• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Which Book To Read Next? (Theme: Dystopia)

#21
Oh yes, I forgot...

The version of The Divine Comedy that I bought is called 'The Portable Dante', published by Penguin Classics, and edited/translated by one Mark Musa.

The other work included is called Vita Nuova.

Graeme
 
#22
Eric Cioe said:
Dude, Anthem is about 110 pages long. The book reads itself.

As far as the Divine Comedy, I love Inferno. The others are good, but Inferno is something else. I ended up winning $1k from an essay I wrote about it (specifically, the concept of justice as far as it relates to the "eye for eye, tooth for tooth" conception in Exodus) while I was in high school. I took an Italian class here (University of Chicago) called Italian through Dante. We basically spent a quarter (10 weeks) translating the first canto.

I forget the translator, but whoever did "Everyman's Library" version of it did a really good job.
Click to expand...
Eric, it sounds like you have a good amount of knowledge regarding the inferno. I'm only ten cantos in, so you definetely have more than me. For my essay, I'm right now thinking of a thesis along the lines of the importance of the separation of Church and State through symbolism and allegory in the inferno. Do you think that would be a good thesis? I know he was a very political man, as well as religious. What do you think? Maybe some good places to look?
 
#23
The main thing to look for when writing a paper about that sort of thing in the Inferno is where Dante places certain people - if you look, you'll find damn near every pope from the formation to the publication - and what the punishment is that they're getting. Look for the popes in particular.

A great resource about the Divine Comedy is a book, probably out of print, called "Discussions of the Divine Comedy," edited by Irma Brandeis at Bard College. It has essays on the comedy from Boccaccio, Petrarch, Voltaire, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Goethe, John Ruskin, and T.S. Eliot, among others.
 
#24
BassGod said:
Cool. Actually, I might just buy Anthem and read it before I start the others. An appetizer of sorts.

I can't wait to begin The Divine Comedy, as poetry interests me greatly. I mainly bought it for the Inferno section, but I will no doubt be reading the others. Actually, the version I bought contains Inferno, Purgatory, Paradise, as well as another work of Dante's, whose name I can't recall.

Graeme
Click to expand...

Take a break between each section. Dante is meant to be taken in doses.
 
#28
Anthem=Wonderful. One of the best books I have read. Also, I am interested in reading Dante's Inferno too. There was one translation that was supposed to be excellent, but the name escapes me right now. If I can figure it out, I'll let you know.
 
#33
Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman - Harlan Ellison
Short story. MUST READ.




Flatlander: The Collected Tales of Gil 'the Arm' Hamilton - Larry Niven
Collection of short stories from Niven's tales of known space universe. Very easy reading but very worthwhile.




A Boy and His Dog - Harlan Ellison
A novel. Dark and profound.
 
#34
I read City of Darkness a few years ago. I doesn't really focus on the dystopia so much as the people who are subject to it. I think it's meant for high schoolers, but it's still a good read.

I read The Forever War yesterday. Only novel I've ever read in one sitting. It's not so much about dystopia, but the story does brush up against them.
 
#36
Farenheit 451 and Animal Farm are both very good. I found 1984 a bit slow in the beginning, but it definitely picked up and turned out to also be a great read. I have yet to read a clockwork orange, but I know the gist of what happens, and sounds very interesting.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back