of 4 prominent literary icons involved in translating and introducting Dante's Infero to the U.S. in the late 1800s. Their work is the subject of political controversy with the prominent Harvard adminstration and is ultimately jarred when a serial killer emerges mimicking their translations of Dante. The intellectuals subsequently chase the killer and rush to finish their translation.
The Dante Club is historical fiction and really made me want to learn...more
The Dante Club is historical fiction and really made me want to learn...more
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Read in July, 2006
This book came highly recommended by a fellow literature buff. I have to say that I was enthralled. This is right up my alley! Historical fiction with poets—what could be better? Anyway, I've not read Dante's Divine Comedy, but I don't think that hindered me from enjoying the story at all. The relevant parts are translated and included in the book. I thought it was fascinating to read about Longfellow and Lowell and Holmes and how their lives and work were impacted by Dante. I've read s...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in August, 2007
This is a murder mystery that takes place in Boston just after the Civil War. The murders revolve around Dante's Inferno, and a group of Dante scholars are the only people who may be able to find the killer. For a while I couldn't figure out why I wasn't really into the novel, and by the end, it finally dawned on me: Pearl doesn't want you to figure out who the killer is until it's time, but in doing so, the mystery loses it's appeal. To me, a good mystery hints at the answer, often times leadi...more
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Read in October, 2007
kira's historical fiction spree continues, unabated, with this book. read his next book, 'the poe shadow' and liked it, but didn't love it. this was was great, though.
there is some gnarly gore, and this coming from someone who appreciates some good blood and guts. i'm tell you, it was GNARLY. and awesome. just warning you.
i loved the relationships between the characters and the careful work the author put into making them fleshed out. (as contrasted with the mediocre 'the alienist' and 'the ...more
there is some gnarly gore, and this coming from someone who appreciates some good blood and guts. i'm tell you, it was GNARLY. and awesome. just warning you.
i loved the relationships between the characters and the careful work the author put into making them fleshed out. (as contrasted with the mediocre 'the alienist' and 'the ...more
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Read in July, 2008
Matthew Pearl, the author of The Dante Club, recommends the following Dante inspired books:
There's a complex novel mixing war, math and espionage by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn called The First Circle -- an allusion to the first circle of Dante's Inferno, Limbo. Check it out.
Mentioned on this board before has been the recent In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches. This is a story about the fictional theft of Dante's original manuscript in present day.
There's tons of poetry based on Inferno, ...more
There's a complex novel mixing war, math and espionage by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn called The First Circle -- an allusion to the first circle of Dante's Inferno, Limbo. Check it out.
Mentioned on this board before has been the recent In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches. This is a story about the fictional theft of Dante's original manuscript in present day.
There's tons of poetry based on Inferno, ...more
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Read in May, 2007
Just finished this book...
It was refreshing. I was reading some very bad books recently,books which make me fall asleep half way. But this was different..
So what is the story?
It is about a club called the Dante Club,which has as members poets and Harvard professors Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dr Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell and publisher J. T. Fields.
They are working on America's first translation of The Divine Comedy.
But some people are against this work believin...more
It was refreshing. I was reading some very bad books recently,books which make me fall asleep half way. But this was different..
So what is the story?
It is about a club called the Dante Club,which has as members poets and Harvard professors Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dr Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell and publisher J. T. Fields.
They are working on America's first translation of The Divine Comedy.
But some people are against this work believin...more
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Read in November, 2007
We follow several literary big wigs around Boston during 1865 and their adventures with translating Dante into English. That doesn't sound too exciting in itself; however, someone has started murdering people in the fashion of Dante. The Dante Club now has the task of finding out who "Lucifer" really is and stopping him before he kills again. To be honest, I had a difficult time getting into this book. I am not sure if it was the person reading it (I had the audio version) or if I just...more
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Read in April, 2008
This book was wonderfully written and an excellent read. To think that these famous and renowned authors all came together to collaborate is amazing. That part actually having been true made me very interested in the book, but the murder mystery that they must solve is what kept me turning the pages. I was completely surprised by the turn the book takes toward the end and who the actual murderer turns out to be (don't worry no spoiler here!)Just when you think you've gotten a handle on why the m...more
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Read in September, 2007
I was at a show (as in indie rock, guitar and drums and beer) in a faraway city [this did not happen in Seattle, although you would expect it to, since this town is so flippin' small:], it was past midnight, I think it was the 8th or 9th band we had seen that day, and a person who had joined our group, who I had never met before, was wearing a tee shirt that said "So many books, Not enough time" or something like that, and we were waiting for the band to start so I said, so, what book ...more
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