I thank you from the depths of my heart and mind for these simply epiphany podcasts. I have just finished Canto 33 Il Paradiso and was moved to tears by the final discussion. You have been a channel of grace.
What an incredible journey. I cannot thank you enough, I would not have made it through or understood even a fraction of what I was reading without you, my Virgil! :)
Yay, you made it to the top! It was my pleasure to record these videos, they actually helped me a lot during Covid… Thanks for your comment and for your interest 🙏🏻
Ah dear Tom this is indeed a summit and I reached it joyfully because I had you to draw me along. I can't thank you enough for taking on this task. I know it has been a labour of love for you and a something of a spiritual mission. But it has also been a huge commitment. I want to celebrate that when I think back to this couple of years of my life I will think of the pandemic but I will also recall it happily as the time of our journey through the Divine Comedy. In answer to your question, the greatest pleasure for me is to feel like I know this extraordinary man from seven hundred years ago. I have seen his genius but also shared his ideas and his emotions. He is a person, an intimate connection rather than a name. The literary beauty has been a joy for me and hearing you read parts in the original has added to that. And the final element that has been important has been hearing you explain the spiritual resonance of the work. If I had read this alone, even with a good commentary and notes, as a non believer I would not have been in a position to grasp this. From you I have understood the way in which the Divine Comedy is a living text still.
I’m not going to go as far as feeling grateful to Covid, but the circumstances created by that little bastard were perfect for this type of long journey. Thanks again for being a sort of behind-the-scenes creator of this series 😍
I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for making this series, or the joy it brought to me over the past 15 months! For all of us who followed along, and who will in the future, you’re our Virgil, Beatrice and Bernard! Thank you, Tom. Now it’s been two days and I can feel there’s already a Dante-shaped hole in my life, and I want to go back to Canto 1. ❤
😄😄 That is so wonderful to hear…. The funny thing is that I felt exactly the same when I got there, this is why I started a new 100 videos series on it, but this time in Italian with subtitles 😅 In any case, thank you for your comment, it really means a lot to me. May Dante’s soul look at these interactions, your reading and my videos, and be happy about it !
Reading the Divine Comedy has brought me closer to my sisters. We read together through the 100 Days of Dante project, and also through listening to your wonderful commentary. Other effects: 1. I love my Catholic faith even more. 2. Increased affinity for my guardian angel and all holy angels. 3. I loved learning about St. Bernard and will look into his life. 4. I love the Middle Ages and am studying more history and art. Thank you so much for your wonderful commentary. What an extraordinary project. Thank you!
Not only as an Italian, but also as a catholic, I have to say your message fills me with joy, as it sounds like I’ve been able to contribute in some way to something truly valuable and important (the intensity of your faith). I’m currently trying to think what my next project could be, especially since I myself am more driven by the love of God than by the love of literature, which is something great, but material and limited. Thanks so much for your support, I really appreciate your comment. And good luck with your medieval studies!
Just completed Canto 33 and on the Feast of the Assumption. I can’t think of a more fitting day to wrap up reading the Divine Comedy. Thank you for your videos. I couldn’t have made sense of all the political talk or mythology references without your help. It was a long road but I’m so glad I made it thru. I’m going to pull a Dante and say that the final Canto is so beautiful I have no words to describe it.
