What would it be like to literally go to Hell and back? Ask Dante Alighieri. But don't go for the Little Black Classic, because it might make you just as upset as it made me. Circles of Hell features ten cantos taken from the medieval Italian epic Inferno. In it, we follow a pilgrim making his journey through the nine circles of Hell, each with their own inhabitants and sins. I have not read Inferno, which made this a horrible starting point (thus my rating). It's obviously just supposed to be a...

Although this is extractions from the original text i still felt it packs a good punch. Poetry sadly is not my biggest interest but i feel the amount of imagery provided and the way it consumes a mind with the idea of hell amazing. Each part is so in depth but short it is more than enough to get an idea of what you may expect from the full text. The bible mixed with a grim version of a Chrismas Carol style with a touch of the master and Margerita. This is how i pictured it. Very much enjoyed

The PS3 Game version of The Divine comedy (named Dante's Inferno) was the first time I ever heard of Dante Alighieri or the Circles of Hell. Ever since playing that game years ago I have been hooked on Dante. Circles of Hell gives the reader the "best bits" of The Divine Comedy and cuts out the chaff and extraneous detail (if that be your type of thing) as there is a lot of it.I, however, adore detail and tedium in my reading but that did not stop me from loving these little snippets of horror.

idk.

This is quite possibly the worse edition I’ve come across in this collection so far. It is simply terrible. I would avoid this completely if you’re thinking about giving the poet a try. The Divine Comedy is hard to follow at the best of times and this edition makes it even worse. I’ve started reading the full work no less than six times over the past year, and each time I’ve had to go back to the beginning out of confusion. I was due another reattempt, so I thought I’d give this edition a try;...

I like this. The language is so rich and powerful but being only a few excerpts of the book takes a lot out of the story. So I guess now I have to pick Inferno and read it all

This was an interesting read. I read it as a piece of classical literature but also as a religious text. It tells of Dante walking through the nine circles of Hell with the poet Virgil guiding him. The language was very complex and I struggled to find the meaning several times but the overall concept is that people are judged differently depending on their sins and each go to a different circle of hell, receiving a different punishment. I enjoyed analysing this text and found it an intriguing ex...

It was hard going until I started reading it out loud and then it naturally fell into a wonderful rhythm.

Dante Alighieri was a 13th-14th Century Italian Poet and Statesman. The Divine Comedy depicts Dante's own journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, guided by the Roman Poet Virgil. Fully titled Divina Commedia, it is split in to the sections; Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. This Little Black Classic is the prefect place to start if you wish to discover whether Dante is right for you. It features a selection of Cantos (verses in a poem) taken from Inferno, the passage that Dante takes throu...

Read all my reviews on https://urlphantomhive.wordpress.com I bought a copy of the full Divine Comedy a couple of years ago, but have so far been holding out on reading it as I foresee another multiyear project to finish it. Circles of Hell - some snippets from the more sinister part of the collection looked like it could give me a taste of what could be found in the full edition. Unfortunately, although they were little tastes (some cantos from the Hell part) they made little sense on their ow

It was actually pretty good. I struggle with poetry a lot of the time (but I have been trying to read a lot more of it lately) and epic poetry is normally even worse for me, but this was actually pretty easy to follow. I have the full version of Inferno at home so I might tackle that soon... it doesn't seem so scary any more

I didn't hate it and I didn't like it. The selection this book has made is so random. It feels really choppy. It would be the same if I chopped Beowulf in parts.I do think that I would enjoy the complete work of Dante.

I feel I really ought to read more of Inferno than the bits that are found in this book before passing judgement, however, this is amazing! I am very tempted to read it over the summer but I'd have to try and find a copy by the same translator- it's so readable! The description is awesome (if a bit gory....). I couldn't help but compare it to The Road (studying it for coursework). The only reason that it's not 5 stars is that, because it's bits taken from another book, it got a bit confusing as

Adored this, I plan to get a full translation now. This has completely got me addicted.

"The way is long, the road is cruelly hard."- Dante, Canto XXXIV Vol 25 of my Penguin Little Black Classics Box Set is obviously just a selection from Inferno (book 1 of The Divine Comedy). I've read Dante's 'Divine Comedy' a couple times, and Inferno several. But I'm not nearly the fan of Dante that my brother is. He collects translations and copies of Dante's Divine Comedy, I prefer Homer. Somehow, we make it through. I liked Robin Kirkpatrick's translation, but it wasn't my favorite. Here is

Poor translation, poor layout. Compared this edition against the proper full edition and came to the following conclusion: hack job!Now usually I will admit that I have read very little poetry with the exception of the superb John Betjeman and would give at least four stars for its quality. This however is dire this is contains a more modern turn of phrase.In summery Robin Kirkpatrick is a shoddy translator who should consider the words more carefully, a few more years studying the Italian langu...

With this review im not commenting on the whole of Dante’s Inferno, just the extracts concerning this book. I found the prose beautiful, better than the likes of Shakespear. That of course bears the element that I did not understand 50% of what was going on, because true understanding required a careful dissection of the stanzas. It was simply the construction of the the line with elaborate adjectives and similes, that sketched a horrifying portrayal of hell. “together these all stirred a storm...

My favorite part of Dante’s famous descend through Hell and Purgatory, and subequent ascend to the Heavenly spheres has always been the first third: the cantos about the nince circles of Hell. Therefore, I pretty much knew I would like this book a lot and I would probably have given it a much better rating if it hadn’t been composed of seemingly random selections of the admittedly long section. The intigrate structure of Hell and the horrifically creative punishments are oddly captivating and th...

I love creative depictions of hell and I was hoping that this would be the book-version of Bosch's paintings. It kind of was, but I feel like I would have benefited from some SparkNotes because I was very confused at times. It might also help to read the whole work instead of snippets from it. I genuinely enjoyed it when I understood what was going on, though, especially the chapter where some poor sinners have to be trees for the rest of eternity. Best sentence:"'I,' he replied, 'am Brother Alb...