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Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey
Dante Alighieri was early in recognizing that our age has a problem. His hometown, Florence, was at the epicenter of the move from the medieval world to the modern. He realized that awareness of divine reality was shifting, and that if it were lost, dire consequences would follow. The Divine Comedy was born in a time of troubling transition, which is why it still speaks today.
Dante’s masterpiece presents a cosmic vision of reality, which he invites his readers to traverse with him. In this narrative retelling and guide, from the gates of hell, up the mountain of purgatory, to the empyrean of paradise, Mark Vernon offers a vivid introduction and interpretation of a book that, 700 years on, continues to open minds and change lives.
“Just as Dante had Virgil, we have Mark the perfect guide to Dante’s epic and fantastic journey. This is not just a description of what happens and who we meet, it’s an invitation to read The Divine Comedy as a way to change our own consciousness and embrace a more spacious everything is bigger on the inside. I started highlighting sentences I wanted to think about, but ended up with yellow stripes there are insights on every page. A marvelous book that blew away a lot of my assumptions about The Divine Comedy .”— SUSANNA CLARKE , author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
"There has long been need for a scholarly but deft guide to Dante’s masterpiece, not just as a literary curiosity but as a profound examination of the meaning of life in a world less material than ours. Here at last is one for which we can be grateful. Like Virgil guiding Dante, Vernon accompanies the reader on the fascinating journey from hell through purgatory to paradise; he is a delightful companion, and I for one learnt a great deal from the experience.”— IAIN MCGILCHRIST , author of The Master and His Emissary
“As late modern readers and writers, we live at an unfortunate remove from much of the greatest literature of earlier epochs principally in thinking of it solely as literature , whose chief meaning and value can be exhaustively described in strictly critical categories. We scarcely remember how to see poetry—or any of the arts—as belonging to a fuller vision of reality, with spiritual as well as purely aesthetic dimensions. This is an unfortunate state of affairs in regard to any literary text of consequence, but in regard to a work of the magnitude and splendor of The Divine Comedy it is tragic. An approach like Mark Vernon’s is precisely the remedy required if one wants truly to see the poem for what it is, and to see through the poem to what it adumbrates.”— DAVID BENTLEY HART , author of Roland in Moonlight
“Dante’s spiritual pilgrimage through hell, purgatory, then up through the seven heavens to a vision of the Mystic Rose is one of the masterpieces of human imagination. Mark Vernon guides us through the great poem, giving light, gathering insights from other commentators, granting us a sensitive, fresh perspective. Whether the Comedy is a familiar favorite or forbiddingly foreign, readers will here find companionship, nourishment, and assistance as they traverse the Dantean soul-scape.”— MICHAEL WARD , author of Planet The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis
“Mark is a wise, warm, and humane guide through Dante's hell, purgatory, and paradise. His remarkable book reveals The Divine Comedy as a transformative reading experience, as urgent and relevant today as it was 700 years ago, perhaps even more so.”— HENRY ELIOT , Creative Editor, Penguin Classics
Dante’s masterpiece presents a cosmic vision of reality, which he invites his readers to traverse with him. In this narrative retelling and guide, from the gates of hell, up the mountain of purgatory, to the empyrean of paradise, Mark Vernon offers a vivid introduction and interpretation of a book that, 700 years on, continues to open minds and change lives.
