Dante - The Divine Comedy: Inferno BOOK REVIEW
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- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
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It's also worth mentioning that the Divine Comedy is attributed as the first ever book written in Italian. I mean, Dante literally "created" Italian for that. You can read his own article on his method in "de vulgari eloquentia" (search in Wikipedia). Basically people would speak already in Italian, but keep writing in Latin. So I guess that in order to make a point of some sort he decided to write in Italian instead. I heard that the standard Italian learned nowadays is based on his Italian, even. He basically took regional variants from all over Italy (but focusing on his own) and created a "common tongue" from the many Italians available at the time.
People would still write in Italian but for higher things like philosophy books or poetry then it'd be in Latin since it was thought to be pristine
In high school here in Italy we read and analyzed the Divina Commedia in its entirety during the last three years.
Just amazing, one of the greatest masterpieces in human literature. The plot, the themes, the structure itself, the scary punishments, the somewhat funny segments, the holiness feeling that permeates the Paradiso.
The episode you refer to is Count Ugolino della Gherardesca. Pretty often it's the most discussed episode among students.
Forse al liceo classico si studia per tre anni, ma nessuno dei miei coetanei ha mai fatto più dei primi 20 versi circa della Divina commedia... Due lezioni e via a seguire il programma ministeriale. Molto triste
@@wallijacanero1532 Io ho frequentato un liceo scientifico di provincia in Piemonte e l'abbiamo letta tutta nel triennio. Pensavo che fosse la norma. Sì, è vero, è un peccato che non sia così ovunque.
Anche allo scientifico in Basilicata (circa 30 anni fa) la abbiamo studiata per 3 anni, una cantica l’anno. La più bella per me è l’Inferno.
Anche io allo scientifico in Lombardia l'ho fatta per tre anni, sinceramente non conosco nessuno che abbia fatto un qualsiasi liceo e non abbia fatto altrettanto, forse il discorso cambia un po' per le altre scuole ma in realtà non penso più di tanto
I too was disappointed by the final Canto at first, all this build up and Satan is simply described but never talked too. But on re reading I thought it was a good end, Dante never gives the Devil the time of day, he just says 'there he is, chewing on Brutus, crying tears of blood, distraught and humiliated by being cast down into hell'. A fitting end.
Cliff is better than Virgil at guiding you through the circles of Hell 🤘
I read all 3 parts last month and loved it. It’s difficult with the 13th century Italian references but definitely worth it. Don’t be afraid of looking for supplementary notes!
Dude I've found your channel out at the beginning of 2020 and you've made me company for almost 2 years now. The way you immerse in what you read it's what gets me, great great really great analysis. And me being Italian I need to say I had to clap at your "lasciate ogni Esperanza o voi che entrate". Dude, chaepau! You need to check out Roberto Benigni's commentary on the Comedy, if it has subs. He's one of the many that knows it aaaaall by heart here. damn nuts. You have free wine & food whenever you come
Hells are so personal
I remember sitting around in the staff room
at the equivalent of a High School
and discussing what our versions of hell were.
Mine was being on School Bus on a trip
a long long trip
on a turnpike with no exits
on a grey Novemberish day
rain, dark clouds and endlessly travelling
and to missquote Rowan Atkinson playing Toby the Devil
"The are no toilets in Hell as it is torment without relief"
My favorite fan fiction
Best book reviewer on RUclips by lightyears. Thank you.
Dude, you are amazing. Even your advertisement was killer. Thank you so much for what you're doing. Got me at the bookstore looking for Faulkner.
Another sign I have to read Dante this year. Thanks for the review :)))
i tackled inferno as an ornery antisocial highschool kid, on family vacation in florida. refused to leave the hotel room and barreled through it tethered to my discman spinning hell awaits and reign in blood. way better time than universal studios ever would have been.
Will you do purgatory and paradiso? Would be interesting, especially since those are almost never discussed.
Dont you need a deep understanding of the time period it was written to understand the people, religion and references made? Thats what ive heard anyway would you say theyre worth a read even without that understanding?
@@ahhhhyes If you don't know who the writer virgil is or what was going on in Dante's personal life at the time he wrote Inferno, then I think you're gonna have a really rough time getting into it. that said, there's likely tons of specially footnoted and supplemental editions of it in print that might help you get all the historical/religious/political/literary references throughout. it's both a blessing and a curse just how legitimately DEEP it is, in every sense of the word. it's not very accessible, and yet it's one of the most impactful and important written works in history. whole college courses are just on Inferno. maybe if you could find a book club for it or something, that might help too. but obviously that's not an option for everyone lol.
