Reading Dante by Prue Shaw

Reading Dante by Prue Shaw

Keenly aware that thousands of books have been written about The Divine Comedy, Prue Shaw—one of the world’s foremost Dante authorities–is convinced that an accessible, non-scholarly work that explicated Dante is needed. Just as Dante becomes a poet with a prophetic mission, Reading Dante becomes far more than an exegesis of Dante’s three-part Commedia. It offers a literary experience that lifts the reader into the universal realms of poetry and mythology, revealing how one can recover time-past through memory and language. Whether challenging the notion that Dante was vindictive, decoding the numerology that can confound readers or positioning Dante’s tortured life within the framework of fourteenth-century Florence, Shaw creates an astonishingly lyrical work that will appeal to both those who’ve never read the Commedia and those who have. Reading Dante underscores Dante’s belief that poetry can change human lives.

"Reading Dante is an experience of a lifetime.. But, like Dante himself, at large in the frightening wood, you need a companion for the journey, and it is difficult to imagine one more enlightening than Prue Shaw." -- The Spectator
"Shaw’s sharp, brilliantly engaging book delivers masterfully on its promise to fuel love for the Comedy precisely by dispelling readers’ anxieties, and showing how the great underlying concerns of this work are not only those of every work of art but are the stuff of life itself. Moreover, she keeps us so enthralled with her compelling and fast-paced prose that the only reason one would want to put down this book is to open the one she is talking about." -- Book of the Week - Times Higher Education
"Writing an introduction[to The Divine Comedy] for the general reader is not an easy task. Prue Shaw has done this in a way that manages to be at the same time scholarly, compelling and original." -- The Times Literary Supplement
"Reading Dante is undoubtedly one of the best introductions to Dante's Commedia available. It is accurate, informative but never dull or patronising. All the important topics are covered, while steering clear of academic jargon... It is a virtuoso performance." -- The Tablet

Prue Shaw is emeritus reader in Italian studies at University College London and the editor of the edizione nazionale of Dante’s Monarchia and of a digital edition of the Commedia. She lives in Cambridge, England.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781631490064
ISBN 10	1631490060
Title	Reading Dante
Author	Prue Shaw
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	WW Norton & Co
Year published	2015-05-12
Number of pages	352
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable