PARADISO (THE DIVINE COMEDY) by DANTE ALIGHIERI (translated by Allen Mendelbaum)

081712. friday.

hi there! HAHA. if ever you noticed, many of my posts lately are about the recent books i’ve read. spare me the blame ‘coz i haven’t been doing anything else aside from reading. i’m too broke to go out often and squander money! HAHA. well, hope this doesn’t bore you. :)

time for this blogpost’s subject.

i had to make some adjustments since this Paradiso came from a collection(Bantam Classics) different from where the first two(Signet Classics) were taken. unlike the first two books, this doesn’t have a longer and more comprehensive introduction which i found very helpful when i read Inferno and Purgatorio. Paradiso was more challenging to me since i had to depend on the poem and the notes solely. this time i’d really know whether or not i have a mind capable  of understanding poetry. HAHA.

the final ascent of Dante, the culmination of all that he’s been through is found in Paradiso.

what the last part of The Divine Comedy contains is quite different from what i expected. i thought there’d be no more voyage. then again, the whole story revolved on Dante’s journey to the top, but that, according to his narration, there really are no lower or higher points here. this is the case only because this is as far as human-like capacity is able to grasp. everyone is equal in heaven, and that wherever an angel/seraphim/cherubim can be is where that being wished to be. and because the phenomena here are not something human can easily perceive, Dante has had more questions compared with Inferno and Purgatorio. and as a reader, i was even more confused. HAHA.

Paradiso follows the same pattern as the first two - exploration of different stages, accounts of stories from notable beings, Dante’s comprehension of the many puzzles.

for me, the moving parts were  found in the last chapters of the book only, when he’s already in the Empyrean where all the beatified and blessed are truly placed, together with Mary and God.

this is an illustration (provided by the book)  of how Dante  perceived the universe in the epic poem. 

as a whole, i guess the The Divine Comedy has become too complex and too serious that i didn’t find anything astonishing about it. not that it’s not good, it is great actually. it’s just that these books(Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso) are less on emotions, more on details and reasons. the many clarifications took over the whole story. i don’t know with other people, but that’s how i see it. HAHA.

nonetheless, there are still a lot of essential lessons that can be extracted from what i’ve read. here, it was all about contentment and achievement of desire. i also mentioned some lessons in my posts about Inferno and Purgatorio. the learning is what made the reading worth it. :)

again, THANK YOU for the books, ate delee! HAHA.

THE PURGATORIO (THE DIVINE COMEDY) by DANTE ALIGHIERI (translated by John Ciardi)

072412. tuesday.

following Inferno, Purgatorio is the pitstop before Dante reaches Paradiso. this book is a voyage through the catharsis of a sinner’s soul, hence the title Purgatorio. if in Inferno souls suffer to pay for their sins, here, the spirits have to undergo torment in order to get the purification they need to be accepted in Paradiso.

Purgatorio is basically a mountain that has ledges which represent each sin.  in each ledge, Dante, still with his guide Virgil, witnesses two things that are part of the whole cleansing process. he sees the WHIP of sin and the REIN of sin afterwards. on the one hand, whip illustrates examples of beings who did the opposite of the sin showing images of good character. on the other hand, rein demonstrates acts of souls who committed the said sin. here, he also meets and talks to souls who submit themselves to purging.

what i like about this book is the idea of how even the little details are so connected and consistent to the bigger picture. i think it’s ingenious. HAHA. for instance, Purgatorio is found between hell and heaven. hell only has darkness(night). in paradise, the sun is up every day. thus, Purgatorio has both night and day. also, Dante can only keep ascending to the mountain when it’s day. there are other things that are also like this. HAHA.

just like Inferno, it wasn’t that easy to understand the content of each stanza in this book. as a poem, the story wasn’t told in a direct manner. it’d always be about digging deeper to what Dante actually wants to convey. and since it’s been written a long, long time ago, it’s in the context of that era. meaning, it is based on what people believe and think during those times. and some people see some things differently from then and now. HAHA.

i hate it when there are mentions of stars, zodiacs or constellations because i don’t comprehend any of them. even when there are explanations already, my understanding never gets any better. i tried but i just don’t seem to have a thing with astrology. HAHA.

