Monday, March 12, 2012

The Book Store 2

Okay, so, second entry.

This time I figured I'd go with a classic of literature, The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. And when I say classic, I mean classic. 1200s to be exact. Unless you can read Old Latin or Italian I'd recommend you pick up a translated and annotated version. I picked this up kind of on a whim, and I loved reading it. The vast majority of the story is allegory and meaning that isn't immediately apparent, and the whole thing is written poetically, but that shouldn't put you gents off. If you plan on reading this I would highly recommend that you pick up a version with annotations, thus you can have the more difficult allegories explained, and get all the 12th century political references that Dante makes. Secondly, have a computer with internet access opened up next to you when you read, because you'll likely need to look up some of the references the book makes.

On the whole, a fantastic read. I'd recommend anyone with a deep interest in literature to pick it up. However the archaic poetic language and deep political referencing diminish its appeal to the modern reader. That aside, I'm gonna give this one a 7/10.

Stay reading my friends, and, as always, This is Dresden signing off.

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