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Liked It “'Dante's' other two works' The Inferno and The Paradiso ' were very enjoyable. However, I found 'The Purgatorio' the most interesting because everyone knows what Heaven and Hell look like, but what about Purgatory? The pictures were very nice, and I enjoyed seeing the area through his eyes.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “I did not really enjoy this book very much. I thought that it might be interesting since I enjoyed some of the Inferno. The main reason that I read it though was so that I could find out what happened next in Dante's journey. I will be glad to go onto Paradiso which I hope has a slightly...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“'Dante's' other two works' The Inferno and The Paradiso ' were very enjoyable. However, I found 'The Purgatorio' the most interesting because everyone knows what Heaven and Hell look like, but what about Purgatory? The pictures were very nice, and I enjoyed seeing the area through his eyes.”
Eire Galvin wrote this review Saturday, December 22, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I read this in a class at the UW, for which I'm very thankful, because I would never have been able to glean the immense richness of it had I not had the professor explaining things and drawing connections.”
Sara Wolf wrote this review Tuesday, October 4, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I did not really enjoy this book very much. I thought that it might be interesting since I enjoyed some of the Inferno. The main reason that I read it though was so that I could find out what happened next in Dante's journey. I will be glad to go onto Paradiso which I hope has a slightly happier feeling to it as I am sure it will since it is heaven. In this book, it felt that Dante's journey was sort of uneventful and there was not much going on. I felt that Dante could have made it more interesting by having more of a plot to it because in the Inferno it felt more that way. I think that it is interesting to see what Dante believes happens to the people in Purgatory though even though there is no such thing as this or at least I do not believe this. I think that he is a little to harsh on the sinners in here because yes some of them did some really bad things but if he thinks that this is better than hell I would beg to differ with him. There are many moments where the punishments felt so unfair and I felt were not right for the sins they committed. Let's hope heaven is better according to Dante. ”
Audrey C wrote this review Wednesday, March 23, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I didn't like it at all. Someday I will finish reading Inferno. ”
MargaretAnn L ~Just don't forget me wrote this review Wednesday, March 2, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I find this to be the most refreshing of all the divine comedies. The story is simple in that Dante comes out of hell but before he can gfet to heaven he must first undergo the tests thta are the judge of whether he resist ntemtattion to sin or not ot find out out whether he belongs on hell or not. The trials and temptations are obvious moments of charcter development that lead to great moments of tension. In the ned the message is clear and pwerfuol and one that everyone should follow”
daniel m wrote this review Friday, November 12, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Very exiting and makes you wonder what is after death. Worth 3 books”
Tenney R wrote this review Tuesday, September 28, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I really enjoyed this version, the illustrations are great and quite fun in their interpretations of the text. The updated language too feels pretty true to the spirit of Dante while being usually very accessible to the modern reader. I do think Birk and Sanders do sometimes put a little too much modern funk on their words, just trying a little too hard to be hip occasionally but over great. This was a really good book for me to read at the place I was in my life at the moment, I felt very much in Dante's shoes.
Patrick M wrote this review Saturday, April 24, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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“This is a drier read than "Inferno", but it is still interesting. Dante looses a lot of the humor present in "Inferno" and starts the transition from scorned Italian in exile to medieval Italian contemplating Purgatory and Heaven. As a writer, Dante is more contemplative in this part of the "Divine Comedy", but he still moves the story enough that you want to keep reading. All in all, it is a good book, but it is obvious why the entire "Comedy" is not studied in schools.”
Misty L wrote this review Sunday, December 27, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Everyone always talks about Inferno, but you never really hear much about The Divine Comedy as a whole, and especially never of Purgatorio individually. Dante goes through hell, and for most people, that's where the story ends. I thought that maybe, when I finished Inferno, the other two books would seem dull in comparison. That wasn't true at all. I think Purgatorio is more interesting than Inferno, because here is Dante, with whom you the reader have traveled through darkness and filth, and now it's turning more inward. Purgatorio is the recognition of Dante's sins, and his faults, and I think flaws are faults are what make characters more human (of course, the lack thereof is Godly, as in the next book). Dante's major sin is pride, his belief that he is more special than others. And though he purges himself of this sin at the end of the book, I feel that maybe he didn't purge himself of it at all. I mean, here is a man writing a story in which he, a lowly Florentine poet, is permitted access to the wonders of the universe by a woman with whom he is madly in love and yet to whom he's never even really spoken. Why Dante? Why would he granted the privilege of being the first living soul to pass through the levels of the afterlife? Because Dante believes he is special. And he admits it. But Dante's flaw doesn't ruin the book, it enhances it. And the writing style! I love his mix of mythological elements into the whole Christian universe. The ending was excellent too; the pathos of the appearance of Beatrice in the garden of Eden was overwhelming. I'm excited for the next canticle. ”
Chase H wrote this review Tuesday, December 15, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
