Stephen+K

=Stephen K's 9th Grade Book Review=

In Dante Alighieri’s classic poem, The Divine Comedy, we find the main character, Dante, wandering through a dark forest, exiled from his homeland because of a political debacle. As he travels, he meets the spirit of Virgil, another great poet. Together, the descend the depths of Hell itself on their way to Heaven, all in the search for redemption. Along the way they meet many legendary historical figures, from Julius Caesar to Alexander the great, all punished in various ways for the atrocities and misdemeanors they committed in life. Much of the book shows examples of allegory and irony, such as the various punishments in Hell. One example is the punishment for the Lustful, who, in the book, are forever tossed and turned by an unending hurricane, just as they were blown about aimlessly by their unrestrained passion in life, or the false profits and fortune tellers who must walk for eternity with their faces on the backs of their heads, only able to see what’s behind them as they walk forward. Soon after escaping the dark and hallowed caverns of the inferno, Dante and Virgil Find themselves at the base of the great mountain Purgatory, where those who died are prepared for heaven. Near the top of the mountain, Dante meets Beatrice, his angel who first compelled he and Virgil to make the journey in the first place. Soon, Dante and Beatrice make it to the heavens above, and Dante finds peace with the one great Creator. Dante’s Comedy is an epic tale of trial, suffering, and redemption that shows the struggle to find peace that all go through. The book is a truly gripping story of how one man, lost and alone, finds himself and conquers his inner demons. All throughout the story one can find excitement and wonder, terror and sorrow, and quite a bit of entertainment. However, despite being a truly amazing tale, the book is extremely long, my own copy being over 600 pages long. This largely owes to the fact that the Comedy is actually 3 books commonly generalized as one, being Dante’s Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, meaning Hell Purgatory and Heaven respectively. Also, the book has and extremely high reading level, making it very difficult for most people to understand. Adding to the slight problems is that many of the phrases used in the book, while likely known and comely used 500 years ago, will likely confuse some people. But, despite the few problems one might have understanding it, the “Divine Comedy” is a truly wonderful book and I would highly recommend it to anyone who might be able to understand it.