From the dark wood of its beginning, down through the nine circles of hell, across the seven terraces of purgatory, and into the ten heavens of paradise, Dante’s medieval tour de force gives us, in T. S. Eliot’s estimation, the greatest altitude and the greatest depth of human passion any writer has ever delivered. Our mythic picture of the afterlife, which casts such long shadows on our here and now, owes much to the poet’s magnificent imagining of sin and suffering, penance and hope, love and light. His poem is a repository of legend, romance, politics, learning, and belief no less exquisite for its all-encompassing scope. Don’t miss the sinful wonders of Inferno, then make your own judgment on the pleasures to be found in atonement and salvation.
I've loved everything read so far by Alexievich, including Zinky Boys and Secondhand Time. She's created a new genre of giving us the voices of real people and their lived experience in a way that is direct and new. Was glad to hear David Remnick interview her on the New Yorker Radio Hour and that she's mentioned here. Hope she can be more widely read.
I read this during my 2001 grand tour of Italy. I finished it in Firenze which seemed appropriate. It is the better of the three books that make up the 'comedy'.
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