Reading Dante: From Here to Eternity

by Prue Shaw

The best and most eloquent introduction to Dante for our time. Prue Shaw is one of the world's foremost authorities on Dante. Written with the general reader in mind, Reading Dante brings her knowledge to bear in an accessible yet expert introduction to his great poem. This is far more than an exegesis of Dante’s three-part Commedia . Shaw communicates the imaginative power, the linguistic skill and the emotional intensity of Dante’s poetry―the qualities that make the Commedia perhaps the greatest literary work of all time and not simply a medieval treatise on morality and religion. The book provides a graphic account of the complicated geography of Dante's version of the afterlife and a sure guide to thirteenth-century Florence and the people and places that influenced him. At the same time it offers a literary experience that lifts the reader into the universal realms of poetry and mythology, creating links not only to the classical world of Virgil and Ovid but also to modern art and poetry, the world of T. S. Eliot, Seamus Heaney and many others. Dante's questions are our What is it to be a human being? How should we judge human behavior? What matters in life and in death? Reading Dante helps the reader to understand Dante’s answers to these timeless questions and to see how surprisingly close they sometimes are to modern answers. Reading Dante is an astonishingly lyrical work that will appeal to both those who’ve never read the Commedia and those who have. It underscores Dante's belief that poetry can change human lives. 34 illustrations

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, History, Literature, Criticism, Philosophy

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Marc Lamot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful introduction to the most beautiful book ever written, Dante Alighieri's 'Divina Commedia'. Prue Shaw (° 1949) is an internationally recognized Dante specialist, with a long track record (particularly at the University College of London), as this introduction definitely shows. Shaw gets off to a slow start, especially as she first has to outline the extremely complicated political context of Florence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, a necessary condition for understanding everything about Dante. But luckily she limits herself to the bare essentials. I previously read the recently published Dante: A Life by Alessandro Barbero, which is a creditable biography but far too academic, barely going into the substantive side of Dante's work.

With Shaw, that substantive side is central to her introduction. And she rightly does not shy away from using the big words to underline the poetic, philosophical and spiritual power of the Divina Commedia. What struck me most was the insight into how much Dante deviated from the literary practice of the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. That practice was to speak in allegories and to introduce symbolic figures such as Avarice, Lust, etc. Dante on the contrary, in the three books of the Divina Commedia constantly is dealing with concrete historical people, illustrating the uniqueness of human actions in a concrete setting. As Shaw writes: “This sensitivity to the uniqueness of every individual is reflected in the portrayal of the characters in the poem. A delicate balance is constantly maintained in the Commedia between the analytic impulse that establishes a system and the appreciation of every nuance of differentiation between people.” It is precisely this uniqueness that gives the human figures an extra tragic or exalted dimension in the Divina Commedia.

One small criticism of Shaw's book is that she tries a little too much to prove that Dante incorporated many insights into the Divina Commedia that have now been confirmed by modern, scientific scholarship. I even doubt her claims, such as that the numerology used by Dante (especially around the number 3), is perfectly in line with the insights of modern biology. Even if this should be true, to me this is not essential, Dante's work has its own value, regardless of its scientific relevance.

Reading Dante, especially the Divina Commedia, remains a challenge, even after finishing Shaw's book. But it is so rewarding. Even after the umpteenth reading, it still fills my soul, and it even reconciles me largely with the deficiencies in the human condition. If this isn't great literature, I don't know what is. Thanks, Prue Shaw, for highlighting this once again.

[Daniel Chaikin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best of the (now 4) Dante overviews I‘ve read. The Divine Comedy plot line is packed and overviews can be overwhelming if they try to go step by step through the whole story. Alternately essays can choose to write on parts of it. Writing on themes, Shaw manages to cover a ton while keeping her essays paced and well written. It works. I kept reading and was always interested and never overwhelmed or left with that feeling of rushed information. It doesn't hurt that she includes several beautiful illustrations, including early manuscripts and sketches by Botticelli. I'm glad I read this and recommend it to anyone looking for an intro.

