Divine Comedy + Decameron discussion

I saw the beginnings of this group last night. Somehow I knew that sooner or later I would be invited to join. I can't believe I'm signing up, but the completion of À la recherche du temps perdu has left a kind of hole in my life, and this may fill it nicely. Wait a minute, I never did finish Infinite Jest...

Hey great idea! I've been meaning to read The Divine Comedy in its entirety for years, but it is m-f-ing intimidating. Group therapy seems to be the way to go about it. I probably won't be in for The Decameron. Any inkling on what translation/editions you'll be preferring? I LOVE the way the Everyman's edition looks and is made, but have no concept of its value as a translation.

Thank you for the invite. I am interested in the Divine Comedy, and will probably not join for the Decameron. I do hope it does not start immediately though... since I have some other readings planned fore early 2014, but I will try and accommodate.

Proustitute wrote: "we'll put up a translation/edition thread very soon...."

I just did. If I was being presumptious just slap me down to Hell.

Darwin8u wrote: "Proustitute wrote: "we'll put up a translation/edition thread very soon...."

I just did. If I was being presumptious just slap me down to Hell."

If the powers that be are compassionate, it will just be Purgatory. LOL.

“Abandon hope, all ye who moderate the group here."
[Omnes relinquite spes, hic omnes qui moderantur]

Definitely up for The Decameron, as consider my prior reading of it to have been pretty unfocused. The Dante was re-read a couple of years ago, but may join in for the Hell-fun...

I actually read Dante once while at uni but it was a long time ago. I got a swedish translation but will download and english to the kindle also and read them together.
I think I even read Decameron but back when I was 17 or so. So time for a re-read of both!

Oh, the Devil take it all. I cannot turn down an invite from Kris. I will most likely do a lot of lurking. I'm knee deep in Southern Lit, waiting for the next Mann read, and rolling around in the trenches of the Great War. It's the Centenary, you know.

I read Dante approximately two years ago. However, I've not read The Decameron. I must fall back on my belief that a stack of unread books is the key to immortality.

Well, lead on Virgil. Let's do it again. Perhaps a different translation this time.

Oh, excellent! Both of these books are wonderful, I'm really excited to read them with you guys.

Ha! I've often joked that a circle of hell for some folks that Dante forgot would be reading Dante! Before I totally commit and I'm totally interested, I need the timeline. I have teaching/travel commitments throughout the first half of 2014 and I may not always have internet access. Can you give me a rough idea about how long you were expecting to run this group?

Kris has drawn me in, though I'm not terribly partial to group reads. I'm sure the first part of the Divine Comedy (Hell) must be the most interesting. How could it be otherwise?

I have been covetously eyeing Clive James's new Dante translation for some time, so I'll probably use this group as an excuse to read it. Since I'm moving to a new country, changing jobs, and having a new baby next year, I will probably mostly be lurking – but I do look forward to seeing what all you lovely people end up discussing…

Purgatory is just as fun as Hell! And Paradise is the prettiest to read, in terms of language.

If anything is built for a good group read, it's probably the Divine Comedy. It's so chock full of references and allusions that it's nice to stop after each canto and talk about it.

(PS: Congrats on your exciting upcoming year, Warwick!)

Katie wrote: "Purgatory is just as fun as Hell! And Paradise is the prettiest to read, in terms of language.

..."

I am glad you are joining the group, Katie...

Mike wrote: "Oh, the Devil take it all. I cannot turn down an invite from Kris. I will most likely do a lot of lurking. I'm knee deep in Southern Lit, waiting for the next Mann read, and rolling around in th..."

Hell in the trenches.. I will be there too.

“Clive James's translation of The Divine Comedy is a remarkable achievement: not a scowling marble Dante of sublime set pieces but a living, breathing poet shifting restlessly through a dizzying succession of moods, perceptions and passions. Under James's uncanny touch, seven long centuries drop away, and the great poem is startlingly fresh and new.” (Stephen Greenblatt, Harvard University, author of The Swerve)

Sounds like the way to go. Count me in!

OK - I'll give it a whirl.

Thanks for the invite Kris! I'm in a few groups for books this year, so I'm not promising anything, but I'll do my best!

Thank you for inviting me Kris. I can't resist joining as I've really enjoyed reading both works in the past and would love to read them again.

Hmmm, this would be my first group read in any approximating form, but I want to read both of these. However, I have an aversion to rules and schedules, so I'm not sure if this will work for me. (Not to mention that I like to follow my whims when I am reading, wherever they go and whenever they occur.) I might end up lurking... Not that it really matters. :)

Steve the lurker is now officially your new name.

Thanks for the invitation Kris. I have one edition of Hell (that sounds a bit odd doesn't it) but probably could be convinced to try a different one with promises of superior writing, etc. I'm a sucker for such things.

So glad to be here. Not sure how I'll keep up with everything next year, but I'll give it the old way-post-college try.

It was hell of a nice of you to post the invite, Kris! This looks like a devilishly good idea. Let it not be said that I wouldn't go where angels fear to tread!

I'll probably do my usual bad thing and just join and not have time to actually keep up with the group, but at least the lounge is a nice place to sit while others go through hell and purgatory, ha ha.

Thanks for the invite, Kris! I read Dante back in college, but while I enjoyed Inferno, I think I could have gotten more out of Purgatorio and Paradiso. I've never read the Decameron. I look forward to it.

