In which Meghan discovers that most of what she thought happened in The Inferno was actually from 1998’s What Dreams May Come.

So, yeah. I pretty much have a big, gaping lack of knowledge about The Classics, which was why I requested The Inferno on Netgalley. It’s a Dover edition, so pretty bare bones. I used Lit Charts after each Canto to get an idea of what was going on. I think, without the Lit Charts’ explanation, I’d likely have only gotten about half of what was going on, but if I’d attempted reading this without the Lit Charts’ explanation, maybe I would have concentrated more to understand. My mind wandered a lot and so my first attempt at reading translated 14th century Italian poetry was sort of a bust, as I had to force myself to read five Cantos a day until I was done.

I could see the whole thing being made into a really creepy Anime or European movie, if they could somehow account for the lack of plot. Dante wanders about with Virgil and sees all the poetic punishments for a variety of sins, while calling out some 14th century Italian “celebrities” for the transgressions that condemned them to Hell (like cannibalism or enjoying sex). I guess at the time, these punishments were more shocking, but in the age of Saw and Martyrs and extreme anti-gay violence, some of the impact was lost.

As for Doré’s woodcuts, my four-year old Kobo didn’t do them justice. I looked at some online afterwards, where one could see the detail better. I did appreciate that people in the illustrations, some, like me, had paunches or flabby arms or meaty thighs. Actually, that’s probably what I enjoyed most about this copy of The Inferno: a reminder that our current obsession with the correct form of body is just that: current.

So I read A Classic. Yay me. Now to return to my modern novels that I understand, and enjoy, much better.

The Inferno by Dante Alighieri (Dover Edition translated by Longfellow and with woodcut illustrations by Doré) went on sale July 20, 2016.

I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

(And, as always with dead authors, I checked yes on the Netgalley for being interested in connecting with the author so that my interest in Netgalley‘s necromancy program is again noted.)

I know this book came out last year. I wanted to read it. I’m pretty sure it was on Netgalley around the publication date and, as so many of my emails from Netgalley say, my request was denied. Then, suddenly, it’s on Netgalley again, a year later, free for anyone to read. Well, I’m an anyone. Huzzah!

So Eileen. A quarter of the way through, I thought to myself Okay, the narrator says something is going to happen. A third of the way through, I thought to myself I wonder if this something is going to happen soon. Half way through I thought It would be nice if instead of the narrator telling me that something is going to happen that whatever that something is actually does happen. Two-thirds of the way through I don’t think I’m going to care about whatever this something is when/if it does happen. Three-quarters of the way through Shut up narrator and just let the something happen already!

Then the something happens and it’s nothing you couldn’t see coming from a couple miles off. There’s definitely an ick factor that’ll have the story stick to me like a bad smell, but by the time it happens, I did not care. It’s like Kurtz in Heart of Darkness — all that buildup and for what? Some pearl-clutching distaste and the horror, the horror. A sourness, a souring of the imagination.

I didn’t enjoy Eileen, not that one is meant to. I feel sort of slimy after reading it because, as I said, from a couple miles off I could see what was coming, but I read to the end anyway. What does that say about me?

Although, I could have done less with Moshfegh telling me something was going to happen and just getting to the crux of it already.

Repetitive narration wrapped in very good writing.

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh went on sale August 15, 2015.

I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m going to make the villain a poo. No, a sausage!

This book is awesome. I love it. This book is all about drawing and making your own story. You also get to read along with what the duck Carl says. Kids will enjoy this book. My favourite thing was when I got to draw Carl’s disguise.

Are there others in the series? I want to do the other ones!

(Tesfa, age 7.)

Doodle Adventures: The Pursuit of the Pesky Pizza Pirate! by Mike Lowery went on sale September 6, 2016.

I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.