I have been in the Heaven that takes up most of his light, and saw things there that those who descend from that height cannot speak of or forget.' Led by his guide Beatrice, Dante leaves the Earth behind and soars through the heavenly spheres of Paradise. In this third and final part of The Divine Comedy, he encounters the just rulers and holy saints of the Church. The horrors of Inferno and the trials of Purgatory are left far behind. Ultimately, in Paradise, Dante is granted a vision of God's Heavenly court - the angels, the Blessed Virgin and God Himself.
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[The glory of Him who moves all things / penetrates through the universe and shines / forth in one place more and less elsewhere CANTO 1]***
(@NaxosAudioBooks, 24 August 2011, first published 1320, audiobook, 4 hours 26 minutes, borrowed from @natpoetrylib via @OverDriveLibs, translated by Benedict Flynn, read by @hcwms)
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This is the final section of The Divine Comedy. I enjoyed listening to it a lot, though a little less than Inferno and Purgatory. This segment of the epic book features God, heaven and religion a lot more heavily and more obviously than the other two volumes which were quite dark and had a nice, gothic almost gothic horror feel. I'm an atheist so could have done without all of the references to the Bible, church, God, heaven etc. That said, there is no denying the power of Paradise or the talent of Alighieri.