Got the notification while listening to Highway to Hell... here we go
lol perfect
Life feels sadder when you read and understand a lot of Dante’s Inferno.
A must read is 'Ugolino' by Seamus Heaney if you like/love 'Inferno'.
Ooh! I will- thank you.
Vita Nuova is also a hell of a book. Really original and poetic.
I definitely recommend getting a hardback edition with the illustrations of Gustave Doré - just a stunning addition to any library. He also illustrated Paradise Lost. I find myself revisiting my favourite bits of The Divine Comedy every now and then, I agree it's one of those ones books that stay with you forever.
The one with Henry Longfellow?
Ya love to see it! Thanks, Cliff. Saw it on Patreon. Happy Spring!
Yes! Been waiting for this one.
Dante's inferno has been and probably always will be my favorite book, almost like a muse. I've never seen such a detailed description of hell, punishments all created specifically for their sins. And aha my man dante really just be dropping names like that he doesnt care I like it. but yeah man, he created a working, living society of hell, I think that's why there's so many adaptation to it, humans are morbidly interested in this kinda of realm and he manage to visualize it.
Awesome review! Now I really want to read it.. I really hope that the Portuguese ( Brazilian Portuguese) version is going to have a good translation since Portuguese is a really close language to Italian haha
I just finished watching Good Omens and thought I should give this a re-read. I read it in college. Inferno was definitely the most iconic and accessible section. Hard to make it through Paradiso without a teacher though
After working a bit into Inferno I zipped through it and Purgatorio pretty quickly. That was 2-3 years ago. I still haven't finished Paradiso.
My absolute favorite work! So glad to see it reviewed on your channel 💕
This is a good analysis here. Reading passages aloud tugged on my heartstrings... how can you not?!
I have been reading along with a much poorer translation than yours, but I am trained well and am just writing great insights for the next reader in the margians.
Thanks for your take and insights!
many thanks, dude !
I am lucky enough to have been taught to read Dante in italian, and I can tell you one thing, the language is incredibly incredibly dramatic and modern, in a way.
His verses are super satisfying to read and hear, very baroque sort of...
You should read again Journey to the End of the Night, now that you have Dante's Inferno in mind, your perspective will change ;-)
I just bought "Hard to be a god" the book, didn't know there was a movie!
Thanks for the info :)
We briefly studied it at university in a subject called comparative literature when we had to compare between two works of literature. We focused on The Divine Comedy and Alfarabi's (it's actually by Al Maari) Letter for Forgiveness (the work is written in Arabic). The teacher explained how Dante might have been by Alfarabi for his epic poem.
Letter of forgiveness was written by Al Maarri. But yeah both themes are very similar, some say that the divine comedy was inspired by the letter of forgiveness.
@@sara-yk1sq thank you for correcting the name of the author, I don't know why Alfarabi got to my mind while writing the comment!
@ no worries! The three of them had a great legacy in the end 😎
“This is one to reread for a lifetime”. Very well said! I’ve been rereading the Comedy for the last 14 years, and every time I find new interesting details and angles. As for the charges of ‘grafting’ against Dante : in those times, especially in Florence, it was common for the winning party to exile the leaders of the opposition by concocting false accusations against them, on both sides. In fact, Dante’s faction had done the same to Cavalcanti shortly before (we meet him in the circle of heretics). I am Italian and I do talk a LOT about the Divine Comedy on my channel, if anyone wants to pass by.
I’ve subscribed, Tom! Looking forward to watching. I did the DC for my university dissertation.
@@DemeterTelphousia-Erinyes Fabulous! Thanks Demeter. I look forward to reading any of your comments or questions on my videos.
I love the Ciardi translation of Dante's Commedia!
I'm currently reading the Longfellow translation of The Divine Comedy and understanding very little. Maybe I'll switch to the Ciardi translation. Love your channel, regards from Sydney Australia.
Excellent review as always! You have me excited to give this poem a go.
I've read the Hollander translation, which is also excellent. Has the Italian text on the facing page and a line by line analysis following each Canto.
I love your review of this epic work and understand that medieval references plus Greek myth can throw first time readers for a loop. Once you get pass that you begin to find the Beautiful poetry sinking in. Dante takes everyone to task in the Inferno even himself. In other words he not afraid to call a spade a spade or just admit how lost we can become in the scheme of God plans. My favorite part takes place in the Paradiso when Dante sees the Trojan priest and ask Beatrice how he could possibly be saved and she just Basically shakes her head, it was beyond her as well!