So what did Dante mean to me . . . First off a little background, on my mothers side I am a third generation American from Italian immigrants who all married other Italians until my mom. That side of the family was very proud to be Italian. In college (at UCLA 😎) I studied Italian for 2.5 years to get a grasp of the language both to better understand my heritage and to understand opera without translation (I was also studying to become a professional orchestral musician). In 2010 I converted to Catholicism (raised Protestant) which again seemed to connect me more to my Italian roots. Reading Dante has been a bucket-list item for me because of the aura surrounding the Divine Comedy. As an Italian AND a Catholic, you brought a very complete perspective to your commentary. There were so many times reading on my own I would not understand the architecture described or I’d get lost in the weeds of the political descriptions but you brought clarity to every Canto. Two things about this journey really stood out to me. The first is that our post-enlightenment world wants to call the Middle Ages the “Dark Ages” but reading Dante proves that is completely false. The depth and beauty of vision from that time is completely beautiful and full of light. Not only did I learn more about the richness of my Catholic faith but I was also inspired to love it better. The second is contained in the absolute beauty of the final tercet. It seems a common theme is dystopian sci-fi is the elimination of the individual into the collective. One of the clearest examples of this is Star Trek and the Borg but we see this theme in the Matrix as well. Dante’s vision in the Empyrean is that our union with the will of God is the opposite of this. As we align our will with God we become MORE ourselves and MORE unique, even more beautiful. The final tercets left me speechless because of their description of the glory of Creation but also they describe the ultimate hope for all of us to be in that union with God. What a goal to aspire to. It might be some time before I can start over with inferno Canto 1 but I would like to read the Divine Comedy again. (You frequently referenced Dostoyevsky and his books I’ve read multiple time, gleaning more with each reading.) This read thru of Dante I used Anthony Esolen’s translation but I might have to walk down the rabbit hole and try a different translation next time just to compare. I think having the Italian text side by side is necessary though. Even with my novice Italian it was helpful for understanding. Thanks for sharing your heart with us on this journey!!!
@@johannalamb4022 Hi Johanna - thank you for sharing your thoughts here, and sorry I’m delayed in my reply. It gives me great joy to hear that some people, like you, have found this series valuable, and especially from someone who comes from a similar background to mine. You’re making 2 wonderful points here…. I only would like to suggest a recent history book called “The bright ages”, by Matthew Gabriele and David Perry. It’s very high-level, but it’s animated by your same feeling of “Hey! Let’s reel back this “Dark Ages” myth, that’s not helping anyone”. Wishing you all the best and some freshness in these hot days!! God bless you and your family.
Thank you Leah for all your thoughtful comments and for your support. I still feel a bit weird about the whole youtube process, but I also realize that if we are doing some good to each other and for each other, there must be something valuable here.
@@tomlabooks3263 I am so touched by Dan Christian and your relating. TH-cam is weird, but it made it possible for me to feel closer to the divine. What you did is a huge gift.
Dear Tom, this really is such a valuable gift you have given to us all through your efforts in conceiving of and creating this mammoth series. Your videos have brought even greater depth and enjoyment to my reading experience of this incredible masterpiece. Loved your guests on the various Canto’s & your editing with music, art and other recommended reading..... have adored your insights which always added to, never subtracted from the joy of & understanding in reading and experiencing Dante. Grazie mille maestro. I have been self studying the incredibly beautiful spiritual science of Rudolf Steiner over the last couple of years alongside astrology/astronomy/astrosophy and it has been this path that inspired me to read the Divine Comedy. That golden thread that runs through the works of Aristotle and Saint Thomas Aquinas that is so evident and honored in La Commedia, also imbues Steiner’s work. I have been struck many times by that resonance while reading the 100 Canto’s alongside your guidance over the last 100 days and have wanted to mention it but with Steiners vast legacy I hadn’t known where to start. Then two nights ago, on the eve of reading Paradiso Canto 33, I pressed play on an audio recording of one of his more than 6000 lectures (translated into English & read by a man as wonderful as yourself who has undertaken to record countless of Steiner’s works in English) and lo-and behold just a few minutes in he says the book he had chosen to use to explore the lecture topic of that eve was none other than Dante’s DC..... if you listen (here on TH-cam or on rudolfsteineraudio) to “Artistic Sensitivity as a Spiritual Approach to Knowing Life and the World” Lecture #3, I really hope you may find that resonance I speak of too. I would say so much more but I’ll leave it at that for today. Thank you again Tom. So very grateful. If you do listen to the above let me know, I’d absolutely love to hear your thoughts. Congrats on this project and your continued works. I’m going to miss my daily time with you now! All the best to you and your family :)
This comment means so much to me - many, many thanks for taking the time to write it 🙏🏻. I don’t know Rudolph Steiner but it sounds like I’m going to love his work, will check it out.
