Reading Diary A: Dante's Inferno

Reading Diary A: Dante's Inferno

I've heard a lot about this story, but I have never read it. I think it's such an interesting concept and I'm excited to explore it. I think that we all wonder what the other side of life will be like and it's cool to see one person's imagining of it. I like afterlife stories as much as I like origin stories. We're in the middle of our life, but I always wonder about the beginning and the end.

Dante and Virgil: I quite liked the beginning of this story. I think it's such an accurate depiction of life when you become self-aware. I think the image I selected is haunting because I think we've all felt lost in the woods with no way out. The story was a little hard to follow just because of the language, but I enjoyed it all the same. I'm interested to see where Virgil is taking Dante.

Lost Man
Source: (illustration by Gustave Doré)

The Gate of Hell and Charon: I think it's interesting how Dante mixes Christian and Greco-Roman ideas of Hell. I think the author was clever by using his characters to explain the situation, so reader could better understand the story's meaning. The depiction of the underworld was very haunting and I was struck up the imagery. I truly felt like I was along with Dante for his journey.