Dante (Penguin Lives Series) [Hardcover]

R. W. Lewis (Author), James Atlas (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2001

Only R.W.B. Lewis-the renowned biographer and author of The City of Florence-could write so insightfully about Dante Alighieri, Florence's famous son. In Dante he traces the life and complex development-emotional, artistic, philosophical-of this supreme poet-historian, from his wanderings through Tuscan hills and splendid churches to his days as a young soldier fighting for democracy, and to his civic leadership and years of embittered exile from the city that would fiercely reclaim him a century later.Lewis reveals the boy who first encounters the mythic Beatrice, the lyric poet obsessed with love and death, the grand master of dramatic narrative and allegory, and his monumental search for ultimate truth in The Divine Comedy. It is in this masterpiece of self-discovery and redemption that Lewis finds Dante's own autobiography-and the sum of all his shifting passions and epiphanies.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Viking Adult (2001)
• ISBN-10: 0641805470
• ISBN-13: 978-0641805479
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,416,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elusive, March 13, 2002

By 

Kerry Walters (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dante (Penguin Lives) (Hardcover)

Lewis's short biography of Dante is a pleasure to read. But at the end of it, one discovers that the book's subject is still elusive.

Lewis shines in setting the background against which Dante lived and wrote, helping those who aren't specialists in the tortured politics of 13th and 14th century Florence orient themselves in that whirlwind world. He also does a good job of describing the passion young Dante acquired for Beatrice and how his love influenced his ambitions as a poet. Finally, Lewis provides a pretty good walkthrough of Dante's poetic journey through hell, purgatory and paradise.

But in all fairness, most people who read this book will probably be more or less familiar with all three of these topics. My guess is that what they'll yearn for is a better understanding of who Dante the man was, an understanding that plumbs more deeply than the usual stories about Beatrice and Florentine feuds do.

Lewis's book won't help there. Dante the man remains elusive, hidden behind his poetry and the images. This isn't necessarily a criticism of Lewis's book. Dante is something of an enigma, even more so than many other poets. It may well be that no biographer can reveal Dante as he was to us of us who live today, half a millenium later.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compact and Graceful, Lucid and Generous Writing, September 17, 2001

By 

C. Ebeling "ctlpareader" (PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dante (Penguin Lives) (Hardcover)

DANTE by RWB Lewis is my introduction to the Penguin Lives series and if this is representative of the full series, I'm reading every volume. In 205 pages, in graceful prose that never flags, Lewis deftly sketches the life of Dante Alighieri and the times in which he lived, and, very important, offers a reading of his greatest works. The early Florentine Renaissance was a period fraught with political turmoil and Lewis does a good job of sorting out the factions and turns of events and their impact on Dante's life. His rereading of Dante's works is generous--no need to have read the masterpieces recently or perhaps at all to learn from this and gain an appreciation. In fact, this book would make a fine introduction to a study of THE DIVINE COMEDY. Lewis shares his own wonder and pleasure in Dante's work, and when he cites the original Italian lines, to provide an idea of their flavor, he always provides a translation.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasurable biography from beginning to end., July 30, 2001

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FinancialNeedsdotcom (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dante (Penguin Lives) (Hardcover)

A pleasurable biography from beginning to end. The book interweaves literature, love and religion all together in an intelligent understanding of the complexities that shaped this great artist. The book manages to illuminate the known facts of Dante's life and capture key moments in his life. Details vividly his wanderings through Tuscan hills and splendid churches to his days as a young soldier fighting for democracy to his civic leadership and years of exile from the city that would reclaim him a century later. It truly is a masterpiece of self-discovery describing the life and work of one of the world's greatest medieval poets.

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