Danteworlds: A Reader's Guide to the Inferno (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: lower hell, three beasts, early commentators, Middle Ages, Dark Wood, Study Questions (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Drawing on Dante dictionaries, early commentaries, and many of the poet's chief sources, Guy Raffa provides lucid, concise information on all the major persons, deities, and creatures encountered by Dante in the course of his journey. This book is ideally suited for first-time readers of the poem, who will be able to consult Danteworlds for a wealth of particulars. It is an intelligently conceived, very handy guide which will appeal to a broad audience." - Deborah Parker, University of Virginia"

Review

As a teaching tool and guide for beginning readers, there is much to praise here. . . . Indeed, Raffa has a talent for concise, lucid exposition, which serves him very well in this book, and his mastery of the vast historical, poetic, and theological material that he condenses down to a manageable size for beginning readers is impressive and, as far as this reviewer could determine, largely accurate. . . . [Danteworlds] is written as a guide, explicitly working with the experience of the first-time reader in mind so that it succeeds in providing enough information for the first time reader to make sense of Dante''s poem without either providing one, ''definitive'' interpretation or taking the reader away from the poem to be lost in commentary and scholarship. Throughout, Raffa finds ways to provide context and clues that encourage the reader to return to Dante''s poem for a fresh look. The book, therefore, is not only useful for first-time readers, but also for those who regularly teach the Comedy to such readers. I, for one, have made a number of notes concerning new approaches to take and new questions to ask the next time I teach the Inferno in a general education course, and I anticipate recommending this guide both to students in that course looking for further help and to friends outside of the academy who are determined to read for themselves one of world literature''s greatest poems."-V. S. Benfell, The Medieval Review (V. S. Benfall The Medieval Review )

"[Raffa] writes with modesty and common sense and gauges well the issues that need explication. His guide will be useful to teachers who have not been trained as dantisti as well as to students of the poem. . . . As an introduction, [the book] does a remarkable job of conveying a great deal of information as well as a lively sense of the richness, interest, and relevance of the Inferno." (Rachel Jacoff Speculum ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (May 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226702685
• ISBN-13: 978-0226702681
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #732,057 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introductory study guide, April 25, 2009

By	entropent (Wesley Chapel FL) - See all my reviews

This is a concise study guide to Dante's Inferno which would be most helpful to those studying the work in a survey of literature course, or as introductory material for self-study. For each circle of Hell, the book provides an overview, and then discusses each significant encounter and allusions in the text. Several signicant verses are cited, and study questions are provided. You can see the structure of the material, as well as abridged notes from the book on the author's excellent website, http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/. The book provides a little more depth.

While this guide is helpful in providing a survey of the work, if one is going to study Dante in-depth, it really is helpful to get good historical background information as well. For this, you will have to look elsewhere. The guide provides a timeliine of major events in Dante's life, without comment, nothing else. A chapter on his life, politics in Florence, and the 13th century would provide context, although this may be more information than the book's intended audience really requires. Those who want more may be interested in the Cambridge Companion to Dante.

The Kindle edition Table of Contents hyperlinks to the chapters, but not to sections within the chapters.