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Sue's Reviews > The Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy
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I am so glad for the Divine Comedy and Decameron group for providing the structure and encouragement which provided the impetus for my finally reading this classic! I am also very pleased that I decided to read John Ciardi's translation as his synopsis and notes added immeasurably to my reading.
While personally I found Dante's travel's through Hell occasionally difficult, the Purgatorio and Paradiso (except for the first few scholarly cantos) flowed with beautiful poetry. And through it all, Dante maintained his amazing, and consistent, vision.
No wonder this has stood the test of time.
While personally I found Dante's travel's through Hell occasionally difficult, the Purgatorio and Paradiso (except for the first few scholarly cantos) flowed with beautiful poetry. And through it all, Dante maintained his amazing, and consistent, vision.
No wonder this has stood the test of time.
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Reading Progress
May 19, 2011
– Shelved
January 25, 2014
– Shelved as:
my-own-books
February 2, 2014
–
Started Reading
February 2, 2014
– Shelved as:
classics
February 2, 2014
– Shelved as:
poetry
February 2, 2014
– Shelved as:
italy
February 8, 2014
–
10.0%
"Ciardi's translation is working well for me. The introduction and notes for each Canto are making this an effortless read...along with the group discussion of course."
February 15, 2014
–
15.0%
March 4, 2014
–
29.0%
"We are now in the lowest level of Hell and the punishments become even worse. Imagine---the journey upward is to begin soon!"
March 11, 2014
–
32.0%
"Ah! Hell is behind me (and Dante). We are now climbing upward into Purgatory and can see sky!"
March 22, 2014
–
43.0%
"Purgatory is much more lyrical: "Indigo, phosphorescent wood self-lit,/ gold, fine silver, white-lead, cochineal,/ fresh emerald the moment it is split--/ all colors would seem lusterless as shade/ if placed beside the flowers and grassy banks/ that made a shining of that little glade./ Nor has nature only colored there,/ but of a thousand sweet scents made a single, earthless, nameless fragrance of the air." Ct VII"
April 9, 2014
–
63.0%
"Dante has seen the procession in the Earthly Paradise and now has met Beatrice. His sins have been absolved. Paradise is near!"
April 26, 2014
–
81.0%
"If only Paradise were as lyrical as Purgatory. So far, very dogmatic and scholarly."
April 27, 2014
–
81.0%
"Further along, at Canto 14, Mars, the lyricism returns: "and lo! all round me, equal in all its parts, a splendor dawned above the splendor there like a horizon when the new day starts." "As pole to pole, the arch of the Milky Way so glows, pricked out by the greater and lesser stars, that sages stare, not knowing what to say....""
May 13, 2014
–
98.0%
"Canto XX\n From the first day I looked upon her face\n in this life, to this present sight of her, my\n song has followed her to sing her praise.\n \n But here I must no longer even try to walk\n behind her beauty. Every artist, his utmost\n done, must put his brushes by."
May 14, 2014
–
100.0%
"Canto XXXIII\n \n As one who sees in dreams and wakes to\n find the emotional impression of his\n vision still powerful while its parts fade\n from his mind---\n \n just such am I, having lost nearly all the vision itself, while in my heart I feel the\n sweetness of it yet distill and fall.\n \n So, in the sun, the footprints fade from snow. On the wild wind that bore the tumbling leaves the Sybil's oracles were scattered so."
May 14, 2014
– Shelved as:
read-2014
May 14, 2014
–
Finished Reading
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Mar 12, 2014 03:58AM
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Very interesting. This is one of those books that I've always intended to read so doing it with a group is excellent.I'm definitely getting more out of it. The art and other links that people are posting....Excellent. So I guess rewarding would be accurate.
Purgatory and Paradiso are much different from Inferno, and so is Dante wayfarer. I'm reading Inferno following a university college on the subject. Quite interest with unexpected points of view.
Yes Sylvia. I'm enjoying the more lyrical aspects of the Purgatorio and Dante really is a different creature here.
Unforgettable the reading of this major work.. much more complex than I had thought...
Kalliope wrote: "Unforgettable the reading of this major work.. much more complex than I had thought..."I agree. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this. Teresa was correct; the end of Paradiso is beautiful. Thanks for the like, Kalliope.
Kalliope wrote: "Unforgettable the reading of this major work.. much more complex than I had thought..."Yes, it's a good thing that we all joined this group and had the opportunity to read Dante together. We were a small group, but we made it through Paradiso. I initially thought that it would be a very difficult read, but it ended up being absolutely fascinating! Good for you for writing a review Sue. I don't think I will write one.I look forward to our next read together!
Congratulations on tackling this one and finishing it. It must be very rewarding to get this one in your "read" column.
ReemK10 (Paper Pills) wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "Unforgettable the reading of this major work.. much more complex than I had thought..."Yes, it's a good thing that we all joined this group and had the opportunity to read Dante ..."
Thank you. I'm looking forward to the next one too!
Diane wrote: "Congratulations on tackling this one and finishing it. It must be very rewarding to get this one in your "read" column."Yes it is Diane. After all these years, I can now say I've read Dante! The group definitely made it possible by giving me such a workable schedule to use. I plan to tackle Boccaccio's Decameron the same way starting in a couple of weeks.
I have read The Decameron and really enjoyed it. It's a very accessible read, and at times very raunchy. Not that that's why I liked it!
Diane wrote: "I have read The Decameron and really enjoyed it. It's a very accessible read, and at times very raunchy. Not that that's why I liked it!"(tee hee) of course not!
I'm looking forward to it. I'm assuming it will be a bit more "approachable" than the Divine Comedy".