Thank you Tom for completing this project! I joined your discussions late in my journey (the last couple cantos of Purgatory) but will make a 'New Year's Resolution" to re-read one canto per week accompanied by your thoughtful analysis of each. Also, I have decided to read a different translation (perhaps the Esolen) to get a different flavor. I feel that after the first reading I understand perhaps 20% of what Dante wrote and after the second reading I hope to understand 25% (?) of this marvelous work. It's difficult to sum up what I've learned because reading Dante is like drinking water from a garden hose! Perhaps it is this: In the end, reason cannot be our only guide because it cannot take us to "the shining light on the hilltop". And that's when faith takes over. See (watch) you next year! Best, V
😂😂 25% is probably where I am right now! You’re so right, in terms of “density” and meaning, one single tercet of this work can beat most modern 500-pages books. These are mental skills that (I think) must have been painful to live with, and in fact that comes through pretty clearly, especially from Paradiso. I have now started a new 100-videos series on the Comedy, this time in Italian, but with English subtitles, in case you’d like to take a look at that when you start over. Thank you again for your support 🙏🏻 and a Very Happy New Year to you and to your family.
at my age i can't say i'll ever read the divine comedy again but if i do you'll be with me in spirit tom. this conversation for canto 33 of paradison was such a warm and gently wind up..and i'm glad dickens was with us and my virgil, c.s. lewis.
Congratulations on getting to the end! And thank you for all your comments, it’s been a pleasure to read the Comedy with you 🙏🏻 (I also love CS Lewis!)
I can hardly believe it, you have been in my home over the last 100 weeks for an hour with such wonderful thought provoking conversation. I counted it up and because of Divine Comedy and your conversation, I have finished 37 related books and have about 11 more sitting on the shelf. So much to learn and experience. I cannot thank you enough for taking me along on this journey of yours. Truly " a thing of beauty' and a job well done. Congratulations my special friend I cannot wait to see where we go next.
Finally had the time to watch this, and it is somewhat sad that it is all finally over! Although, you could go through each Canto again, and say something completely different for each one, and still, it would be difficult to capture all of what the Comedy achieves. I completely agree with the comparison to Beethoven's sixth, and Dante being one of (if not thee) greatest poet to ever live. He is most certainly a great candidate. Also, that line, "I am going to live my whole entire life" is really funny, because I used to say "I can't believe I have to live the whole time I am alive." Almost the same thing 😅... Oh, hey! You just made the same joke at 1:06:00 that I made at the beginning of this comment! 😅
This journey began as a cultural one for me, but it turned out to be much more than that. It turned out to be a way of precious introspection and reflection. And it is only the beginning as I'm sure to take this journey again soon with more understanding. A deep gratitude goes to you Tom 🙏🏻🤍 this has been so enriching. Wishing you and your family a serene Christmas full of love and light 💫
@@karinar3647 Ohh thank you for coming along, for your insightful comments and what perfect timing to complete this journey! All the best to you and Happy Christmas! 🎄
What a journey! The greatest joy of reading Dante with you has been the poetry itself, and your deep understanding of the way language can grapples with the transcendent. Whether religious or not, nobody can deny that there are moments of transcendence in all our lives, and the Divine Comedy is also a very human story. Thanks again for your spreading JOY.
Congratulations Tom: you have achieved your goal brilliantly! I have to thank you particularly because, by listening to you, you made me rediscover the Divine Comedy and its extraordinary beauty.
I can't thank you enough for this perfect ending to your long labor of love. Your enthusiasm and love-in-action are real inspirations. And now, as you say, and as I've always felt when I get to this point, on to Inferno 1...
Tom, I have another book to recommend for your background reading. Florence In The Age of Dante by Paul G. Ruggiers. It really fills in all the blanks, I think politically and religious. Worth your time.
Grazie! Late in life I've accomplished something I've always wanted to do - read the Divine Comedy. You along with your guests have greatly aided me on my journey. Your commentaries have helped to add to my solid faith foundation and I'm sure that if I read it again it will continue to add to it. Leaving Italy when I was not quite nine years old, I always felt that I missed out on not being taught about Dante. That is no longer true.
Hi Lino, you have no idea how happy your message makes me. Here’s hoping you continue your exploration of Italian literature, maybe with Il Decameron, or The Betrothed, or The baron in the trees (in case you haven’t read them yet).
