Sharon’s Reviews > Inferno: A Poet's Novel > Status Update

Not gonna lie, I will be skimming most of part 2 because it is not interesting 😂 BUT there are some good lines!

This is still good but I’m not as enamored with it as I was at the beginning. The nonlinear/experimental format of the book makes it a bit of a challenging read. Still, there are some great lines in here.

Part 1 is complete! While the nonlinear nature of the book is a struggle to follow sometimes, the prose is GORGEOUS.

"I never thought of people as residing anywhere at all. I knew history talked about moments, maybe in Paris, between the wars. But New York was right now. The people I had read about, seen in magazines simply walked out the door, onto the sidewalk, stood right here. Stepped in there and got a drink. In these stone corridors, life began. The myth was true."

“I was living in New York! All my dreams were collapsing into each tiny decision - suddenly I dropped my pen. I felt something, smelled it. I had an urge. And stepped out into the cool early fall night.”

“The library was a giant snail. It changed with the seasons - became hot and cold. It held the season steadily. It was like the soft velvet seats in the movie theater that by their very substance ushered us into an imaginary world. Here: the book.”

“There are moments when I’ve literally felt drowned in life. When circumstances have lead to a moment so rife with possibility, a possibility that you can’t possibly understand.”

The first paragraph knocked the wind out of me (complimentary)!! Can’t wait to keep going!