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A Beginner's Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Dante's Divine Comedy is widely considered to be one of the most significant works of literature ever written. It is renowned not only for its ability to make truths known but also for its power to make them loved. It captures centuries of thought on sin, love, community, moral living, God's work in history, and God's ineffable beauty. Like a Gothic cathedral, the beauty of this great poem can be appreciated at first glance, but only with a guide can its complexity and layers of meaning be fully comprehended.This accessible introduction to Dante, which also serves as a primer to the Divine Comedy, helps readers better appreciate and understand Dante's spiritual masterpiece. Jason Baxter, an expert on Dante, covers all the basic themes of the Divine Comedy, such as sin, redemption, virtue, and vice. The book contains a general introduction to Dante and a specific introduction to each canticle (Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso), making it especially well suited for classroom and homeschool use.
226 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 20, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 24, 2022
After I read The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis, I went looking for more by Jason M. Baxter and was delighted to see this book. Where better to have a medieval mindset explained than through this masterpiece which was written for those very people?
What makes A Beginner's Guide shine is the way Baxter bridges the gap between our different ways of thinking. He explains the theology, the poetry, the context (both historical and literary), and makes Dante more accessible than any other guide I've read — and I've read a lot of very good ones. I really appreciated the way that he kept connecting different parts of the poem to each other for contrasting so that we could get the deeper message as well as appreciate Dante's artistry.
As with his other book, Baxter displays real skill in showing how differently the medievals thought about the world and our place in it, and also how they were superbly logical which is not something the modern reader expects. Through that lens, the average person can understand and appreciate the depth of structure and thought that underpin this book.
Above all, He helps us dip our toes, just for a moment, into the beauty that shines around us — and not just in this book. Here is a lengthy excerpt to help you see a little of what I mean. After Dante enters heaven, he describes a world of warmth, light, and harmony. Baxter puts this into deeper context for us.
What makes A Beginner's Guide shine is the way Baxter bridges the gap between our different ways of thinking. He explains the theology, the poetry, the context (both historical and literary), and makes Dante more accessible than any other guide I've read — and I've read a lot of very good ones. I really appreciated the way that he kept connecting different parts of the poem to each other for contrasting so that we could get the deeper message as well as appreciate Dante's artistry.
As with his other book, Baxter displays real skill in showing how differently the medievals thought about the world and our place in it, and also how they were superbly logical which is not something the modern reader expects. Through that lens, the average person can understand and appreciate the depth of structure and thought that underpin this book.
Above all, He helps us dip our toes, just for a moment, into the beauty that shines around us — and not just in this book. Here is a lengthy excerpt to help you see a little of what I mean. After Dante enters heaven, he describes a world of warmth, light, and harmony. Baxter puts this into deeper context for us.
At the same time that the pilgrim feels the order of the heavens, he is also struck by its dazzling brightness. In the medieval world, the spectator delighted in the mere quality of color or light in a way that is hard for us to conceive—we who live in a world flooded by artificial lights. He could almost taste its radiance. ...
What is more, just as we all know that the orbit of the moon affects the tides of large bodies of water, so did medieval people think all heavenly bodies exerted their influence on earth. Looking at the stars wasn't just pretty it was opening yourself to spiritual powers that penetrated your body. Their beauty was spiritually radioactive. For Dante's contemporaries, then, even the basic idea of flying through this place of peace and radiance would have been a wildly exciting, sci-fi journey. The pilgrim visits that region bathed in happiness and light, which flows into his body. It is this visceral feeling for the physical effects of light and music that appears everywhere throughout Dante's final canticle.
And so medieval men and women looked up at the sky and saw it as beautiful, radiant, dazzling, and ordered—or rather, felt it as perfection. It always moved in order, always obeyed, always sang. But although this ordered motion was most perfectly embodied in the starry sky, this order, this love, if you will, also flowed throughout the world, and in fact, was thought to keep everything in motion. It was love that regulated the seasons as they yielded to each other; it was love that ensured that the sea harmoniously lapped the land without overflowing its boundaries; it was even love that bound the soul to the body.
December 10, 2025
Delightfully accessible. I still feel as if I barely scratched the surface of what is Dante's Divine Comedy. I'm hoping more will sink in as I reread in the years to come.
