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Reading Dante: From Here to Eternity
Reading Dante: From Here to Eternity | Prue Shaw
3 posts | 1 read | 4 to read
The best and most eloquent introduction to Dante for our time. Prue Shaw is one of the world's foremost authorities on Dante. Written with the general reader in mind, Reading Dante brings her knowledge to bear in an accessible yet expert introduction to his great poem. This is far more than an exegesis of Dantes three-part Commedia. Shaw communicates the imaginative power, the linguistic skill and the emotional intensity of Dantes poetrythe qualities that make the Commedia perhaps the greatest literary work of all time and not simply a medieval treatise on morality and religion. The book provides a graphic account of the complicated geography of Dante's version of the afterlife and a sure guide to thirteenth-century Florence and the people and places that influenced him. At the same time it offers a literary experience that lifts the reader into the universal realms of poetry and mythology, creating links not only to the classical world of Virgil and Ovid but also to modern art and poetry, the world of T. S. Eliot, Seamus Heaney and many others. Dante's questions are our questions: What is it to be a human being? How should we judge human behavior? What matters in life and in death? Reading Dante helps the reader to understand Dantes answers to these timeless questions and to see how surprisingly close they sometimes are to modern answers. Reading Dante is an astonishingly lyrical work that will appeal to both those whove never read the Commedia and those who have. It underscores Dante's belief that poetry can change human lives.
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Graywacke
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The best of the (now 4) Dante overviews I‘ve read. The Divine Comedy plot line is packed and overviews can be overwhelming. Writing on themes, shaw manages to cover a ton while keeping her essays paced and interesting. It works. Recommended for anyone looking for an intro.

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Graywacke
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in Kuala Lumpur again. (Waving across town to @batsy 👋) During my 30 hours of travel I got 11+ hours of reading in, most of it spent here with this book. Now, just need about 30 hour of sleep.

Cathythoughts Oh I‘ve been in Kuala Lumpur airport a few times when my daughter was in Sydney... I didn‘t know @batsy then though. I hope you get some sleep 😁😴 (edited) 5y
erzascarletbookgasm Well hello 👋! I‘m here too! Hope you‘ll get a good rest. 💤 5y
Graywacke @Cathythoughts Sydney sounds nice. I hope I get sleep too, but probably I‘ll spend the night lying in bed wide awake. 😐 5y
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Graywacke @erzascarletbookgasm didn‘t know you were here. Thanks (but see previous comment). Hi 👋 from KLCC. 5y
batsy Hello! 👋🏽🙂 Another fab pic. I hope you manage to get some sleep and rest. 5y
batsy @Cathythoughts To think you've passed through at our airport! So cool 😁 5y
Tanisha_A That's a lot of time on the plane. Hope you get some rest. 5y
Graywacke @batsy thanks. Four hours last night of real sleep. That‘s a success. !! 5y
Graywacke @Tanisha_A thanks. Do it again in about 24 hours. But with a different book... or books. 5y
Suet624 Why so much flying? It must be exhausting! 5y
Graywacke @Suet624 trying to be a good employee, I guess. We had a mission... (ok, I‘m about to fly far away again, but this time with family on vacation. Better!) 5y
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Graywacke
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Thanks libraries. Started this one and it‘s really nice early on. (And the cover goes well with German Shepard coats and dainty paws)

batsy Aww 🐶 5y
Graywacke @batsy 🙂 she‘s a good 🐕 5y
Suet624 What a regal looking pup. 5y
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