The Divine Comedy
Dante mapped the entire medieval cosmos — Hell, Purgatory, Paradise — into a single poem and created the most ambitious work of the Middle Ages.
“In the middle of the journey of our life, I found myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.”
Why It Matters
Dante mapped the entire medieval cosmos — Hell, Purgatory, Paradise — into a single poem and created the most ambitious work of the Middle Ages. He essentially invented the Italian literary language by choosing Tuscan vernacular over Latin. Its structural and poetic influence is so deep that Western literature divides into before Dante and after.
The 
Take
Personal reviewUnbelievable amount of mythology, philosophy, religion, history, literature , politics, astronomy all smushed into one incredibly systematic yet poetic investigation of one falling to rock bottom and then following the long road to redemption and beyond. Reading all the classics before this seemed like a requirement and what a payoff. Crazily well created book.
Notable Quotes
“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”
“You are my master and my author. You alone are the one from whom I took the beautiful style that has done me honor.”
“The Love that moves the sun and the other stars.”