August 31, 2023
I heard about this book on a podcast while I was working my way through the Divine Comedy and knew I had to get my hands on it as soon as possible. I was able to read it as a companion guide to Paradiso and found it so illuminating. I went back and finished his book portions regarding Inferno and Purgatorio after the fact and really appreciated them both as well finding that they shed great light on things I had read previously, especially the unfamiliar history of Dante's world that his readers would have known. It also filled with me so many new thoughts and ideas of which I had not previously considered. I think I would have enjoyed the Inferno and Purgatorio sections to an even greater degree if I had been actively reading through these sections of the Comedy while I was reading them and plan to do that next time I pick up both books in addition to hopefully reading what will be Baxter's finished translation of the Comedy. He is a great guide and friend to have while journeying through this medieval epic poem.
June 30, 2024
This was a great addition to my first reading of The Divine Comedy. Baxter has a way of making even the most obtuse parts of the poem accessible to the average reader. He helped me to see the beauty in the poem despite its complexity. I would definitely recommend this to someone wanting to explore the depths of the Comedy but doesn't have hours to study more in-depth resources.
May 16, 2024
Outstanding introduction to 'the last Gothic cathedral'; in a way the author positions himself as a kind of meta-guide, as he guides you, the reader, via the guides of the Dante figure in the narrative, through this magisterial work; enough in depth discussion to entertain and inform both the lay and academic reader.
" contrapasso (a kind of “counterbalance”). To state it simply, the punishment balances the crime; or, perhaps more accurately, the contrapasso turns the sin inside out to make the full horror of the sin evident for the first time."
"Then the poet says something amazing: Their eye sockets looked like rings with gems; and he who sees “omo” written into the visage of men would have recognized the “m.” (Purg. 23.31–33) In other words, their faces have become so thin, their eyes so sunken, that the nose and cheek bones form the letter m, with the eyes forming two o’s in the middle—that is, spelling out the word omo, Latin and Italian for “man.” This is an extraordinary moment. We know that Forese, like the others, is reading in a meditative way, contemplating the examples of temperance, while performing these exercises of fasting. And thus, while he is reading, his very face, his very visage, is being rewritten, so that his humanity is now becoming apparent once again. Forese, then, was like a text poorly written, but now it is being scratched out, and through his cooperation with God he is being rewritten to become the text he was meant to be. His humanity, as represented by the word omo, is being restored. His deep reading is the vehicle by which he is being rewritten in prayer."
"Poetry is not an escape from reality; it is its intensification. It is the attempt to recollect humanity’s origin. As J. R. R. Tolkien put it, good poetry brings with it a “curious thrill,” as if something stirs in you, half wakened from sleep. “There is something remote and strange and beautiful behind the words . . . something which derives its curiously moving quality from some older world.”"
"according to medieval theory, Eden was the place wherein language was born and fitted perfectly to the reality it was meant to signify, before the rift emerged between words and things."
"Consumerism feeds you, anticipating any craving long before it arises, keeping you from ever experiencing any meaningful hunger. What a contrast to the slow, patient reading and rereading that leads to greater hunger, to an intellectual leanness, to an alert mind—to that kind of reading needed to absorb and slowly chew on a book like Dante’s!"
" contrapasso (a kind of “counterbalance”). To state it simply, the punishment balances the crime; or, perhaps more accurately, the contrapasso turns the sin inside out to make the full horror of the sin evident for the first time."
"Then the poet says something amazing: Their eye sockets looked like rings with gems; and he who sees “omo” written into the visage of men would have recognized the “m.” (Purg. 23.31–33) In other words, their faces have become so thin, their eyes so sunken, that the nose and cheek bones form the letter m, with the eyes forming two o’s in the middle—that is, spelling out the word omo, Latin and Italian for “man.” This is an extraordinary moment. We know that Forese, like the others, is reading in a meditative way, contemplating the examples of temperance, while performing these exercises of fasting. And thus, while he is reading, his very face, his very visage, is being rewritten, so that his humanity is now becoming apparent once again. Forese, then, was like a text poorly written, but now it is being scratched out, and through his cooperation with God he is being rewritten to become the text he was meant to be. His humanity, as represented by the word omo, is being restored. His deep reading is the vehicle by which he is being rewritten in prayer."