Complimenti Tom! Hai raggiunto la vetta del tuo prestigioso progetto. Sono felice e orgoglioso di te: hai dato un poderoso contributo di promozione della nostra cultura italiana all'estero. Aspettiamo la versione italiana almeno nei sottotitoli perché anche in Italia occorre la stessa divulgazione per riscoprire e custodire le nostre radici. 👏👏👏👍👍👍🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹
Grazie mille di tutto for putting so much time, effort, and love into this marvellous series! I learnt so much from every single video, and you made me think differently about a lot of things, gave me new perspectives and details to consider. I had known about Dante and the Commedia for awhile, but didn't begin reading it until late December 2003, four months after the car accident that almost killed me and would've made me an amputee in an earlier generation. Despite my difficulty with reading Laurence Binyon's Elizabethan English, faux-archaisms, and forced rhyme schemes, plus all the references to people and things I had no familiarity with, I fully related to Dante's amazing journey. I was in my own dark forest, with the right path appearing not anywhere, and could understand the concept of having to sink to the lowest, saddest, most painful point possible before gradually starting to rise up to happier, more beautiful, more hopeful places and become a better person, with renewed faith and purpose. I've had at least one Dantean reference in every book I've written since (often multiple), and hopefully by next year at this time will have my right helix flat pierced with a heart, a sun, and a cluster of stars to represent the poem's final line. I agree that people in Florence definitely knew about Dante's romantic feelings for Beatrice! In my alternative history, his buddies are gently teasing him about it on the morning before his wedding to her and again at the bedding ceremony that night. It was obvious to everyone, even if he never named her in all those love poems or did or said anything to give away his feelings in public. The discussion about forced conversions not working made me think of the awful missionary who showed up on my campus on 9/11. He said he only converted from Judaism to Christianity because he was scared of Hell, preached a bunch of fire and brimstone, and said some of the innocent people who had just died in the terrorist attacks were now in Hell because of supposed immoral behavior. Dante would not have approved of that kind of message! It also reminded me of the tiny minority of Orthodox rabbis I mentioned in my recent video about De Monarchia, who call Christianity idolatry because of the Trinity, and say a few other disrespectful things that do nothing towards interfaith friendship or educating people to be strong in their own faith. What I most love about the poem is how universalist it is at heart, despite its very Catholic content. People of all faiths, or no faiths, can relate to the core message and lessons learnt along the way.
So great to have found you as I really think we’re kindred spirits when it comes to the way Dante speaks to us. Thank you again for your support. 🙏🏻 I look forward to reading your book + I will SO MUCH keep looking forward to your Dante book next year.
Thank you Tom for the time and effort you have put into this series. It has been a pleasure for me to read the Divine Comedy for the first time with such a passionate and knowledgeable guide. Like you, I am now heading back to Canto I.
Just saw this video posted and wanted to say Congratulations!!! I’m still only halfway thru Paradise but that’s for your commitment to this project and for being such a wonderful guide!!
Thanks John for your interest and for all the interactions all the way through - I just saw the thumbnail of your video with the itinerary of your trip, wow! What a great experience.
@@tomlabooks3263 I wouldn't haven't gotten through the Divine Comedy without you, so thanks for the guidance. Also, thanks for giving me a reason to brave LA traffic.
It's been two weeks since I finished your videos (thanks!), and I've been reading the Convivio and some of Dante's lyrics. All in English translation, I'm afraid. Please help me with one short quote from Convivio 3.8.12, the part where Dante talks about laughter and smiling. Here is the Italian, with two translations: Ahi mirabile riso de la mia donna, di cui io parlo, che mai non si sentia se non de l'occhio! Ah, the sweet wonder of my Lady's smile, which is never seen but in the eyes! Ah, wonderful smile of my lady of whom I speak, which has never been perceived except by the eye! It's the last phrase that bothers me. How would you translate it? Which of the two translations is closer? I want it to be the first one, since Beatrice's eyes are so important to Dante, and I like the idea that even when her face is reserved her eyes can be smiling. Thanks again for all your videos, and for whatever you can tell me here.
Hi Jon, please accept my apologies for my delayed reply. I just re-read that Convivio passage and the two translations that you’ve shared here, and I have to be honest: they are both technically correct. Like you, I also would love the first one to be what Dante really meant, but the grammar and the terms utilized could be translated in either way. If only we could ask Dante !!