-----------------------------------------------

64. Reading Dante: From Here to Eternity by Prue Shaw
published: 2014
format: 308 page hardcover
acquired: Library
read: Dec 3-11
time reading: 13 hr 6 min, 2.6 min/page
rating: 4

[Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, one who thought himself to be well-acquainted with the "Commedia", well - I felt like some rookie detective at the scene of a crime stumbling over the body having never seen it; Prue Shaw is the seasoned expert shining her light here, then there, pointing out all the little things I'd missed or could never have noticed. This wonderful book inspires one to read again. It is written, on the whole, in a very clear manner and, I believe, is accessible to anyone who is even vaguely interested in Dante.

Prue Shaw tackles the "Commedia" through topics ("Friendship", "Power", "Life", "Love" etc) that transcend all three books, thus highlighting links between them or the way that themes are developed, sometimes running parallel to each other (certain themes recurring at the same point in each book) or flowing through from one to the other. In the process, she unfolds the social, cultural and historical background to Dante's vision.

It is really when we get to her final topics of "Numbers" and "Words" that I experienced what I can only call an epiphany because Prue Shaw revealed the true magic of Dante's work which can only be appreciated by reading the "Commedia" in its original language. Her absolutely fascinating chapter, "Numbers", starts off quite simply by highlighting the importance of the number three - centred, of course, on the Trinity - but goes on to reveal the numerical patterns that underpin the work. The whole of the "Commedia" is divided into cantos; there are thirty-three cantos in each of the three books, plus a preface to "Inferno" (which creates a total of, what was seen as the perfect number, one hundred). Each canto is around one hundred plus lines, divided into groups of three ("tercets"). Each line has eleven syllables so in each "tercet" there are thirty-three syllables. The last word in the first line of each "tercet" rhymes with the last word in the group. The last word in the middle line creates the rhymes for the next "tercet", and so on, so we get aba, bcb, cdc, etc. This is the "terza rima".

Dante invented the "terza rima", a way of writing poetry, he then took vernacular Tuscan and adapted it to fit in with his new invention, in the process creating Italian. Since no formal vernacular structure existed Dante would invent his own rules, even invent words. Unless you read the "Commedia" in it's original language then it is impossible to appreciate the subtleties of his creation just as it is impossible to appreciate his shifting from Tuscan to Latin and, at one point, even to Provencial for narrative and dramatic effect. Dante was fascinated by language; he carried out a study of the vernacular languages of Italy and was one of the first to identify not only the differences between towns but even of streets - he was the Henry Higgins of his age! In the "Commedia", language becomes an incredibly important tool which is used to create atmosphere and to reinforce Dante's vision.

I cannot praise Prue Shaw's book enough. I first read the "Inferno" at the young age of twenty and have lived with it, and been inspired by it, ever since. I know I am not alone. Artists and poets have been inspired by Dante almost since the day he first published his great creation. As an artist I am driven to look again at the "Commedia", to look at the potential it unleashes as I contemplate further works and to reveal that vision in a fusion of my own. I feel reborn.

[James Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this an excellent study of Dante and his Commedia. Meant for the general reader rather than the academic, it should be enormously useful to any reader of the poem, especially those entering it for the first time.

Shaw analyzes the Commedia through the use of seven themes: friendship, power, life, love, time, numbers, and words. The discussion moves from how Dante came to begin it to the historical reality of its final existence and everything in between, including the importance of the Trinity, explorations of love, and how the poem's cosmic scope can be squeezed into the conscience of a man. That design means her gloss isn't a canto by canto summary, and it allows her plenty of leeway to discuss the other important material associated with the poem. Biographical details of Dante and others are included along with descriptions of Florence and the Italy they lived in. Shaw spends time explaining the theology of the times and the tumultuous politics of the mid to late 13th century, both Papal, which influenced all of Europe, and the regional politics Dante had to skate through. She maps the "geography of the afterlife," as well as the all-important structure of the poem itself. I especially liked her writing at length on the influences such ancients as Aristotle and Ovid had on Dante and those Dante had on such moderns as T. S. Eliot and Seamus Heaney.

I'd think Reading Dante a useful book for anyone interested in Dante and his work. If you've read his Commedia before, Shaw's study can only add to your appreciation. If you're reading for the first time, using her book in conjunction will allow it to act as the Virgil guiding you through the elaborate world Dante created.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Reading Dante” is a sublime book, the work of a scholar who has spent fifty years studying, translating and editing the works of Dante Alighieri and his contemporaries in fourteenth century Italy. Prue Shaw seems to know her way around late medieval Florence and Tuscany as well as the byways of University College, London her academic home base. This is a book that one feels lucky if he encounters something like it every five years—beautifully written, packed with the result of a lifetime of scholarship and presented in a distinctive but easy to follow manner, organized thematically instead of the more typical “and then he went to the next circle where Virgil said...”.

Even though “The Divine Comedy” is a narrative poem, Prue Shaw dispenses with a plot summary, a good idea since it would become simple chronology in inferior language or just a list of sins and horrors that await sinners. She shows us the experience of the journey, the sense of being at the pilgrim’s side as he is gradually changed by what he sees, hears, and feels, as he moves from a man ‘lost in a dark wood” to one who is “turned by the Love that moves the...stars.” Shaw deals with some of thorny questions of literary theory; for example the liquid identities of Dante as author, Dante as character, a pilgrim who writes poetry and Dante the author of the poem we are reading not by explaining theory—often an excellent way to kill the reader’s interest—but by showing how the various guises adopted by Dante shift and fuse into each other depending on theme. A masterful performance, taking a fourteenth-century allegorical poem on sin and redemption, written in a medieval Florentine vernacular following the theology of the time and letting the reader discover its heretofore hidden beauties.

She makes a supremely difficult undertaking, given the remoteness of the historical and cultural period in which Dante writes and the complexity of his language seem, if not easy then less difficult. Most importantly “Reading Dante” succeeds in persuading on to do exactly that: begin or continue reading Dante.

[Sohail · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good thematic study of the Comedia that covers multiple aspects. The chapter about linguistics is especially informative. The poems are analyzed in both their original Italian and English translation. But The 4 stars that I give to this book is for its literary merit. From both scientific and ethical standpoints, it gets 0.

It would have been an excellent book if the author did not attempt at every turn to insert her religious beliefs deep into the reader's throat. There are sections that she relies on false information (regarding genetics, for instance) to prove that most of the aspects of the natural world including genetic material are made up of three parts and this is a sign of trinity (she would have benefited from studying the double helix and A-C, G-T/U combinations, but religious people tend to find what they believe in in everything they look upon, and no amount of knowledge can extinguish the flames of their ignorance). I would have liked to resort to euphemism to not sound harsh, but saying that these parts are 'scientifically inaccurate' is putting it mildly. Some of them are downright fabrications and she, of all people, should remember that there's a special place in hell for those who commit such a sin. ;)

[Elena Sala · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Divine Comedy is, surely, the greatest poem of the Middle Ages. But is a daunting text for the modern reader. It is an adventure story, a journey into the mysteries of the after life, a pilgrimage towards a final meeting with God. But it also deals with contemporary politics.
Dante was a politician as well as a poet, very much involved in the public life of his city. In 1302 he was sent into exile due to his political activities. And his Divine Comedy is born from that loss.
Reading Dante is an introduction to Dante's poem aimed for the general reader. It is a scholarly, though accessible, book. Its chapters are organized around themes and illustrated by key episodes from Dante's poem. It is the ideal companion for readers who approach Dante for the first time.

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 stars; excellent primer on Dante and his masterpiece, both content and style are presented, analysed and thoroughly discussed; will read a few more accompanying writings before tackling the 'Commedia' itself.
Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy
A Beginner's Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Faces from Dante's Inferno: Who they are, what they say, and what it all means

[Sofie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the last section on linguistics (as per usual) and enjoyed Botticelli’s art.