I shall echo herein the sentiment of some new digital friends north of this rectangular compass in that I, too - with the gentleness of Oneidans, the Harmonites, with the theoretical nobility of of the Christian Dukhobors - look forward to this Group. I have declined many-a Group, for rules are often debased fluoride in the water glass of my eyes, and now I shall even only be able to accept half of this invitation, though on the most appreciative of grounds, as I have studied The Divine Comedy to an extent I wish upon nobody, save he long for a stay in the mental hospital, though I believe this variation on literary street-cred went down in flames several decades ago. However, I have been contemplating for months now rewriting Decameron from the point of view of a single mother in post-9/11 society, and the discussions herein may provide yrstruly with ardent, random insights, observations, emotive evocations, and all of the rest of it. My buckling down to Proust proved a failure in 2013, and I predict 2014 will be a better year. In the words of Boethius:

'One law only standeth fast:
'Things created may not last.'

Joseph - you crack me up.

Joseph wrote: "I have studied The Divine Comedy to an extent I wish upon nobody, save he long for a stay in the mental hospital..."

Ironically, I was first introduced to 'Inferno' by a brother who was on his 4th read while in a VA clinic in Virginia. So...Truth.

Thank you Joseph. I am so looking forward to future discussions!

Gosh, I feel bad now. I didn't receive an invite. I invited myself. Perhaps I jumped the gun and signed up before the invites were sent out.

I'm not sure what the rules are in this group. Are we allowed to use the group lounge to post articles, or would you rather we not do this?

The Catholic Writer Today

Dante and Hopkins, Mozart and Palestrina, Michelangelo and El Greco, Bramante and Gaudi, have brought more souls to God than all the preachers of Texas.

http://www.firstthings.com/article/20...

If you'd rather we not do this, I'll come back and delete this entry.

Thanks so much for the invitation, Kris; take my acceptance as a leap of faith that there will be time starting this summer. My goal will be just one of the two books: Decameron.

I'm so happy to see so many friends joining in!

And Reem, I'm so glad you joined. If you didn't receive an invitation, it's bc we haven't been friends on GR, an oversight I'm going to rectify right now.

Thanks for the invite, Kris! I've being really looking forward to exploring the Western canon in 2014.

Thanks for the invite, Proustitute. Hopefully I'll do more than lurk...erm...but always happy to try and be involved, even if I fail dismally!

Many thanks for inviting me Kris. I hope that this group will give me the impetus to finally read The Decameron.

Thanks for the invite, Kris. I look forward to these reads. :)

omg. omg. omg.

!!!

I own a vintage edition of The Inferno, the cover of which is so horrifying that I keep it face-down and underneath a towering stack of books whose jocund subject matter (read: talking honey bears, a pokey puppy, &etc.,) has succeeded, so far, in negating the black magic that must surely lie within.

But now you're asking me to un-bury it? *gasp*

I suppose if we're all going in...together, I mean... then I guess it'll be OK. Right? Right??

can you snap a pic and post it?

Hello!

Thank you to the lovely dear Kris for inviting me to this group!

I look forward to devouring novels with everyone here :)

~Lola

The Inferno

The cover illustration is like a variation of Octavio Paz's anatomical comparison of the ass and the mouth. Instead of an ass, we have a uterus. A very pissed off uterus. Doesn't it feel as if you're looking at a uterus that is just about to gag on the whole history of humankind?

Looking forward to Decameron!

I'll wait to pick up a copy until the discussion/info thread about the translations is posted.

Thanks for the invitation Kris. I will do my best to keep up, I am in other groups so I may have to pick and choose. Looking forward to this though.

Tia wrote: "The Inferno

The cover illustration is like a variation of Octavio Paz's anatomical comparison of the ass and the mouth. Instead of an ass, we have a uterus. A very pissed off uterus..."

Oi, with your introduction and description...it is quite disturbing indeed.

Kris wrote: "I'm so happy to see so many friends joining in!

And Reem, I'm so glad you joined. If you didn't receive an invitation, it's bc we haven't been friends on GR, an oversight I'm going to rectify righ..."

Thank you Kris. :)

I was pleased to find Project Gutenberg has the HTML of Decameron. As I am a little strapped for cash this holiday season although with access to free printing at the nearby college, I intend to print the book in installments over the course of the holidays. For those a little tight on cash or perhaps those who haven't had the pleasure of employing Gutenberg, I suggest you consider the fine, charitable source.

Proustitute wrote: "Glad to see some Proust 2013 members making their way here!

Reem, care to post in the lounge there about this group? I would, but I'm not on a computer and it's too clumsy. If not, I'll do it when..."

Certainly. I'd be glad to do so.

Thanks for the invite Kris.

I am looking forward to reading both.

I'd be interested in joining, perhaps for The Decameron. I read The Divine Comedy earlier this year and would love to read it again, but I have lots of books listed for 2014 so I'm not sure if I'll have the time. I will try my best though! I'm glad to have found this group!

Thanks for the invite, Proustitute. These are books that solidly anchor my "one-of-these-days-I-would-like-to-try-this-book-but-not-this-day" list. They can be my New Year's resolution. I'll be the befuddled one over in the corner of Lurker's Lounge, but us quiet ones nevertheless do pay attention to the party.

Hi Kris,
Thanks for the invite. I suspect I'll "lurk" a lot, too. Time commitments to two clubs and work might keep me from being terribly active with the Decameron, but it's a "should read". Thanks to the Dante group at work, where we were reading two canti a month during the academic year (we've finally reached Paradise!), I know I'll be able to get through at least some of the material!