Drink with this: Campari and soda
Italian to the core of its fiery
red depths. An acquired taste, appreciated by the connoisseur. The bitter herby
tang of the campari is almost punitive, but stick with it and there are moments
of glory.
What's what:
In the midway of this our mortal life,I found me in a gloomy wood, astrayGone from the path direct:Pg 2, Ibid
How to review a 14th century classic, which the venerable Wikipedia describes as “the pre-eminent work of Italian literature, and….one of the greatest works of world literature”? In my case, as flippantly as possible!
Around two pages into the
650 page translation I realised a two-pronged approach would be advisable.
First, an initial skirmish, a casual, shallow, skim over the surface. Much,
much later – perhaps years or even
decades, who can say - an in-depth
re-reading and analysis, backed up by true scholarly understanding.
Unfortunately I don’t think
The Divine Comedy lends itself very well to the 21st C casual
reader. There is a wealth of historical and mythological information needed to
fully tackle this classic, which in previous centuries would have been inherent
to a gentlemanly education. Lacking even in Latin, I didn't muddy the waters by
attempting to read any notes as I went along. Instead I read it in the same way
I would any other book, in little bursts on the Northern line, straight up and
on the rocks, no embellishments to sweeten the experience.
Centuries later, what
endures is Alighieri’s command of language. The pain of never-ending sections
where for pages I too was lost in the woods of indecipherable verse and convoluted
sentence structure were almost eclipsed by the occasional blinding image or
evocative phrase. The air in hell is ‘with
solid darkness/ Stain’d,’ (pg 11, Ibid) and it’s impossible not to grasp Dante’s meaning when
he says of the souls suffering in Inferno:
These of death
No hope may entertain: and
their blind
Life
So meanly passes, that all
other lots
They envy.
Pg 12
I love the idea of the story
as well. Symbolism aside, the premise of an Italian dude lost in the
underworld, then on a journey through hell, purgatory and heaven seeking a
beautiful woman sounds pretty awesome.
Having said that, much of
the plot seemed pretty irrelevant now. Dante’s Odyssey was ultimately very
parochial, and at times accompanying him didn't feel much different than
walking to the shops of our small town with my gran – everybody was Italian and
everybody knew him or at least his family and wanted a bit of a blether. This
endless recitation of Italian names heightened the reader’s disconnection, and
yes, boredom. I had constant sense of an entire story passing me by because I
was too stupid to decipher it beneath the 14th C version of
in-jokes.
I'm not a stranger to a bit
of classic lit and in years gone by have munched through every Shakespearean
sonnet, Ulysses, the majority of Dickens and so on and so forth. But
Dante nearly did me in. There were whole pages, reams and reams of text, where
I had no clue what was happening and cared less.
O foolish wrath! Who so dost goad us on
In the brief life, and in
the eternal then
Thus miserably o’erwhelm
us.
Pg 49
The biggest frustration for
me was that I somehow had formulated an idea that this whole journey through
the underworld was a mission to rescue Beatrice. I was greatly disappointed
when she only appeared half-way through, in the form of an untouchable and
awfully smug angel goddess oracle. Then her perfection was played up so much I thought
(hoped) she was going to turn on Dante and banish him back to the Netherworld.
But no, she genuinely was perfection incarnate,
‘with such a smile,
As might have made one blest
amid the
Flames’
Pg 400
There are ideas here which
must have been big and revolutionary in their time, but which we are so
accustomed to now that they seem commonplace. The image of a man lost in his
own life, unsure of the way forward. The idea of purgatory as a never-ending toil
up a mountain without end, trying to see through the fog. Heaven as a place of
light and beauty where our deepest and most complex questions are explored.
Inferno was the most vivid
section, with some of the most powerful imagery, which is no doubt why it is
the best known. Purgatory was less impactful but easier to understand – more enjoyable
with more of a clear story thread. Here it was actually possible to work out
what was happening from one canto to the next. Paradise was densely
impenetrable and deeply tedious. Lengthy metaphysical and religious speculations
formed the body of this section, with little plot development.
and that, which next
Befalls me to portray,
voice hath not
Utter’d
Nor hath ink written, nor
in fantasy
Was e’er conceived.
Pg 508
This was in keeping with
the general movement through the work, with the first section dealing with the more
base bodily functions (references to sex and excrement) the middle section
dealing with prosaic actions such as exhaustion, endless toil, and confusion or
other overpowering emotions, while the third section was concerned with the mind
and the soul.
Wherefore if thou escape
this darksome
Clime,
Returning to behold the
radiant stars,
When thou with pleasure
shalt retrace the
Past,
See that of us thou speak
among mankind.
Pg 67
On the big screen:There are several, none of which I think I’ll ever be able to face. There is also a video game which it turns out follows the plot (rescue Beatrice) I wistfully imagined while reading. All adaptations I’ve discovered seem to focus on the visually stimulating Inferno, with good reason.
Highbrow/lowbrow: Right up there with the Bible in terms of pedigree, but with a more tedious conceptualisation of heaven. Doesn’t quite live up to Milton with regards to its interpretation of hell, but certainly as reputable.