Abandon all hope you who enter here' (Lasciate ogne speranza voi ch'intrate)
Dante's Hell is one of the most remarkable visions in Western literature. An allegory for his and future ages, it is, at the same time, an account of terrifying realism. Passing under a lintel emblazoned with these frightening words, the poet is led down into the depths by Virgil and shown those doomed to suffer eternal torment for vices exhibited and sins committed on earth.
Inferno is the first part of the long journey which continues through redemption to revelation - through Purgatory and Paradise - and, in this translation prepared especially for Audiobook, his images are as vivid as when the poem was first written in the early years of the fourteenth century.
Featuring music of the period
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[Midway upon the journey of our life / I found myself within a forest dark / for the straight-forward path had been lost CANTO 1]***
(@NaxosAudioBooks, 28 February 2005, first published 1320, audiobook, 4 hours 11 minutes, borrowed from @natpoetrylib via @OverDriveLibs, translated by Benedict Flynn, read by @hcwms)
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I have been fascinated with Dante's The Divine Comedy for years. I've wanted to read it for so long. I became aware of Dante and his epic poem through a videogame I loved years ago. I kid you not. The game was called; you guessed it, Dante's Inferno. The myths and legend in the videogame piqued my interested and I read up on Dante and The Divine Comedy. I bought an old battered second hand copy a few years ago but found it too dense to get into. An audiobook seemed a gentler way to immerse myself into such an important and dense piece of writing. It worked like a treat. I listened to this while working from home and became so absorbed in it I almost went into a trance. I loved Inferno. I loved the imagery, vivid descriptions and myth brought to life by excellent narration. I think I will buy myself a decent physical copy to study and absorb.