Thank you for the recommending the Ciardi translation. I was doing okay with the Princeton online, but Ciardi's translation and notes are much better in helping me understand.
thanks for your video! I'm looking for years now on my bookshelf where "Divine Comedy" in Italian waits till I learn Italian. Maybe it's about a time.
if you liked the movie "Hard to be a God", you may also be interested in the original novel by brothers Strugatsky. It's way much better that the movie itself.
I read the whole thing recently, the three parts, I thought they were amazing, so rich and detailed, its really something else. I thought Paradiso was kind of the most boring part of the three, but still worth reading, I'll have to read it again another time, one really cannot get all that Dante put into this book with just one read. Great video too
Which did you prefer, Inferno or Purgatorio?
@@MrPROJECTSyNc I think I'd say Purgatorio. Even though the imagery from Inferno is way more intense and "metal" as Cliff says, I was more intrigued by the concepts and ideas dealt purgarorio. What about you?
@@jnbfilm56 I completely agree, I preferred Purgatorio. I felt like Dante was trying to reach heaven by experiencing purgatory, whereas in Inferno he was more of a voyeur
@@MrPROJECTSyNc Interesting, I like that idea, never thought about it that way
You saying that Paradiso was boring I think shows that you were perhaps not following Dante's thinking or journey or allowing yourself to travel with him. I studied the Comedy for two years and thought, before reading it in detail, that after Inferno other sections would be dull, but I was mistaken and personally I found, even as a non-religious person, Paradiso intensely moving. Dante I think can only be appreciated with detailed annotation because it has to be read with an understanding of the medieval mind.
Your timing on this review was spot on. I just started reading Inferno!
I am from India and these videos help me understand great western literature thanks man .
Nice this is perfect timing, I just finished the Commedia for the first time
You mean the Impel Down Arc? ;)
@@albinjohnsson2511 righteous
If you want something similiar - another masterpiece - you should read “The Lusiads” by Luiz Vaz Camões. It is an epic poem, the greatest piece of literature ever written in the portuguese language. You have many translations to english. It would be amazing to see a review of that book.
I read that when visiting Lisbon.
And Lucan's Civil War, of not the Aeneid
talking about glutony, la grande bouffe is a fantastic film that portraits this sin as well as opulence and deprivation
"very metal." Lmao. That's great Cliff xD!!
btw Cliff, you should totally check out Jigoku. It's been released in the criterion collection...just check it out. : )
1:58-2:01
"So get that coffee; it's time to talk about _HELL!"_
That shouldn't have made me laugh as hard as it did.
5 days ago I received my copy of the divine comedy, quite happily surprise to see the review :D keep it up
Good review but I'll add a minor correction: that soul eating the head of a bishop's soul isn't a king and he did not starved his sons to death. That man is Count Ugolino of Pisa which was accused by the archbishop Ruggieri of treachery toward his city and imprisoned in a tower with two sons and two nephews and with them left to starve to death.
Thinking that Ugolino was biting his hands out of hunger, the children even offered themselves as food to him but he resisted...one by one the sons and nephews died before him who in the last day looked upon them and then... "poscia più che 'l dolor poté 'l digiuno"
This is an ambiguous verse that is interpreted in two ways:
1) hunger overcame grief and he ate the flesh of his own dead kin
2) hunger killed him faster than his own greif could (so he died without eating his own kin)
In hell Ugolino is trapped in the ice of the lake Cocito in the zone called Antenora (where are punished Traitors of their country) and he can finally have revenge over the archbishop that lead him and his family to death by feasting upon his head, to satiate his never-ending hunger.
Great review, as always. Just two comments: Virgil is portrayed as an ultimate badass, but the actual Virgil was very different, a very quiet and shy person, overwhelmed by the fame he gained in life. On the "Why satan does not speak", I think that it is a mirroring to the later portrayal of god in the book: god is like an ineffable entity whose mere contemplation is compared to the famous problem of squaring the circle (solved in 1882, btw). Both are representations of absolute values: god is surrounded by saints and angels, praised as perfect goodness, untouchable by anyone, and satan is just a weird giant alone in his hole, described, touched (and even used as a ladder) because he is the opposite of perfection, he is just flesh and bones. I think Dante made the right choice from a literary perspective: any words in their mouths would have diminished the archetypes to mere characters; like those movies where god is a funny and wise guy and satan is a charming and ironic guy. The same idea, I think, is behind the movie Ben-hur (the good one, the original) where the director never shows the face of jesus, showing his importance through the impact he have in other characters, like the roman guard. In this way, we are forced to imagine something incredible, something that reality cannot grasp. Like Pessoa said, "The grass is always greener in our minds".
