tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793841573292945810.post5798023906488616646..comments2023-08-15T07:12:07.964-07:00Comments on Paulus Torchus: Reading the Classics with Paul- Inferno- ConclusionPaul Mathershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793841573292945810.post-28976101674189082862010-09-11T15:23:36.398-07:002010-09-11T15:23:36.398-07:00Yes, I think you hit it right on the head. I am f...Yes, I think you hit it right on the head. I am finding that I must take it as poetry and I think that had to have been the poet's intention. On one hand, I keep thinking about C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce and a rather intense conversation I once had with someone about "Lewis' view of the afterlife." They took The Great Divorce quite literally and thought less of Lewis from it. I have doubts that Lewis wrote the piece to say "This, I believe, is an exact description of the afterlife." It seemed fairly transparent to me that the piece was speaking more about human nature.<br /><br />Likewise, it seemed to me that Inferno was largely a literary device to discuss human nature and, more specifically, a lot of current events. Part of the brilliance is the spiritual view of the universe that he must needs weave into his social commentary. But, as I've said on here and in dozens of conversations since, I am unnerved by how much of this poetic work has seeped into a mainstream, evangelical, Protestant view of the afterlife. <br /> <br />As I understand it, the meaning of the piece is made much more clear in the more elevated later realms of The Divine Comedy. I am greatly looking forward to getting to those pieces. However, I guess my take away is to avoid the temptation of skipping ahead in my project.Paul Mathershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15951893912611871578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7793841573292945810.post-30145955891343865652010-09-11T06:08:53.598-07:002010-09-11T06:08:53.598-07:00A post of mine, culled from email correspondence, ...A post of mine, culled from email correspondence, dealing with a comfortable tea-coffee-and-cakes discussion of <a href="http://www.tuirgin.com/2007/02/02/oh-hell/" rel="nofollow">hell</a>. I share your discomfort.<br /><br />At the same time, I didn't find <em>Inferno</em> disturbing. Macabre, yes, but it is grand poetry. I <em>would</em> have had it out with Dante if he were suggesting his poetry were something like realistic. As it is, it's easy to read as partaking in the kind of imagery we find in the Hebrew and Christian apocalyptic writings. As metaphor I have no real qualms except for the fact that Dante the poet (as opposed to Dante the fictional character) is rather brutal and merciless... unless somehow he's pointing to his fictional depiction of his self as the better self.Tuirginhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05081067215683168015noreply@blogger.com