‘Dante’s Inferno’ wasn’t an easy read (but it was an awesome read)…
This Plink is one I found hard to answer. I typically enjoy thoroughly every book I want to read, so I had to think back a little ways. I read this freshman year and, though I understood it, it took more work than most of my reading took…
Reading the first cantica of Dante’s Divine Comedy was difficult simply due to the extensive number of references Dante makes to the events of his time period. Although footnotes and other elements helped explain the backstory for many components, it was a tedious process to constantly decipher the significance of each line.
That said, it was absolutely worth reading. The general concept of the book itself is a somewhat mind-boggling one. To think that back in the 1300s, Dante had literally illustrated (literally as in…illustrated using words) the various levels of hell and why people ended up in their respective places of punishment is fascinating. The language is beautiful at times, terrifying at others, and is just an unbelievable concept (inserting himself as a character and not using a first-person narrative style of writing and journeying with the famous poet Virgil through the Gates of Hell).
Again…hard to read, but totally worth reading.
Which book did you find difficult to read?