Fantastic video man
Thanks for the recommendation in regards to which translation to look for. I'll seek it out specifically.
Was just listening to an audiobook of this. Nice🙏
Thanks for the reminder on books I should get. Great review.
Fantastic review Cliff!
You finally did it. Nice
Hey Cliff! you should read The Epistle of Forgiveness! It is the ironic reply to a letter that was written by Ibn al-Qari to the writer. The Epistle mocks the former's hypocrisy and sycophancy by imagining he has died and arrived with some difficulty in Heaven, where he meets famous poets and philologists from the past. In al-Ma'arri's imaginative telling, Ibn al-Qari also glimpses Hell and converses with the Devil and various heretics. A true tour-de-force.
I know this was a year ago. But when you mentioned that you thought Satan should have had something to say. I got me thinking. What could ultimate evil frozen in the basement of Hell possibly have to say? Don't do what I did?
Thanks for another excellent review!
I was planning to read Dante's Divine Comedy this September, 700th anniversary of the poet's death.
Now you're reviewing it, one more reason to read it. 👍📚
Hannibal, the sort of sequel to Silence of the Lambs, is actually structured based on Dante’s Inferno. You can follow all the types of sin in the movie.
I can sort of imagine Satan as eternally being in a Homer Simpson mood: “Can’t talk. Eating.”
Yup, Ciardi's version is the best. I started with Mandelbaum but it was ...not easy. Sissons version wasn't that bad either. Longfellow is almost as good as Ciardi.
What are the other versions that you've?
Sometimes I imagine what Cliff's review of my currently unfinished book would sound like. Well, maybe some day...
If you liked this book, you should watch the movie "The house that Jack built" by Lars Von tier. I dont know if you tall about movies here, but sill i will love to hear your opinion
Reading suggestion : Curzio Malaparte, Kaputt. A must read ;-)
Hiya Clifford, just wanted to reccomend Death is the martyr of beauty by Death in June. In particular with the provided clip of a Mishima movie, thought you might appreciate that. Cheers.
Oh yeah the John Ciardi (sp?) translation is my favorite
Cliff have you read 1001 Nights? Check out the versions by Husain Haddawy, and the one by Malcolm C. Lyons
I have the 15 oz mug now. Love It!!
Well, Oscar Wilde reverted to Catholicism before he died, and even got blessed by the pope, and he was pretty cool.
Hey Clifford, great interview as always. Do you know where I can find Borges’ essays on Dante? Been searching online and haven’t been able to track them.
I enjoyed the review. I chose the DC as my university dissertation. Inferno is the best bit though..
So weird you haven't done László Krasznahorkai yet - especially Sátántangó and The Melancholy of Resistance. Fits the mould for your channel perfectly.
Talking of Hungarian literature Agota Kristof is amazing too.
I read it first
When I did not believe
That I had a soul
and that heaven and hell were only fiction
-an infinite see saw in an eternal park
Ridden by all for giggles.
I grew older
Childhood friends fell like leaves from trees
I thought of them in autumn time
as the river readied for winters ice
And skating
At the 9th bell of life
One may pause
and watch the golden leaves disappearing beneath the water
and wonder if
The giggles will resound
as loudly as the bells
By the 10th hour.
I read the Divine Comedy again
As 11 bells rang
Watching leaves fall
and listening to the sleet ticking at my window
While the frost crept.
Dante resounds much more loudly
and thoroughly
If you Believe
...that you have a soul
...that winter is real
and that midnight will swallow us all
Giggling or not.
Where we will lay at the end of the day is determined by belief in the soul
And our cooperation with the sun.
Only dead fish go with the tide
It is every man's choice to swim
Or drown.
There is no mirth
In the decaying muck
On the bottom
Beneath the ice.
You are warned.
-
.
Now
A recommendation
*A Letter from Hell.*
Catholic Audiobooks
27 minutes of your time
if you can spare it.
(away from the see saw that is)
Listen before midnight please.
I have read (and love) the Hollander translation particularly for its notes… but I’m curious which of the translations is best for attempting to maintain the rhyming scheme? Any heavy Dante readers have a suggestion?