[Kirk Lowery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Reading Dante is like sitting in a graduate seminar. Shaw assumes the reader wants to understand Dante's Divine Comedy, and provides the framework to do it. I was struck by the wide diversity of information one should know to interpret this epic poem: Italian, Latin, French, medieval philosophy, history of the papacy, Florence and Tuscany, medieval theology, and most of all, the Dante's personal history and the many individuals he knew and interacted with. In many ways, the complexity of interpretation is similar to that needed for interpreting the Bible, especially the Old Testament. Although the two books are very dissimilar in purpose and content.

While reading the book, I underwent several radical changes in my understanding of the Commedia. First, the author's purpose is not to exposit the Catholic view of the afterlife. According to Shaw, Dante wrote it as a catharsis for the personal crises he experienced, most particularly his exile from Florence. Next, Dante was definitely not a theologian or cleric: he was a politician, among those who ruled Florence for a time. But Dante was first and foremost a poet, and the Commedia was intended to be his masterwork. It is often said that in an era where literature was most often written in Latin, Dante "invented" the modern Italian vernacular. Finally, the Commedia is about the people in Dante's life and how he attempts to resolve those relationships.

There are several helpful appendices about the poetic system that Dante invented and how he used it, as well as a highly useful chronology of Dante's life and times. Finally, there is an annotated bibliography for further reading, a doorway into the vast scholarship on Dante.

If you want to seriously study the Commedia, this is the place to start. And, no, I have no criticisms to make.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a commentary on a very complex piece of literature, this work reads surprisingly easy, perhaps due in part because Shaw's love for Dante's Commedia is adamantly displayed. There are several passages wherein she seems to be gushing over it. As a person who has done his fair share of gushing over Dante's work, it would be impossible to not find this aspect of the book endearing. Unfortunately, this is not simply meant to be a commentary on the Commedia, but is in fact meant as an introduction to it--or maybe induction into it might be better. Either way, for a person who has read the Commedia twice--both copies with extensive notes--and done outside study of it while reading it, there was a lot of rehashed information. That's not a bad thing, but it does make for tiresome reading.
The first two chapters offered me little I wasn't already aware of, and I didn't really find myself deeply interested until chapter four: Love. There were still interesting tidbits I had either forgotten or not heard before, and in the latter chapters, I actually learned quite a few things. I also have Shaw to thank for introducing me to Botticelli's fantastic illustrations of the Commedia, which for whatever reason, I don't recall ever seeing before. (It's always Gustave Doré)
My complaint isn't really a complaint so much as an admonition to anyone already well-versed in your Dante who might consider reading this. It's well written, and I highly recommend it. Just remember: you will most likely be going over some items you've heard before. As for anyone interested in Dante, this would make for a perfect introduction before you dive in. I'm actually thinking I might reread it before I take up the Commedia again.

[Ashley Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many critical companions to the Commedia function as canto-by-canto summaries, leaving readers drowning in details. Prue Shaw to the rescue! Shaw's aim is to highlight the unity in Dante's work. She places incidents from each cantica side by side in order to highlight important themes and relationships in Dante's poem when taken as a whole. She provides necessary context, depicts Dante's personal growth as a poet, and makes modern connections for a modern audience. While Shaw acknowledges that her audience primarily speaks English, she is careful not to let the beauty of of the original language and poetic form get lost- she provides a linguistic taste intended to inspire readers to further study. Comprehensive and compressed, at fewer than 300 pages, this is a valuable read.

[Matt McCormick · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been awhile since I rated a book a 5.

This one is absolutely phenomenal. My only regret is that Prue Shaw hasn't written ten other books for me to read.

She has a perfect mixture of erudition, passion, and respect for the common reader. She made an 800 year old Italian poem understandable and thought-provoking. Ms. Shaw placed Dante's writings in the context of his time - historically, politically, theologically - and as a result, educated not only on poetry itself but on culture. I came to realize just how much of the Devine Comedy I didn't understand and certainly didn't appreciate. I am well motivated to pick it up again and read it with the background of Prue Shaw's analysis and criticism.

