A Reading of Dante's Inferno

A Reading of Dante's Inferno by Fowlie, Wallace. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780226258881.

This work is a guide to the reading of Dantes great poem, intended for the use of students and laymen, particularly those who are approaching the Inferno for the first time. While carefully pointing out the uniqueness, tone, and color of each of Dantes thirty-four cantos, Fowlie never loses sight of the continuity of the poets discourse. Each canto is related thematically to others, and the rich web of symbols is displayed and disentangled as the poems unity, patterns, and structures are revealed. What particularly distinguishes Wallace Fowlies reading of the Inferno is his emphasis on both the timelessness and the timeliness of Dantes masterpiece. By underlining the archetypal elements in the poem and drawing parallels to contemporary literature, Fowlie has brought Dante and his characters much closer to modern readers.