Buondì.
So Dante doesn’t really meet Harry Potter, of course.
Though I’m pretty sure he would have done if the chronology had been the other way around, as the author seems prone to name-dropping just about everyone, both contemporaries and historical figures.
Good P.R. I suppose. Everyone would have had to buy a copy of ‘Inferno’ to see what Dante had written about them, so boosting sales!
But anyway, today’s Dante sequel has a scene copied straight from Harry Potter – the one with the three-headed dog.
But what a cheek! And Dante didn’t even get it right.
Every Potter fan knows that three-headed dogs are unable ‘to resist falling asleep to the sound of music’ (source: harrypotter.fandom.com).
So no need to have your poet sidekick hurl dirt down their throats.
Though perhaps Virgil, Dante’s guide and protector, wasn’t/isn’t the musical type? We’re not told.
What AM I on about?
If you have no idea, check out our extracts from Canto 6 of ‘Inferno’, hot off the press!
Oh, and just a word before you do?
It’s absolutely OK if you don’t understand the original Italian.
It’s also fine if you find reading the Italian explanations ‘faticosa’, or if reading Italian at this level is just too hard for you.
But this way of approaching Dante, extract by extract, a little at a time, does mean that it seems to get easier if you persevere.
The trick is not to fret about the parts you can’t understand, to just go with the flow and try to get the general idea.
We’re only up to canto six and already I’m finding it makes more sense, which suprises me, as generally I’m too lazy for this type of thing.
And when it doesn’t? There’s the English translation, so I can at least figure out the basic plot.
So don’t miss out!
‘Inferno!’ – like Harry Potter but with snarky references to Dante’s rivals and enemies in fourteenth century Florence.
Unmissable stuff.
A lunedì.
Canto I | Canto II | Canto III | Canto IV | Canto V | Canto VI
P.S.
It’s Friday! You probably noticed.
So why not pause a while and listen to Thursday’s bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news?
It’s free!