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50 greatest books

The Divine Comedy

ALBERTO MANGUEL

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 1:32 PM EDT 04/04/08

It may start in hell, but it's a heavenly book ...Read the full article

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  1. Jack Dixon from Victoria, Canada writes: The Divine Comedy is one of my most admired and most read books, and I agree with everything that Mr Manguel says about it. (I wish I could still read it in Italian!) And he chose one of the most touching episodes in it. Of course, today we disagree with the Poet's choice of soje of the people he consigned to Hell! However I must take issue with the translation of the opening line of the poem: "In the middle of the road of life". This is too literal and concrete and gives quite the wrong impression. "Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita" means "Halfway along the path of [my] life", i.e when the poet was 35, that is half way to the biblical allotted span of 70 years.
  2. Pro Canada from Canada writes: great book, a crappy article about it, the author accepted the Globe's money and tried to write it as quickly as possible to get the assignment of his desk
  3. Farenheit 451 from Vancouver, Canada writes: Why is it that 'great' books are books that so few people read?

    If someone came to me and asked me to recommend a novel to someone who wanted to start reading some interesting books, Dante would not be on the list. Lets be honest - if you hand most people a copy of the Divine Comedy you are going to convince them that reading People magazine is as intellectual as they want to get.

    Can a book be 'great' when it is only accessible by a small minority of the population? The whole premise of this exercise seems rather elitist - I notice most of the people on the discussion forum seem to have rather less rarified taste.......

  4. Jim Cohoon from Chilliwack, Canada writes: It is very difficult to imagine such a book being written in our profane and narcissistic post-modern age (much less read). As an observed generalization, our age no longer respects nor inspires the genius of a Dante, nor seeks or respects the 'divine', in any cultural expression. A true 'classic' is not something old; it is something timeless. In some intangible way, it captures the essence of genius and the divine. In 'What is a Classic?', Charles Augustin Saint-Beuve wrote that a 'classic' implies something that endures, enriches the human mind and uncovers moral truth. Thomas Carlyle wrote that a 'classic' typically captures something especially vital and profound in the thought and soul of Man. I am old enough to sit astride two eras: one that respected classics and one that does not. That divide is much more than merely cultural. It is existential and goes to the spiritual and moral core of what humanity has been (or aspired to be), is now, and (potentially) can become. As respect for the essence of the true 'classic' fades, the spiritual and moral future also looks less bright for humanity. Hopefully, like that inspired by The Divine Comedy, there is hope for the human soul in the long run, whether here on earth, or elsewhere.
  5. Ely Sbrozzi from Toronto, writes: Fahrenheit 451, a Great book is great despite the number of people that read it. It all depends on the merit that a work of art is measured. Using readership and sales as an indicator for excellence the two greatest writers of all time would be Stephen King & Jackie Collins. I do not mean to knock them since I could never be as prolific as they; however can you say that they advance the writer's art? Perhaps, but not as profoundly as Dante did.

    To your point of accessibility. Has there ever been a time in history that literacy was so wide spread globally? The vast majority of the population at the time of Dante's writing would have been illiterate. Now however literacy rates are much much better on a global scale. Dante is accessible to all.

    You very well could be right, only a small number of people have actually read the Divine comedy but that is by their own choosing and not because of an elitist body of intellectualls. This book is every bit as available on the shelves at Indigo as is Anne Rice or Tom Clancy.

    Anyways, to bring a long belaboured point to a close. Go buy the book and give it a read. Join the small minority.
  6. Clark Kent from Canada writes: I liked Inferno. Beyond that I didn't find the work (Purgatorio and Paradiso) as inspiring or interesting. I suppose this is personal tastes at play. I imagine the translation is also quite important, and that the original is the ideal. (Rarely does it rhyme in the English translation I read, but seems to, always, in Italian.)

    I'm more of a prose-lover anyways.
  7. Paul F. from Toronto, Canada writes: Farenheit 451 from Vancouver, Canada writes: Why is it that 'great' books are books that so few people read?

    Can a book be 'great' when it is only accessible by a small minority of the population? The whole premise of this exercise seems rather elitist - I notice most of the people on the discussion forum seem to have rather less rarified taste.......