“Just as Dante had Virgil, we have Mark the perfect guide to Dante’s epic and fantastic journey. This is not just a description of what happens and who we meet, it’s an invitation to read The Divine Comedy as a way to change our own consciousness and embrace a more spacious everything is bigger on the inside. I started highlighting sentences I wanted to think about, but ended up with yellow stripes there are insights on every page. A marvelous book that blew away a lot of my assumptions about The Divine Comedy .”— SUSANNA CLARKE , author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
"There has long been need for a scholarly but deft guide to Dante’s masterpiece, not just as a literary curiosity but as a profound examination of the meaning of life in a world less material than ours. Here at last is one for which we can be grateful. Like Virgil guiding Dante, Vernon accompanies the reader on the fascinating journey from hell through purgatory to paradise; he is a delightful companion, and I for one learnt a great deal from the experience.”— IAIN MCGILCHRIST , author of The Master and His Emissary
“As late modern readers and writers, we live at an unfortunate remove from much of the greatest literature of earlier epochs principally in thinking of it solely as literature , whose chief meaning and value can be exhaustively described in strictly critical categories. We scarcely remember how to see poetry—or any of the arts—as belonging to a fuller vision of reality, with spiritual as well as purely aesthetic dimensions. This is an unfortunate state of affairs in regard to any literary text of consequence, but in regard to a work of the magnitude and splendor of The Divine Comedy it is tragic. An approach like Mark Vernon’s is precisely the remedy required if one wants truly to see the poem for what it is, and to see through the poem to what it adumbrates.”— DAVID BENTLEY HART , author of Roland in Moonlight
“Dante’s spiritual pilgrimage through hell, purgatory, then up through the seven heavens to a vision of the Mystic Rose is one of the masterpieces of human imagination. Mark Vernon guides us through the great poem, giving light, gathering insights from other commentators, granting us a sensitive, fresh perspective. Whether the Comedy is a familiar favorite or forbiddingly foreign, readers will here find companionship, nourishment, and assistance as they traverse the Dantean soul-scape.”— MICHAEL WARD , author of Planet The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis
“Mark is a wise, warm, and humane guide through Dante's hell, purgatory, and paradise. His remarkable book reveals The Divine Comedy as a transformative reading experience, as urgent and relevant today as it was 700 years ago, perhaps even more so.”— HENRY ELIOT , Creative Editor, Penguin Classics
466 pages, Paperback
Published September 3, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 17, 2022
I wish I could love this book but I didn’t. It is a psychological journey and not a spiritual one, which is a shame.
Dante was unapologetical in his vision for The Comedy and in his theological/religious rebukes. To me, this is one of the most admirable aspects of his work, it is extremely honest and critical (of himself and others, of rulers and the church). Vernon cannot do that, there is a lot of “pearl clutching” at several of the more “controversial” aspects of The Comedy.
Dante was unapologetical in his vision for The Comedy and in his theological/religious rebukes. To me, this is one of the most admirable aspects of his work, it is extremely honest and critical (of himself and others, of rulers and the church). Vernon cannot do that, there is a lot of “pearl clutching” at several of the more “controversial” aspects of The Comedy.
July 8, 2023
An absolute must-have when reading The Divine Comedy. Deft and simple but beautiful and elegant.
July 22, 2024
This is best read concurrently with The Divine Comedy, the book it intends to explain. I did not do this, which may not have been my best idea—it means I've essentially read the book twice, in a short period of time, which is exhausting.
But this is an excellent guide through Dante's journey, and explains much of what's happening. There are some things in The Divine Comedy I couldn't understand, whether for spiritual or historical reasons, and this digs into those finer details. I understood much more of Purgatorio here, which would've been useful when reading the poem itself.
I do think it goes off track sometimes, and doesn't get as much into the spiritual side as I would've liked. But overall it's an excellent guide. It goes canto by canto like the book itself, so if there's anything in The Divine Comedy that requires further explanation, it's easy to cross-reference.
But this is an excellent guide through Dante's journey, and explains much of what's happening. There are some things in The Divine Comedy I couldn't understand, whether for spiritual or historical reasons, and this digs into those finer details. I understood much more of Purgatorio here, which would've been useful when reading the poem itself.
I do think it goes off track sometimes, and doesn't get as much into the spiritual side as I would've liked. But overall it's an excellent guide. It goes canto by canto like the book itself, so if there's anything in The Divine Comedy that requires further explanation, it's easy to cross-reference.
May 12, 2025
Mark Vernon, a trained psychotherapist and former priest, writes a terrific summary and analysis of Dante's Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. I personally think that the Divine Comedy is one of the greatest things ever written, so I enjoyed this book quite a bit.
The summary component is great for those who haven't read Dante in years, or who want a more straightforward approach to their first time reading the poet. However, it's the psychological analysis that gives the work five stars for me. Vernon is brilliant in how he approaches Dante's meaning--I especially loved his interpretation of Dante and Virgil's descent into Hell.
A fun and very readable look into one of the great works in the western canon. Highly recommend.
The summary component is great for those who haven't read Dante in years, or who want a more straightforward approach to their first time reading the poet. However, it's the psychological analysis that gives the work five stars for me. Vernon is brilliant in how he approaches Dante's meaning--I especially loved his interpretation of Dante and Virgil's descent into Hell.
A fun and very readable look into one of the great works in the western canon. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews