Dante's Invention
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Review
A bold, readable and well-documented exploration of the imagination of one of the great founder figures of European culture. --David Starkey, Historian
The book wears its considerable scholarship lightly. Written in a no-nonsense, attractive style it combines seriousness with wry humour. Dante, famously, managed to hold the entire universe in his head: James Burge convinces us that he has somehow managed to do the same. --Sir Christopher Frayling
The book wears its considerable scholarship lightly. Written in a no-nonsense, attractive style it combines seriousness with wry humour. Dante, famously, managed to hold the entire universe in his head: James Burge convinces us that he has somehow managed to do the same. --Sir Christopher Frayling
Product Description
Dante Alighieri was a self-absorbed young poet who composed rarefied verse about the nature of love. While medieval Florence descended into violent turmoil he seemed entirely uninterested in anything other than Beatrice, the girl he had loved since they were both children. Fate had to work very hard to make him write his great work, the Divine Comedy. This is the story of how it did so. Dante s progress through the world of Florentine feuds, corruption and betrayal led eventually to exile and condemnation to death. As he began to turn his attention to the world around him he became convinced that only knowledge and understanding could save humankind from its own folly. Eventually he produced a fictional account of a cosmic journey from Hell to Heaven which weaved connections between the intense love he felt inside him, the cruelty he saw around him and the force that drives the universe. The Divine Comedy, has been in print ever since printing was invented and is a work of breathtaking, almost cinematic imagination. The Comedy speaks from the strange and distant world of the medieval mind but it has resonances for anyone today who is concerned about how things are and how they ought to be.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have just finished reading Dante's Invention which I enjoyed enormously.In common with many people I am sure, I have always wanted to know more about Dante, his life and the Divine Comedy, but have felt a little intimidated.
This book is a very readable account of Dante's life, and it weaves the sometimes dramatic events with the Divine Comedy and Dante's other works. The book makes it's subject and the times in which he lived accessible and fascinating, but in no respect is it Dante 'lite'.It is obviously very well researched and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to find out more about this astonishing figure.
This book is a very readable account of Dante's life, and it weaves the sometimes dramatic events with the Divine Comedy and Dante's other works. The book makes it's subject and the times in which he lived accessible and fascinating, but in no respect is it Dante 'lite'.It is obviously very well researched and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to find out more about this astonishing figure.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A friend of mine recommended this book to me - and I'm glad they did. Dante's Invention is a journey through both a man's life and his masterwork. Burge is excellent on the religious, historical and philosophical import of The Divine Comedy. The passages on Dante's love for Beatrice are both philosophical and touching. Dante's fellow poets, the Popes and politicians of the period - fun, wicked and mad - also colour the book's pages.
One can read this book without a great deal of prior knowledge about the poet and his era, although by the end you may find yourself wanting to read The Divine Comedy or a book on Florence.
One can read this book without a great deal of prior knowledge about the poet and his era, although by the end you may find yourself wanting to read The Divine Comedy or a book on Florence.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
In historical literature, there tends to be something of a gulf between the dumbed-down popularistic approach and heavily-footnoted academic tomes. I can't say I find either approach appealing, so it was a real delight to come across James Burge's first book, Heloise & Abelard, which cast an intelligent but eminently readable eye on what turned out to be a fascinating topic.
And with Dante's Invention, he's gone and done it again! Who'd have thought a medieval Italian and his elaborately intricate epic poem could prove so absorbing? Dante's Invention gives an informative and entertaining crash-course in both the life & times of Dante Alighieri, complete with warring city states and corrupt power-crazed popes, and Dante's poetic masterpiece, the Divine Comedy, which, while rooted in medieval theology, in its humanity clearly transcends the blinkered strictures of the age.
It seems that Burge is also a TV documentary maker and he is particularly good at drawing out the cinematic vision Dante employed in his compelling descriptions of the delights of heaven and the tortures of hell. (The beautiful Beatrice consuming the live heart of the poet, and the denizen of hell who, eating the brain of his companion, carefully wipes his lips on the hair of the chewed-up skull before addressing Dante, come particularly to mind; perhaps not a book for the squeamish.)
In sum, I would say that Burge - with a wry 21st-century wit all of his own - has succeeded in shining some real light on the dark ages.
And with Dante's Invention, he's gone and done it again! Who'd have thought a medieval Italian and his elaborately intricate epic poem could prove so absorbing? Dante's Invention gives an informative and entertaining crash-course in both the life & times of Dante Alighieri, complete with warring city states and corrupt power-crazed popes, and Dante's poetic masterpiece, the Divine Comedy, which, while rooted in medieval theology, in its humanity clearly transcends the blinkered strictures of the age.
It seems that Burge is also a TV documentary maker and he is particularly good at drawing out the cinematic vision Dante employed in his compelling descriptions of the delights of heaven and the tortures of hell. (The beautiful Beatrice consuming the live heart of the poet, and the denizen of hell who, eating the brain of his companion, carefully wipes his lips on the hair of the chewed-up skull before addressing Dante, come particularly to mind; perhaps not a book for the squeamish.)
In sum, I would say that Burge - with a wry 21st-century wit all of his own - has succeeded in shining some real light on the dark ages.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great, and a great improvement on Heloise & Abelard
Brilliantly written from start to finish with fantastic depth of knowledge and a sly, dry wit - often with the punchline in the footnote. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Tim of Salerie, Buoyant Helium & Telegraph
Dante
Dante is one of those historical figures that I have been "meaning" to read about, but all the books I looked at seemed to be aimed at the serious scholar, which I am not. Read more
Published 18 months ago by TomBriggs
Accessible & Enjoyable.
James Burge has written an accessible and enjoyable introduction to Dante and his times(whilst also providing insights for serious fans and scholars). Read more
Published 19 months ago by Felicity
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