This book is definitely well placed on my "favorites" shelf.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-written and very readable book about one of the greatest works of imaginative creation in history. Dante is really about one work, his Commedia, and this book gives a very lucid understanding of the work. I would recommend it to the reader considering giving The Inferno a try and then moving on to Purgatory and Paradise. The contemporary references, for example, that are in The Inferno need an explication to better understand the work. This book provides that.

[Monet The Book Sniffing Unicorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A First Reads giveaway book, I really enjoyed Ms. Shaw's analysis of Dante's classic poem. In plain language, she was able to convey the nuances of Dante's exploration of the afterlife. She also provided historical background that helped me understand the viewpoint of a Florentine born in the 13th century.

This is a book that anyone with an interest in poetry can read and enjoy.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. One of the best books on Dante I’ve ever read.

[محمد · Rating 3 out of 5]

هذا الكتاب يزعم أنه مدخل لقرّاء كوميديا دانتي الإلهية وأيضًا تعليق وشرح للذين أنهوا قراءتها. لكن هل ينجح في هذا؟ سأحاول الإجابة والتوضيح عما يمكن للقارئ توقعه من هذا الكتاب.
عند قراءتي للكوميديا شعرت بأنه عليّ امتلاك شرح وتأويل لها، فرحتُ أبحث عن كتب تتناول الكوميديا وحياة مؤلفها وعثرت على هذا الكتاب في متجر أمازون وجذبني عنوانه الذي ينمّ عن قراءة فاهمة للقصيدة. قرأت الكثير من المقالات والدراسات وشهدت الكثير من المحاضرات عن القصيدة، حتى أنه لي بعض الآراء والأفكار فيما يتعلق بدانتي ونصوصه. تقسم الكاتبة كتابها إلى سبعة فصول:

الأول: الصداقة
وفيه تتكلم عن "معارف" دانتي أليجييري ومنهم صديقه جويدو كافلكانتي الذي انحلّت صداقتهما فيما بعد، بالإضافة إلى تاريخ فلورنسا والانقسامات السياسية آنذاك ممهدة إلى الفصل الذي يليه -أحببت هذا الفصل لأنه يمكننا التماس شخصيّة دانتي وطموحه السياسي بصلاح ويسر الحال

الثاني: السلطة
وفيه تتناول السياسة الفلورنسيّة وسبب نفي دانتي وتأثيرالبابا على إيطاليا بشكل موسّع، وقراءته مطلب للذين يتساءلون عن تفضيل دانتي للإمبراطورية كونها قوة سياسيّة منظمة على البابويّة المسيحيّة لفساد الكنسيين آنذاك -لربما كانت الكاتبة تفترض أن القارئ آتٍ من خلفية أوروبية فقط؛ لأنك كشخص غير أوروبي تريد معرفة ما تأثير الأديان والخلفيات الأخرى على السياسة إن كان لها تأثير أساسًا. يكفي أن النبي محمد والإمام علي مذكوران في الجحيم، فنستطيع استنتاج أن المجتمع الفلورنسي على الأقل كان لديه نظرة عن المسلمين خصوصًا وغير الأوروبيين عمومًا.

الثالث: الحياة
وفيه تعالج الكاتبة حياة دانتي، ويا لها من حياة!

الرابع: الحب
ومن هذا الفصل تتدرج الكاتبة لتناول القصيدة شيئًا فشيئًا، وتفند أفكارًا كثيرة فيما يتعلق بدانتي والكوميديا.

الخامس: الزمن
وهنا تقول الكاتبة أن القصيدة معنيّة للأجيال المستقبلية -لم أحبّ هذا الفصل؛ لأن الكاتبة تبدأ في التكرار الكثير وتطرح مشكلة جديدة للقارئ المهتم، إذ تحدّ من النظرات الأخرى للقراء الآخرين.

السادس: الأرقام
معجزة الرقم ثلاثة وابتكار التيرزا ريما (الوزن الشعري للكوميديا) وعدد الأناشيد وعدد الأقانيم ومن هالخرابيط هذه، صحيح أن لها أهميّة في رؤية دانتي للعالم، ولكن معالجة الكاتبة سيئة.