    ----

    That is the problem with modern North American culture, isn't it? That it is considered "elitist" to want to read a book that has withstood the test of time.

    Do you consider it "elitist" to want to speak another language? Or read Shakespeare? Or go to a classical music concert?

    Yes, it requires some thought, some analysis. The problem is that people are rushed in everything they do, they don't have the time to contemplate or think about things. There must be instant gratification or it is considered a waste of time. What is more appropriate, to talk about Britney's current mental state or look at the lessons to be got out of reading King Lear?
  8. A ZZ from Halifax, Canada writes: Interestingly, the Divine Comedy was the antithesis of "elitist" when Dante wrote it. He chose to write it in the Italian spoken by everyday people instead of the Latin used by the church and aristocracy, and he was roundly condemned for it - the idea being that such works should only be read and appreciated by the elite groups in society.
  9. Farenheit 451 from Vancouver, Canada writes: Hmm. Interesting points. Lets try the converse argument - does a 'great' book become greater if it is easier to read?

    I see that a number of people on the discussion site have suggested To Kill a Mockingbird as a great book. I also think its a great book AND I think its an easy book to read. Now admittedly it hasn't passed the test of time (Dante is hard to beat on that front) but if I were to say to someone - this is a great book, you should read this book, it will inspire you, it will make you see the world in a different way, it will make you want to read more - I think I'm going for Harper Lee and not Dante or Proust. And isn't that, at least partly, what a great book is?
  10. mark jones from Canada writes: Even years after I read Inferno, I'm still trying to grasp what Dante wrote. Inferno is the only book I read that still conjures up thoughts about it years later. I tried to read the other two...but couldn't do it. Inferno was too good and thought provoking.

    As far as being a elist book...only those that think it is are.

    I can't when movie director Bruckheimer makes a movie about this book!!
  11. Dave T from midwest, Canada writes: I have only read The Inferno and so I am not in a position to make any significant contribution, and a further disclaimer would be that revisiting the text of the Inferno could only serve to inform my commentary. But, I would like to say that after reading The Inferno, I marvelled at the sheer force of the poem, finding the classification of sin probably the most interesting part on the journey, and the various mythological figures we meet along the way. At the same time, there are a number of historical figures who appear in the various circles of hell, and one is left to speculate as to their significance to Dante as contemporaries. It's hard to establish the significance of their status or even their inclusion as if one's knowledge of the period is scant. I know that from my own reading that the seesaw battle between the Papacy and the Nation States was brewing by the early 1300s, that one of the strongest expressions of Papal Infallibility was issued by Pope Boniface VIII (who shows up in the 8th circle of hell by the way) through the decree Unam Sanctum, and that Boniface became embroiled in a conflict with the King of France, ultimately resulting in the Pope's humiliation. We also know that the removal of the Papacy to Avignon occurred during these years, so the general drift is that the authority of the Papacy was beginning to falter at the time Dante wrote. How much that influenced his writing I have no idea any more than the significance of the work's historical figures. Still,you have to wonder.
  12. Jeff Pritchard from Canada writes: It is thought-provoking in these economically uncertain times to recall that Dante placed usurers amongst some of the worst offenders in the seventh circle.
  13. Eric Kirkpatrick from Vancouver, B.C., Canada writes: The determining factor in greatness is quality not quantity.
  14. Cat Cat from Burlington, Canada writes: Not so fast, Eric. I would take a Filet-o-fish and a cheeseburger over a Big Mac any day of the week!
  15. M S from Ottawa, Canada writes: I have only read Inferno but it is a truly wonderful book. The poetry, the mix of ancient mythology and christianity, the satire of the political situation in Florence, all of this certainly make Inferno once of the greatest books of all time.

    When one thinks of Dante, one must also think of the litterary legacy he left and the influence he had on great romantinc painters and novelists such as Fuseli, Rossetti, Victor Hugo...even Balzac (who wrote a short story about him)! Dante inspired a generation of great artists.
  16. Steven Rzewski from toronto, Canada writes: Can anyone recommend a good English translation? If possible a side-by-side translation with the Italian? I do not know where to begin.

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