Dante has shown more curiosity in Purgatorio than in Inferno. his questions here are mostly about the possibility of some occurrences, particularly regarding the soul’s state and the nature’s conditions. and i am amused by his hunger to know and understand.

CURIOSITY.

after reading, one of the things i realized is how reason cannot at all times be used, and that some things should be left  unsaid, without questions of how or why. sometimes, reason is not enough to enlighten our minds with everything that bothers us. this is shown when the character of Virgil, the epitome of human reason, reached his limit as Dante’s adviser.

last comes Paradiso, a tale so surely full of love and happiness. i am halfway through. can’t wait to finish The Divine Comedy.

THE INFERNO (THE DIVINE COMEDY) by DANTE ALIGHIERI (translated by John Ciardi)

071812. wednesday.

i’ve been eyeing The Divine Comedy ever since and finally somebody gave me the three books! the liberty to read all these is all mine, all mine! HAHA! i was so excited because it was the first time i was gonna read a classic. i was like, “for real?” HAHA! there’s something about the classic books that’s so special. HAHA. i know it’s kinda weird but it’s the truth. that’s what i think. HAHA.

first off, INFERNO.

obviously, this is about Dante’s journey, with the guidance of Virgil, through hell where he witnessed and encountered the worst of the worst. this is the first step to reach Paradiso. he, first, had to recognize the sins that humans (gods and goddesses also) committed. in this book, Dante discussed the transgressions according to their severity, which puts treachery at the last.

i love the creativity of Dante here when he thought of how each sin must have its equivalent and appropriate punishment. i mean, they were not just some penalty to make the sinners pay for what they’ve done but they were very fitting castigations. HAHA. i think it was the most imaginative element of Inferno.

i realized how complex and cruel each sin can be. it was like looking at the science of the offenses. Dante dissected the roots and consequences of every sin. he even showed that some of them have sub-categories, especially those found at lower hell.

i'd like to share my favorite statement from the book. this is a description of LUST which, i think, is its perfect explanation. HAHA.

honestly, i had a hard time reading because Dante talked about people, places and stories i don’t know. i am not very familiar with Roman history, Roman mythology, ancient philosophers, and the Holy Bible. you see i’ve heard some of the names he mentioned but i was not knowledgeable at all about whatever it was that made them worth mentioning in the book. i was clueless as hell. poor me. HAHA. thanks to the notes  found at the end of every chapter. they, at least, provided me things that would lead me to where the story’s going and to what was happening. if not for them, i think i’d be lost. HAHA! this is also the reason it took me a while to finish reading. i’d have to check on the notes from time to time. HAHA.

aside from that, i am not used to reading a story written in such style. Inferno is not in prose form, it is an epic poem. i was actually surprised at first ‘coz i had no idea that it’s like that. HAHA. the use of symbolisms made it an even subtler tale.

there were also times when i got confused. in Dante’s narrative, he merged mythology with Catholicism by citing sinners and events from both. i find it fascinating though. to me, it was another artistic approach to his book although i am not so sure what made him decide to do that. well, maybe because he grew up learning about these two things that he was able to find a way to relate one to the other. HAHA.

while going through the book, i learned ‘a few’ things about history and mythology. i said ‘a few’ since my mind doesn’t seem capable of retaining a lot (retention issues). HAHA! at least, i’ve learned somehow about Western (particularly Florence, Rome, Tuscany) civilization, culture and beliefs.

at the end of the day, i realized how sinful i am. HAHA. kidding aside, i got scared of what’s really gonna happen to me after i die. who can tell what awaits us afterlife? HAHA. suspension of disbelief -  if what’s in Inferno is real, i don’t even wanna imagine how it’d look like – darkness, foul odor, wailings of the damned, demons all around, hopelessness, eternal misery! just to think about it gives me goosebumps! man, that’s literally one hell of a place! HAHA.

don’t wanna prolong my agony so i’m gonna start with Purgatorio now. HAHA.

BTW, i’d like to thank ate delee for giving me the books! :))) more books to come! HAHA.