السابع: الكلمات
ممل للغاية. عن اللهجات الإيطالية وسبب كتابة الكوميديا بلغة أهل فلورنسا وليس اللاتينية لغة العلم والحضارة.

الكتاب جيّد للذي لم يقرأ أي شيء عن دانتي وعن الكوميديا، ولكن للقارئ النهم ربما يخذله هذا الكتاب. فإذا أردت قراءته، واجبٌ عليك قراءة الكومي��يا ثم قراءته. وإن أردت نقدًا وشرحًا حقيقيين، فأنصح بالمقالات التي جمّعها هارولد بلوم، وبمحاضرات البروفيسور جوسيبي مازوتا على اليوتيوب:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
وهو متخصص في دانتي ومؤرخ لإيطاليا وبروفيسورًا في جامعة ييل الأمريكية.

[Sabra Kadabra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I can't wait to read "The Divine Comedy"!!!

[Mishehu · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the beginning of the book, author Prue declares her objective in writing it: to excite the reader's interest in reading Dante's great work. I am pleased to report that the author nailed her objective. Granted, I've always wanted and intended to read the Comedy. But I've never gotten round to prioritizing it. It's now next up in the queue. Reading Dante is packed with fascinating details: about Dante himself, about the medieval historical background of the poem, about the general -- universal -- themes Dante engages in the poem, and about technical aspects of the poem (the kinds of language Dante employs, the poetic structure he invented). The book is excellent. The one thing it lacks -- a significant and disappointing omission -- is any discussion of translations. After all, this is a book about reading Dante. Unless you're a fluent speaker of modern Italian (for whom much of Dante's Italian will, the author informs us, be intelligible) or a scholar of medieval Italian dialects as well as of Latin, then you, like me, will be reading the Comedy in translation. Different translators take very different approaches to translating, emanating from differing theoretical stances on the craft of translation. Since I myself am in no position to judge the relative merits of the most popular/enduring English translations of the Comedy, I would have greatly benefited from, and enjoyed reading, the author's own thoughts on this subject (as well as her recommendations). The closest she comes to providing such thoughts is in a brief appendix note, which discusses only one modern translation. This omission aside, I very much profited from reading this fine book, and I recommend it highly.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this approximately half way through my second reading of The Divine Comedy (most of Purgatorio in fact) enlivened and enlightened the read considerably. Prue Shaw is an assured commentator who wisely avoids a blow-by-blow, canto-by-canto account of the poem and instead focuses on themes that take in the whole of this remarkable poem. Some things I had picked up from notes previously, most I hadn't. I particularly appreciated the way that she constantly converses with other great poets - Eliot, supremely, but also Pound, Heaney and Tennyson.

Perhaps surprisingly she doesn't engage with translations of the Divine Comedy, perhaps because it seems that in her view to truly understand it you must read it in Italian. For most of us that isn't really an option and so it might have been helpful to point us elsewhere. Occasionally she makes too many apologies for the religious and cultural nature of the poem, which is slightly irritating. To compare Thomas Aquinas, Bernard of Clairvaux et al with Bertrand Russell and others seems very odd to say the least. All in all a superb guide that may well get taken out again when I embark on a third reading (perhaps through Clive James' eyes?)

[Simon Dobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

There aren't many books or poems that need (or deserve) another book to explain them, but Dante's Commedia is one, and this is an excellent guide.

Reading Dante isn't the usual guide book, though. Instead of following the structure of the poem, it picks out a few themes (love, power, the use of language) and traces them through the complete hierarchy of hell, purgatory, and heaven. Along the way it provides a vital guide to the social and political context of 14th century Italy and some sights in Florence to see and relate to Dante's time. Linking to one of my other great loves, it's also full of illuminated letters and images used in the various editions of Commedia (although sady not in colour). For someone like me who reads Dante in translation, it both highlights the effects that only come through in the original, and acts as a spur to learn Italian if for no other reason than to enjoy Dante more.

