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Post by Ambidextrous Kevin on Dec 3, 2003 16:43:38 GMT -5
right now i am reading Dante's Inferno a long and complicated book about a persons trip down the 9 circles of hell (a good book, but thats not the point).
there are more than these characters, but they stand out for a reason. a reason, that u will notice:
one characters name (a spirit actually), is Beatrice. ring any bells?
the word (not the name) quagmire, is mentioned. where have we heard that?
a persons name in the book (also mentioned in the back of TBBRE), is Gorgon. hmmmm......
also, it tells that the eighth circle is reserved for (among others) schismatics: people who participate in, or create schisms. i guess olafs future isn't too promising.
i know handler gets the names from people in the past, but i thought this was very interesting...
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Post by Efogoto on Dec 3, 2003 17:09:06 GMT -5
Daniel Handler stated in an interview (sorry, it was long ago and I cannot recall when or where I heard it) that he did not expect people (particularly younger readers) to understand all of the allusions at first, but he hoped they would be interested when they came across the famous names later (perhaps in literature classes) and perhaps look into the author's works.
Good job O Karnivorous One, you're well on the way.
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Post by Fire on Dec 5, 2003 0:45:58 GMT -5
I need to get hold of this book. Is it really good?
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Post by Efogoto on Dec 5, 2003 2:34:41 GMT -5
Yes, it's very good. Just a warning, though: It's a very long poem concerning of the dangers of wickedness and the benefits of virtue in this life affecting the afterlife. This can be daunting. Most of the people mentioned in the poem have been dead for over 400 years, though many people of the 1500's would have understood the references. You should find a decent annotated version if you want to understand these references.
Most people find the earthy and nasty Inferno (Hell) section to be the most readable part of the Divine Comedy. The others are Purgatorio (Purgatory) and Paradiso (Heaven).
Another warning: use of the word Comedy in the title does not mean you're in for a laugh riot.
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Post by Ambidextrous Kevin on Dec 5, 2003 16:32:09 GMT -5
ya, efogoto is right, but as he said, it is a very good book...er...poem. it is very confusing, and their are some versions u can buy that include notes at the end that explain some of the most confusing parts of it. it's a great book though. if u buy it or get it from a library, i've heard its best to get a copy translated by robert pinsky, because his translated version is supposed to be the best.  |
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Post by Zombie-chan on Dec 5, 2003 18:23:53 GMT -5
Wow, I didn't know anyone else here has read Dante! I just started the "Divine Comedy" myself and am in Canto XXV or so in "Hell". I loved this particular verse, I can't remember where it's at (Canto III, I think) or the exact wording, but part of it goes "All hope abandon ye who enter here". I don't know why I like it so much. But that's really cool...Somehow I didn't make those connections in my mind.
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Post by SnicketFires on Dec 5, 2003 19:47:20 GMT -5
so did dante write this poem or someone else, my library (*the world is quiet here*) catalog has a book under the name of Dantes Inferno/Sarah Lovell  i will keep checking... |
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Post by Efogoto on Dec 5, 2003 21:46:16 GMT -5
You want The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. There are various translations available. It's usually sold in three parts. Part one (which most people find to be the interesting part) is called Inferno.
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Post by Fire on Dec 6, 2003 4:37:58 GMT -5
Wait. The entire book is one big poem. I'm not sure if I want to read it anymore
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Post by lemonysinlaw on Dec 6, 2003 7:42:55 GMT -5
Yeah my dad told me about that. Too boring for me to read.  EDIT: One more thing: quagmire is a word, it means a bad situation, just like the Quagmires (and the Baudelaires) |
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Post by Ambidextrous Kevin on Dec 6, 2003 16:04:19 GMT -5
ya, i knew it was a word, that's how dante used it.
anyway, yes its one big long poem, but its great. once u get into it, you'll really like it.
also, snicketfires the title "Dantes Inferno/Sarah Lovell" probably means that it was translated by sarah lovell, because the original was written by dante but it was in french or something like that. all the ones you'll find (in english) will be translated by someone, in this case sarah lovell.
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Post by Fire on Dec 6, 2003 23:33:53 GMT -5
Uhh I don't think I want to read it at all. I hate most kinds of poetry.
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Post by Efogoto on Dec 7, 2003 0:09:59 GMT -5
This poem is to most poetry as a novel is to most newspaper stories. The original was written in tercets (three lines rather than couplet's two) in Italian. Some have chosen to translate in prose while others attempt to have the translation in tercets. It's not the poetry that will defeat you here, it's the story and the internal references that are hard to fathom from a distance of several hundred years. A decently annotated copy will help with this. Also, I learned that I enjoy classic literature when not reading it for a class but simply for enjoyment. Inferno definitely fell into this category.  |
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Post by Ambidextrous Kevin on Jan 4, 2004 18:56:57 GMT -5
oooh, i just discovered something even more interesting than the things in the first post!
Beatrice says, at one point, "God the Creator has by His mercy made me such that I cannot feel what you suffer: none of this fire assails me".
hmmmmmmm..."none of this fire assails me", so that means that fire doesn't hurt her? does that mean that (bear with me, its only a hunch):
IF in fact Beatrice was the bauds mom, then that could mean that she survived the fire (presumably set by olaf) that supposedly killed the baudelaire parents!
of course this does mean that she would have to die eventually because, as we know, beatrice is dead.
.............but isn't the whole "fire availing" thing interesting? i thought so....
edit: of course this information could only be true if the beatrice in ASOUE is an allusion to the same beatrice in Dantes Inferno.
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Post by SnicketFires on Jan 4, 2004 20:02:35 GMT -5
Kevin and Efogoto: I realize all of this now, i was stupid before.
Right now i am actually reading Inferno, but i will have to get the other two parts as well. I am enjoying it, i got a good translation with notes and the poem in italian.
My mom freaked out when she learned i was reading it *shrugs*
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