DoglovingJim wrote:BROWNRECLUSE wrote:cmsellers wrote:DoglovingJim wrote:I decided to read the 1954 copy of Dante: the Inferno as translated by John Ciardi.
It's a good book, but the sequels get increasingly disappointing. Purgatorio is somewhat interesting but a step down, while I couldn't even finish Paradiso.
Interestingly, the themes of the three parts of the Divine Comedy are basically: "bad things happen to bad people," "bad things happen to good people," and "good things happen to good people." What on Earth made him think anybody wants to read a book in the last category?
Read the contemporary versions by Marcus Sanders, Doug Harvey, and Sandow Birk.
They reimagine the entire scope of the Divine Comedy in a more modern setting. And Birk's woodcut-style illustrations are beautiful.
https://www.amazon.com/Dantes-Inferno-Marcus-Sanders/dp/0811842134
Thought you might like this recluse,"Well, a brown recluse spider is the only kind to worry about, and it wouldn't build out in the open [...] The rest don't raise much of a welt"- Clarice Starling on spiders [silence of the lambs]
Anyway, about books.
I finished off Dantes: Inferno, begun reading Murder on the Orient Express and finished that too and now I'm reading The Silence of the Lambs.
For books I'm planning to read I got a whole crime collection book with several stories by Agatha Christie, some of those Jack Reacher books by Lee Child, From Russia With Love, several cowboy books that have been gathering dust in my bookshelf and the holy bible. And also, finally boxer dog lady is planning to lend her collection of Sherlock Holmes stories to me once I'm done with the Agatha Christie's crime collection so I also got those.
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In addition:
When walking the dog I was also lucky enough to find someone dumping several leather bound books from the likes of Shakespeare and Voltaire along with junk on the side of the road, so I took those with the only plastic bag in my pocket (thank the Lord my furry little friend didn't decide to take a crap in that walk). They'd make a good addition to my bookshelf (first I have to find out if they have termites, anyone got any advice on how to do that?)
I've finished The Silence of the Lambs and am now continuing to read my bible as I kind of promised boxer dog lady that I'd finish it off (as she made a resolution to do the same), in other news for Christmas she bought me The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas so I also have that to read.