One other thing that I think I should note is the physicality of the book itself. It's beautifully presented, with deckle-edged (unevenly torn) pages, and typeset very sympathetically. Altogether a delight to read, although often quite intense.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're going to read one book on Dante, this should probably be the one. Written mostly in clear, every-day English, it is an enthusiastic appreciation of the poetry, but it is far more than that. For the first time ever I got a (relatively) clear idea of the politics in Florence when Dante was exiled. I learned things about terza rima that I had never thought of before--for example that it rendered the poem virtually "tamper-proof"--a medieval Thomas Jefferson couldn't just leave out bits he didn't like, or a scribe could not carelessly omit a line, without the result being an obvious botch. This partially accounts for why we have 600 relatively complete, relatively good manuscripts. For the first time I grasped Dante's understanding of Latin versus vernacular speech, and why his choice of the vernacular for his poem was both shocking and wise. I have only a smattering of Italian, but Shaw was able to convey to me the beauty and precision of virtually every passage she discussed. An excellent book.

[Sverre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Among English Dante scholars, the supremely knowledgeable Prue Shaw is a standout. Her Reading Dante: From Here to Eternity skilfully exposes the Commedia in a delightfully accessible way, irradiating the man behind the pen and plumbing the depths of his creative genius. Shaw expertly captures what elevates the poem as perhaps the greatest literary work of all time; with its striking use of language and linguistic inventiveness, the richness and evocativeness of its worlds, its fascinating poetic techniques, and its exploration of the human condition. Left missing in Reading Dante is only a more thorough dissection of the theological aspects of the Florentine’s magnum opus. In conclusion, Shaw’s book is simply a must-read for new and old Dante readers alike.

[Jackson Cyril · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic book. Shaw (wisely) sidesteps the dense theological disputations that cloud most books on Dante and instead provides some fresh insights on a variety of themes explored in the poem (she also doesn't spend too much time on Dante's earlier fiction). Most enlightening of all is her clear exposition of the nuances of 13th century Italian politics-- a historical minefield through which she navigates with the confidence of a Guicciardini.

[Manny · Rating 2 out of 5]

It did not live up to the hype. It was a decent primer but there was much to criticize. Perhaps in the future i will give a full review.

[Beth Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Will definitely need to re-read the Commedia.....

[Jane Butane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book dug deep into some aspects of the divine comedy that I hadn't even thought about. I took lots of notes and enjoyed every minute reading it!

It also has a fantastic further reading section.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Packing so much information into a simple and readable book is quite an achievement.

[Neal Nordstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you are going to invest the time to read Dante's Divine Comedy, I recommend reading this book first.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this guidebook as an introduction to Dante's translated Commedia which I will be reading shortly. I think Shaw's general approach to breaking her analysis of this revered poetic work into 7 categories (friendship, power, life, love, time, numbers, words) generally worked well for me and will be helpful in preparing me for actually reading the work.

However, I confess to a certain impatience I developed about 2/3 of the way through. Shaw is (in all likelihood justifiably - I'll see shortly if I still agree!) overawed and enamored with this seminal poetic, political, philosophical and theological (yup, it's all there and more) treatise. There were portions of her commentary that I wearied of due to the feeling that the same exposition of some marvelous aspect of The Comedy was being re-stated multiple times, each in a slightly different way.

This method can definitely be extremely helpful in ensuring that if one illustration doesn't do it for the reader another approach might do the trick. But it sometimes seemed that Shaw could not disengage herself sufficiently from a personal fascination with Dante's brilliant work to consider that her audience may have gotten that particular point several iterations back, thank you.

I imagine that in the course of a scholarly lifetime of reading it in the original Tuscan (Dante's dialect that he stretched to effectively become modern Italian) a work of this stature would truly form a large part of a devotee's world view. Perhaps my intent in reading this in-depth discussion of Dante's spectacular poem as a pre-lecture outline was unwise, since I really was after something more like an outline. Yet I did find it interesting and now feel much better prepared to digest as much as I am capable of Dante's "The Comedy" when I read it.