Suggestions needed for June/July fiction discussion

[Taylor]

The Kollin brothers created one of the most thoughtful heavy,s since Voldamort. Hektor Sambianco is positively remorseless. I thought the series was strangely compelling. I would think that the subject of mandatory individual incorporation and its implications for the evolution of human life could be in BT's alley. As for myself I recently picked up Mathew Lewis's The Monk( not certain how to set up a link).

[nettie255]

Hi I'm new to this site but would be very happy if you would consider my debut novel, Escape to Africa. Its a gritty thriller following the fate of a child sold into slavery and those who risk everything to save her. Would really appreciate some feedback.

Thanks

[Olivia22]

I'm looking to get back into the monthly discussions. I have no book suggestions but I would love to read The Divine Comedy. I've only read The Inferno.

[heledd]

I downloaded the Dante, thanks Robert. I wonder why someone goes to all the effort of translating something and then giving it away for free

[sunrise]

Dear Suzanne:
may I suggest my book for discussion?

[aviciouscyclenovel]

I personally think that Dante's Inferno is a wonderful read. Haven't read it in a few years, but I would absolutely love to read it again!

[heledd]

For something called the Divine Comedy its a bit short on laughs

[Robert Tulip]

I have read the Inferno, and it is a bit of a heavy slog. I was thinking of using it as a model for my own story about heaven and hell. What I liked about it was the big picture, its role in the history of literature, the role of Virgil as guide, the science fiction style approach to heaven and hell, with the Jules Verne-style 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth', and then the imagination about purgatory as a mountain opposite Jerusalem, near Tahiti. And since a friend just sent me some photos of me and my first girlfriend back in 1979, I have been mooning away about Beatrice who shows Dante the way to heaven...

[Suzanne]

Sunrise, from what I have read about your book it sounds to be non fiction. This discussion is for works of fiction only.

I have read the Inferno, and it is a bit of a heavy slog. I was thinking of using it as a model for my own story about heaven and hell. What I liked about it was the big picture, its role in the history of literature, the role of Virgil as guide, the science fiction style approach to heaven and hell, with the Jules Verne-style 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth', and then the imagination about purgatory as a mountain opposite Jerusalem, near Tahiti.

Wow, this sounds fantastic! Are you saying you would like to be the discussion leader? There has been more positive feedback for this novel than I ever anticipated. I am intrigued by your ideas, this discussion sounds very promising.

Since "The Divine Comedy" is the only book to get any feedback, I am prepared to do away with the poll and announce it as our next group fiction discussion book. Robert, do you feel this novel should take three months? June, July and August? There are three parts to it, and the extra time can be useful to explore all your ideas.

[Robert Tulip]

The Divine Comedy is another of the great classics that everyone should know, but it is quite hard to read, since it is 800 years old, standing at the dawn of modern times. I think it would be interesting to have as our selection if people can use it as an imaginative springboard.

For example, people could just look at the five minute youtube summary at the bottom of this post and react to that without reading it.

The idea of the nine circles of hell was taken up by Solzhenitsyn in his book The First Circle, with the Soviets putting non communist scientists into a sort of 'least damned' category. This book is ironic, suggesting that Russia is hell.

I tend to think of creationists as occupying one of the circles of hell, since they do not read the Bible properly and have no idea of how their mad ideas are so destructive. I wonder who other people would imagine in hell?

Some links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Comedy
http://manuvegeta.hubpages.com/hub/Summ ... -Alighieri
http://www.novelguide.com/divinecomedy/ ... mmary.html
http://www.christianbooksummaries.com/l ... bs0421.pdf

The Gates of Hell were a great theme in art, for example Rodin. Dante said the inscription on the gates included the text "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." This is quite a famous line. Maybe he could instead have put Jean-Paul Sartre's statement "Hell is other people". I think of hell as a metaphor for everything bad. It would be interesting to use this book to discuss how people imagine hell, purgatory and heaven, whether they are meaningful in any way, and whether Dante's depiction still resonates at all.