Divine comedy
by Dante.
25% recommend73% neutral2% critical
Why HN recommends it
Epic poem often named among the greatest works of literature, valued for its vivid imagery, poetic mastery, and cultural influence. It rewards readers of Homer and Virgil, and a good modern translation helps.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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I think it's fairly obvious that TKAMB is objectively better than ASOIAF. What next? You'll tell me that Dante Alighieri's 'Divine Comedy' isn't objectively better than Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code'? Or that 'The Grapes of Wrath' isn't objectively better than 'Fifty Shades of Grey'? I don't buy your bullshit relativism.
on “Harper Lee has died” ↗…some of these where it really matters. Virgil's Aeneid, the best I know if is CS Lewis's partial translation. I'm unaware of a complete translation that has any of the magic of the original. Dante's Divine Comedy, read the Clive James translation. This is the first one that captures some of the luminous quality of the Tuscan. Beowulf, get Seamus Heaney's translation. I don't read Spanish and cannot offer any…
on “Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?” ↗Some of the books I've read this year that I'd recommend: The Divine Comedy by Dante - It is hard to underestimate how much it has influenced our culture. A Distant Mirror - The history of the 14th century, but engaging like a novel. Name of the Rose - Mystery novel set in…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2023 and recommend for 2024” ↗So, my favorite part of the divine comedy is not even the divine comedy. Is how, in Canto XXVI[0], Dante takes Homer's tale of Ulysses (odysseus) and extends it. And then 500 years later, Lord Tennyson takes Dante's idea and extends it further[1].…
on “The Divine Comedy (1321)” ↗…chronologically also helps. You'll understand more of the references and see how the books build on each other (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Conversation) e.g. Homer (Ilad) -> Virgil (Aeneid) -> Dante (Divine Comedy). Modern translations are great too. You can always go back and read more "faithful" ones. Some good examples are: The Divine Comedy (https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Comedy-Dante-Alighieri/dp/0871...)…
on “Harvard Classics Book Download” ↗the divine comedy by dante. some regard it as the greatest work of literature of all time.
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗4th-5th century: Confessions and City of God by St. Augustine 13th century: Summa Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas 14th century: The Divine Comedy (includes Inferno) by Dante Alighieri 20th century: Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton, Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, Humanae Vitae (Theology of the Body) by Pope Paul VI
on “Ask HN: Which is the best spiritual book you have read?” ↗…Musashi - The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric - Bosnian Chronicle by Ivo Andric - Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun - Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger - All Quiet on the Western Front by Remarque - The Divine Comedy by Dante --- This list totals out at 311.14EUR and has 23 books. [0] - https://www.bookdepository.com/ [1] - https://www.betterworldbooks.com/
on “Ask HN: You've got $300 to fill an empty library. What do you choose?” ↗If you're interested in Divine Comedy here's one I cannot recommend enough: Walking with Dante by Mark Scarbrough: https://walkingwithdante.captivate.fm It's slow and immensely comprehensive, but also very accessible and so much fun! His…
on “The world of Dante's Divine Comedy” ↗By former academic and current author Mark Scarbrough. 'Walking with Dante' is a passion project, taking on Dante's masterwork 'The Divine Comedy' passage-by-passage. "I've taught it many times. But I've always felt rushed. I wanted to take this masterpiece at my speed. "
on “Walking with Dante” ↗Not in this list, but I feel Dante deserves an honorable mention for his inclusion of an explanation of the hypersphere (3-sphere) in the Divine Comedy. Great write up here[1] [1] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/252338100_Dante_and...
on “Mathematical Fiction” ↗…temperance. Their opposites are: pride, wrath, sloth, lust, greed, envy, and gluttony. Unforgivable that this morality is not in the training. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_virtues (Dante’s Divine Comedy is my guide)
on “It is distressing that AI does not know the seven cardinal virtues” ↗Italian here - your feelings toward this book are most likely the result of our mandatory 3-year Divine Comedy classes we all had in high school. It's sad to note that most of us developed indifference - if not mild aversion - to Dante's work after that. If you have time and will, I really recommend to read this…
on “The Divine Comedy (1321)” ↗as everybody else in Italy, I had to study the Divine Comedy (which is an incredible work, and I'm glad I had to), and part of doing that is learning multiple interpretations of a single line, variations of people who have read and re-read the work over centuries.…
on “Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?” ↗You might enjoy Ezra Pound's 'ABCs of Reading', which talks about reading the best examples available. The Odyssey and Illiad are certainly that. Also the Aeneid, the Divine Comedy, Beowulf...but sometimes there are acceptable translations and sometimes there aren't. We are fortunate to have Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf which is always solid and occasionally makes you…
on “The First Woman to Translate the ‘Odyssey’ into English” ↗