Dante's the _shite!_ Were doing a readalong of the _Comedy,_ currently.
Puns are on point in this video! 👌
Loved this review! Great book 👌
... and for those who don’t want to read? Peter Greenaway’s treatment is an excellent beginning... I’m sure that’s is a copy somewhere in RUclips... another amazing review 👍🏼
I read The Inferno twice, once in college and then again a decade later. Purgatory was next and I ran aground on Paradise. Just couldn't "believe" in the theology Dante was selling.
A possible reason for no speech from Satan was that Dante being tempted was not what the poet wanted. Virgil leaves Dante when the poet reaches Paradise. "Reason" (Virgil) can get you through the bad situations. But you need "faith" (Beatrice) to attain heaven.
Hey Clifford I recommend you check out the Ernest Hemingway documentary by Ken Burns! Its six hours broken into three parts, but I think you'll really like it.
Where can it be viewed? I live in the UK.
I have seen that you liked a lot Bruno Schulz works. You should definitelly try to read Ferdydurke by Gombrowicz his is the second greatest polish writer of the XX century. You will be suprised how insane, grotesque and meanigfull that book is.
I can't read this without seeing Hieronymus Bosch's garden...in the shade
Finally! La grande bellezza!
You are good with sales! I need that shit now!
Originally I planned to read this before I turned 40. Getting close to that now... I might need to change it to before 60.
The book "You Suck" by Paulie Amigo is a fun self-help satire. Recommended.
To get the most out of it, read it with a reader (notes by a literary critic).
Dante had the craziest DMT trip 😂
If you like epic poetry then you should check out Omeros by Derek Walcott. It's a great combination of Dante and Homer set in the Caribbean.
Didn't know we were reviewing Under the Volcano again.
First they came for fantano, then they can for sargent. The ridgewallet plague is inescapable
Oh Man... i miss the longer reviews
Congrats from Brazil!
I Have a dual language version of the Divine Comedy (Brazilian portuguese on a page and the original Italian(?) on the other) with tons of translator and editor notes. And you are right, for books like this is essential to understand everything
I love how you compared Berghain to going down to inferno 😂 you get a like from me
I first heard of this book trough the movie se7en, where in the scene Morgan Freeman is picking up this book en you see the side of it with Divine Comedy in the image with the briljant and beautiful piece Bach - Air on G string on the background . I have seen that movie almost 50 times i think if its not more en suddenly i became curieus about this book so i bought a deluxe edition from it in english (im dutch by the way) and i read it for almost 3 months every single day. I loved the pictures in this edition, (wich are beautiful by the way) but i almost couldn't understand any of it. I read it completly trough and it became more and more of a drag. When i finally finished it, i immediatly thought; i gotta read this in my own language, wich i did, i read it completly in a dutch translation and i thought it was very, very good. The translation didn't have pictures or anything, just text, but the first two big chapters completly maked more sense to me and i really enjoyed reading those. Paradiso was something else, far more complex than the first two chapters and that also felt more like a drag to me. But overall, i really enjoyd this piece of history. I still have to read Paradise Lost wich i'm gonna do this year if im finding the right moment and time for it.
7:05 this book scared 18 year old me into behaving badly and I loved it!!
It's curious tho how in Christianity hell isn't this place where Satan is the ruler and demons are the torturers. Hell was supposed to be created for demons to be punished as well. No levels of punishment, just an eternal burning lake of fire for all. And knowing this, their ultimate purpose is to make as many people go to hell with them before their time is over. I imagine Satan's thinking like in a quote from Oulanem that Karl Marx wrote:
"The abyss yawns gaping night to both of us,
If you sink down, smiling, I'll follow you,
And whisper to you, "Down! Come with me! Comrade!"
Hell is more seen as the abstance of God, hence it can be pictured as a cold and dark world devoid of any love or happiness.
He sure dragged down a lot of people with him, willing and unwilling alike.
@@henriquecamboim Sadly
Look up Mark Vernon for the goods on Dante and the inferno, he has an inspired video series on the subject
Idk I'd like to think that Paradise Lost is a prequel to Dante's Satan. If all sinners tell their story, then Lucy gets a full poem.
I believe that Dante’s decision not to have Satan speak is not of a literary nature, but a political one. The Church would have viewed the fact that the author was making Satan speak, as a costly transgression. How can one know what Satan might say? Could it be that the author has actually spoken to him? Charges of blasphemy, witchcraft and whatnot could have been raised against Dante.