"Poetry is not an escape from reality; it is its intensification. It is the attempt to recollect humanity’s origin. As J. R. R. Tolkien put it, good poetry brings with it a “curious thrill,” as if something stirs in you, half wakened from sleep. “There is something remote and strange and beautiful behind the words . . . something which derives its curiously moving quality from some older world.”"
"according to medieval theory, Eden was the place wherein language was born and fitted perfectly to the reality it was meant to signify, before the rift emerged between words and things."
"Consumerism feeds you, anticipating any craving long before it arises, keeping you from ever experiencing any meaningful hunger. What a contrast to the slow, patient reading and rereading that leads to greater hunger, to an intellectual leanness, to an alert mind—to that kind of reading needed to absorb and slowly chew on a book like Dante’s!"
July 22, 2025
This book was both a delight to read and a help in preparing to read The Divine Comedy. It made me hungry to start reading. I highly recommend reading this before starting the Comedy and then reading Jason M. Baxter's own translations of the Comedy. As of now, he has translated Inferno and Purgatorio, and I can't wait for him to finish translating the last. His translating work is amazing.
January 31, 2018
The Divine Comedy is my favorite piece of literature. And Baxter's work here is clearly written and accessible. I only have great things to say about this book.
And of course, thank you NetGalley.
And of course, thank you NetGalley.
April 12, 2025
Helpful
This is a great way to pick out some of the key themes and background context of the “Comedy” without having to dive into the world of Dante scholarship. Extremely useful for first-time readers or those hoping to get more from their reading, especially because it can easily be read along with the text itself on the side. Baxter’s notes are well-chosen to be condensed but illuminating on the text.
This is a great way to pick out some of the key themes and background context of the “Comedy” without having to dive into the world of Dante scholarship. Extremely useful for first-time readers or those hoping to get more from their reading, especially because it can easily be read along with the text itself on the side. Baxter’s notes are well-chosen to be condensed but illuminating on the text.
April 18, 2022
Highly recommend for anyone who wants to tackle The Divine Comedy on their own. A great guide, and not just for beginners. At points, the book dipped into too much summary or what I thought were pet theories, but those moments were brief and don’t detract from the overall goal.
June 21, 2018
An incredibly helpful and interesting guide to one of Western Lit's all-time classics. Baxter's work helped me enjoy the Comedy. Great resource.
June 29, 2018
Very well written. I highly recommend this as it is one of the best books to make the Divine Commedy accessible and appreciable to the non-academic.
November 5, 2019
This book was an extremely helpful and enjoyable read. It enhanced my esteem for both Dante and his Divine Comedy.
September 11, 2023
Virgil, Beatrice, George MacDonald, and Jason Baxter—all superb guides. What a delightful, accessible, and spiritually powerful book.
March 27, 2024
Superb introduction. Does a lot in under 200 pages, writes for a wide spectrum of Christians, and clearly knows what he's about.
November 27, 2024
This was so helpful while reading Dante's Divine Comedy.
December 20, 2025
Great introduction to the Divine Comedy. Baxter points out many things I would have missed and helps the poem be more accessible. He's clearly enthusiastic, which is helpful too.
May 15, 2021
I read this alongside the three Divine Comedy books. It was really helpful. I don't think I'd have made it far without it. However, I felt that it didn't provide as much insight with Paradise.
January 2, 2021
A really good place to start if you want to dive into Dante. Baxter loves his subject and his enthusiasm is infectious. The chapter introducing Paradiso is almost worth the price of the book itself. Recommended for those who have read Dante and are looking for additional insight and those who want to read Dante but are a bit intimidated.
November 7, 2019
I think this is a very good book. This definitely has given me some context and insight on the Divine Comedy. We will see how much it helps me read the Divine Comedy at a later date once I star reading the Divine Comedy. Overall I throughly enjoyed reading this book.
December 16, 2020
Finally
Finally an explanation of the Divine Comedy that a layperson can understand. The depth and beauty of Dante's Divine Comedy is readily available by Jason Baxter 's descriptions.
I
Finally an explanation of the Divine Comedy that a layperson can understand. The depth and beauty of Dante's Divine Comedy is readily available by Jason Baxter 's descriptions.
I
November 16, 2019
Great help if one is contemplating the Divine Comedy. Heady stuff.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews