Further Papers on Dante

by Dorothy L. Sayers

Introducing the Dante Papers Introductory Papers on Dante Further Papers on Dante The Poetry of Search and the Poetry of Statement Dr. Sayers' Further Papers on Dante will be warmly welcomed by all who read her Introductory Papers on Dante and by those hundreds more who want to know more about this astonishing poet newly disclosed to them by her vivid Penguin translation of the Inferno and the Purgatorio. The first series dealt mainly with the theological and ethical aspects of the Divine Comedy. The present one is more heterogeneous and pays more attention to the literary and poetic aspects of Dante's work. Here and there an attempt is made to rescue Dante from the exalted isolation in which he stands, and to compare with him other poets writing on similar themes. 'To label any poet hors concours is in a manner to excommunicate him' This is not a work of popularization, but Dr. Sayers has in a high degree the ability to make things plain and readable for the general reader while at the same time revealing much that scholars may have overlooked.

Genres: Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Essays

221 pages, Hardcover

Published January 15, 1980

About the author

The detective stories of well-known British writer Dorothy Leigh Sayers mostly feature the amateur investigator Lord Peter Wimsey; she also translated the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.

This renowned author and Christian humanist studied classical and modern languages.

Her best known mysteries, a series of short novels, set between World War I and World War II, feature an English aristocrat and amateur sleuth. She is also known for her plays and essays.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy...

Reviews

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I'd forgotten about his one--I must have read at least parts of it as an undergrad. The opening essay "...And Telling You a Story" must have been the source of my enthusiasm for Dante, since, while I don't remember any of the details, I remember its spirit. Sayers is so lively and so bowled over by her discovery of this poet, that she just can't contain herself. She picked up the Commedia, "inwardly convinced that I should read perhaps ten cantos with conscientious and self-conscious interest and attention, and then--in the way these things happen--one day forget to go on. It did not happen that way. Coming to him as I did, for the first time, rather late in life, the impact of Dante upon my unprepared mind was not in the least what I had expected, and I can remember nothing like it since I first read The Three Musketeers at the age of thirteen." As it turned out, Dante was to be her primary interest for the rest of her life. At first she is simply amazed at what a good writer he is, speaking, herself, as a very accomplished mystery writer. She also read it in Italian, so was able to pick up on (what she thought were) very funny comic nuances that never come through in translation. Her enthusiasm is catching. The essay makes you really, really want to read the book.