Re: Niven's _Inferno_

Dorothy J Heydt (djheydt@uclink.berkeley.edu)
12 Apr 1996 15:13:30 GMT

In article <Pine.ULT.3.92.960412075046.24945A-100000@wpi.WPI.EDU>,
A.J. Tolland <ajt@wpi.edu> wrote:
>
> I'm wondering if any of you have any thoughts on the book. Is
>Dante's original better? ....

Oh, yes.

More complex, mind you, and longer--don't know if that adds to or
subtracts from your definition of "better."

For one thing, _Inferno_ is only the first part of three. After
doing Hell, Dante also tours Purgatory and Heaven.

For another, the whole piece is a large, complex allegory. (An
allegory--there are many in this century who don't know--is a
work in which you say "A" and you mean "B". For example, when
the poet of _Romance of the Rose_ says, "I peered into the
fountain and saw two crystal stones shining there, and then the
master of the garden shot a golden arrow through my heart," he
means "I looked into the lady's beautiful eyes and fell madly in
love.")

The _Divina Commedia_ is an allegory written on not two but *four*
levels. The literal meaning is "How I took a guided tour through
the Other World." There's a moral meaning, "This is what people
are really like, with their sins and virtues: the punishments the
sinners are enduring are the continuations of what they were
doing to themselves on earth, made visible, etc., etc." There's
a political meaning: "This is what human society is like when it
goes wrong; here's what it looks like when it goes right." And
there's an anagogical, or mystical meaning: "Here is how the soul
wanders from the presence of God; here's how it returns."

By now you are probably figuring, and you are so right, that if
you don't understand Catholic theology and the medieval world-view
you are going to miss a lot of what Dante is talking about.

I can't tell from looking at your post where you live. If you're
American, the best translation for you to read is probably that
of John Ciardi. If you're British or Canadian, try the
translation of Dorothy L. Sayers. In any case, Sayers's edition
has the best notes; but Ciardi's aren't bad. Sayers also wrote
two booksful of essays on Dante which you might be able to find
in your friendly local university library.

Good luck. Feel free to email me if you have questions.....

Dorothy J. Heydt
djheydt@uclink.berkeley.edu
University of California
Berkeley