@@tomlabooks3263 Thanks for your answer, and don't worry about the delay. You're a far busier man than I am! After I sent the question, I thought about it some more, looked at it in context, and reluctantly decided that the second one was probably closer to what Dante meant.
I was turned on to _The Divine Comedy_ in the summer of 2014 by the late, great Irishman & Joycean Frank Delaney and was immediately captivated by the history (and the violence) of Florence: the Guelphs (on the Pope's side) and the Ghibellines (on the Emperor's side), plus Virgil and his _Aeneid,_ and all the mythology, and reading the Bible as literature (which has a beginning, middle, and end) and on and on and on! _Grazie mille,_ Tomasso!
Many thanks for your outstanding, deeply meaningful, and generous commentaries, Tom. To answer the question you posed (what I learned from this study) , I would say the three most salient understandings have been: (1) the level of awareness required of human beings when following the Good; (2) that the Divine Light is accessible not by striving to become perfect but to those seekers who are pure in heart, like Dante was at the end of the Commedia; and (3) that the concept of Divine Incarnation also applies to the human being. As an aside, was wondering whether the reference to small children three times in the last cantos alludes to this Scripture verse: “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." The layers of symbolism in this last canto feel almost limitless! Mille, mille grazie!
Those are really 3 points to keep always with ourselves! So important. And yes, thanks for pointing out that the children as an image of how we should approach God is another layer to add to the reference to the children’s language. So grateful for all the friends I’ve made along this journey, including you 🙏🏻
Just saved the playlist and went back to your very first video and discovered ... I was the 2nd person to comment upon it, over a year ago. Isnt that funny?!? Now, we've actually met--in person--and become friends. Hail BookTube, indeed! 🤓👍🤣 My Musa volumes are now "in a box" in Phoenix, but Ill always keep (along w my Gabler _Ulysses_ and Bishop _Finnegans Wake_ editions) Ciardi's _Comedy_ w me, wherever I my roam. Now,IMA sit back and enjoy this last video! (What're we gonna buddy read, next, ah?) _Arrivederci,_ Tomasso 😊
I thank you from the depths of my heart and mind for these simply epiphany podcasts. I have just finished Canto 33 Il Paradiso and was moved to tears by the final discussion. You have been a channel of grace.
You’re so welcome, Paul. Thanks for making this journey with us. God bless you.
What an incredible journey. I cannot thank you enough, I would not have made it through or understood even a fraction of what I was reading without you, my Virgil! :)
Yay, you made it to the top! It was my pleasure to record these videos, they actually helped me a lot during Covid… Thanks for your comment and for your interest 🙏🏻
Ah dear Tom this is indeed a summit and I reached it joyfully because I had you to draw me along. I can't thank you enough for taking on this task. I know it has been a labour of love for you and a something of a spiritual mission. But it has also been a huge commitment. I want to celebrate that when I think back to this couple of years of my life I will think of the pandemic but I will also recall it happily as the time of our journey through the Divine Comedy.
In answer to your question, the greatest pleasure for me is to feel like I know this extraordinary man from seven hundred years ago. I have seen his genius but also shared his ideas and his emotions. He is a person, an intimate connection rather than a name. The literary beauty has been a joy for me and hearing you read parts in the original has added to that. And the final element that has been important has been hearing you explain the spiritual resonance of the work. If I had read this alone, even with a good commentary and notes, as a non believer I would not have been in a position to grasp this. From you I have understood the way in which the Divine Comedy is a living text still.
I’m not going to go as far as feeling grateful to Covid, but the circumstances created by that little bastard were perfect for this type of long journey. Thanks again for being a sort of behind-the-scenes creator of this series 😍
@@tomlabooks3263 very glad to have been a tipping point in your decision to do this 😍
I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for making this series, or the joy it brought to me over the past 15 months! For all of us who followed along, and who will in the future, you’re our Virgil, Beatrice and Bernard! Thank you, Tom. Now it’s been two days and I can feel there’s already a Dante-shaped hole in my life, and I want to go back to Canto 1. ❤
😄😄 That is so wonderful to hear…. The funny thing is that I felt exactly the same when I got there, this is why I started a new 100 videos series on it, but this time in Italian with subtitles 😅 In any case, thank you for your comment, it really means a lot to me. May Dante’s soul look at these interactions, your reading and my videos, and be happy about it !
I just started Italian lessons a couple of weeks ago so if there’s subtitles then I might join it, I’m sure listening would help me learn. 😊
@@kholland1792 If you click on “cc” and then “autotranslate” to English, you can see them with English cc’s.
Reading the Divine Comedy has brought me closer to my sisters. We read together through the 100 Days of Dante project, and also through listening to your wonderful commentary. Other effects: 1. I love my Catholic faith even more. 2. Increased affinity for my guardian angel and all holy angels. 3. I loved learning about St. Bernard and will look into his life. 4. I love the Middle Ages and am studying more history and art. Thank you so much for your wonderful commentary. What an extraordinary project. Thank you!
Not only as an Italian, but also as a catholic, I have to say your message fills me with joy, as it sounds like I’ve been able to contribute in some way to something truly valuable and important (the intensity of your faith).
I’m currently trying to think what my next project could be, especially since I myself am more driven by the love of God than by the love of literature, which is something great, but material and limited.
Thanks so much for your support, I really appreciate your comment. And good luck with your medieval studies!
Just completed Canto 33 and on the Feast of the Assumption. I can’t think of a more fitting day to wrap up reading the Divine Comedy. Thank you for your videos. I couldn’t have made sense of all the political talk or mythology references without your help.
It was a long road but I’m so glad I made it thru.
I’m going to pull a Dante and say that the final Canto is so beautiful I have no words to describe it.
So what did Dante mean to me . . .
First off a little background, on my mothers side I am a third generation American from Italian immigrants who all married other Italians until my mom. That side of the family was very proud to be Italian. In college (at UCLA 😎) I studied Italian for 2.5 years to get a grasp of the language both to better understand my heritage and to understand opera without translation (I was also studying to become a professional orchestral musician). In 2010 I converted to Catholicism (raised Protestant) which again seemed to connect me more to my Italian roots. Reading Dante has been a bucket-list item for me because of the aura surrounding the Divine Comedy. As an Italian AND a Catholic, you brought a very complete perspective to your commentary.
There were so many times reading on my own I would not understand the architecture described or I’d get lost in the weeds of the political descriptions but you brought clarity to every Canto.
Two things about this journey really stood out to me.
The first is that our post-enlightenment world wants to call the Middle Ages the “Dark Ages” but reading Dante proves that is completely false. The depth and beauty of vision from that time is completely beautiful and full of light. Not only did I learn more about the richness of my Catholic faith but I was also inspired to love it better.
The second is contained in the absolute beauty of the final tercet. It seems a common theme is dystopian sci-fi is the elimination of the individual into the collective. One of the clearest examples of this is Star Trek and the Borg but we see this theme in the Matrix as well. Dante’s vision in the Empyrean is that our union with the will of God is the opposite of this. As we align our will with God we become MORE ourselves and MORE unique, even more beautiful.
The final tercets left me speechless because of their description of the glory of Creation but also they describe the ultimate hope for all of us to be in that union with God. What a goal to aspire to.
It might be some time before I can start over with inferno Canto 1 but I would like to read the Divine Comedy again. (You frequently referenced Dostoyevsky and his books I’ve read multiple time, gleaning more with each reading.) This read thru of Dante I used Anthony Esolen’s translation but I might have to walk down the rabbit hole and try a different translation next time just to compare. I think having the Italian text side by side is necessary though. Even with my novice Italian it was helpful for understanding.
Thanks for sharing your heart with us on this journey!!!
@@johannalamb4022 Hi Johanna - thank you for sharing your thoughts here, and sorry I’m delayed in my reply. It gives me great joy to hear that some people, like you, have found this series valuable, and especially from someone who comes from a similar background to mine.
You’re making 2 wonderful points here…. I only would like to suggest a recent history book called “The bright ages”, by Matthew Gabriele and David Perry. It’s very high-level, but it’s animated by your same feeling of “Hey! Let’s reel back this “Dark Ages” myth, that’s not helping anyone”. Wishing you all the best and some freshness in these hot days!! God bless you and your family.
I am very grateful to you, Tom for making The Comedy more accessabile to me. There was so much that opened up to me.
Thank you Leah for all your thoughtful comments and for your support. I still feel a bit weird about the whole youtube process, but I also realize that if we are doing some good to each other and for each other, there must be something valuable here.
@@tomlabooks3263 I am so touched by Dan Christian and your relating. TH-cam is weird, but it made it possible for me to feel closer to the divine. What you did is a huge gift.
Dear Tom, this really is such a valuable gift you have given to us all through your efforts in conceiving of and creating this mammoth series. Your videos have brought even greater depth and enjoyment to my reading experience of this incredible masterpiece. Loved your guests on the various Canto’s & your editing with music, art and other recommended reading..... have adored your insights which always added to, never subtracted from the joy of & understanding in reading and experiencing Dante. Grazie mille maestro.
I have been self studying the incredibly beautiful spiritual science of Rudolf Steiner over the last couple of years alongside astrology/astronomy/astrosophy and it has been this path that inspired me to read the Divine Comedy. That golden thread that runs through the works of Aristotle and Saint Thomas Aquinas that is so evident and honored in La Commedia, also imbues Steiner’s work. I have been struck many times by that resonance while reading the 100 Canto’s alongside your guidance over the last 100 days and have wanted to mention it but with Steiners vast legacy I hadn’t known where to start. Then two nights ago, on the eve of reading Paradiso Canto 33, I pressed play on an audio recording of one of his more than 6000 lectures (translated into English & read by a man as wonderful as yourself who has undertaken to record countless of Steiner’s works in English) and lo-and behold just a few minutes in he says the book he had chosen to use to explore the lecture topic of that eve was none other than Dante’s DC..... if you listen (here on TH-cam or on rudolfsteineraudio) to “Artistic Sensitivity as a Spiritual Approach to Knowing Life and the World” Lecture #3, I really hope you may find that resonance I speak of too. I would say so much more but I’ll leave it at that for today. Thank you again Tom. So very grateful. If you do listen to the above let me know, I’d absolutely love to hear your thoughts. Congrats on this project and your continued works. I’m going to miss my daily time with you now! All the best to you and your family :)
This comment means so much to me - many, many thanks for taking the time to write it 🙏🏻. I don’t know Rudolph Steiner but it sounds like I’m going to love his work, will check it out.
Thank you Tom for completing this project! I joined your discussions late in my journey (the last couple cantos of Purgatory) but will make a 'New Year's Resolution" to re-read one canto per week accompanied by your thoughtful analysis of each. Also, I have decided to read a different translation (perhaps the Esolen) to get a different flavor. I feel that after the first reading I understand perhaps 20% of what Dante wrote and after the second reading I hope to understand 25% (?) of this marvelous work. It's difficult to sum up what I've learned because reading Dante is like drinking water from a garden hose! Perhaps it is this: In the end, reason cannot be our only guide because it cannot take us to "the shining light on the hilltop". And that's when faith takes over. See (watch) you next year! Best, V
😂😂 25% is probably where I am right now! You’re so right, in terms of “density” and meaning, one single tercet of this work can beat most modern 500-pages books. These are mental skills that (I think) must have been painful to live with, and in fact that comes through pretty clearly, especially from Paradiso. I have now started a new 100-videos series on the Comedy, this time in Italian, but with English subtitles, in case you’d like to take a look at that when you start over. Thank you again for your support 🙏🏻 and a Very Happy New Year to you and to your family.
at my age i can't say i'll ever read the divine comedy again but if i do you'll be with me in spirit tom. this conversation for canto 33 of paradison was such a warm and gently wind up..and i'm glad dickens was with us and my virgil, c.s. lewis.
Congratulations on getting to the end! And thank you for all your comments, it’s been a pleasure to read the Comedy with you 🙏🏻 (I also love CS Lewis!)
@@tomlabooks3263 it's been a pleasure for me too...thanks again tom...see you in future videos.
I can hardly believe it, you have been in my home over the last 100 weeks for an hour with such wonderful thought provoking conversation. I counted it up and because of Divine Comedy and your conversation, I have finished 37 related books and have about 11 more sitting on the shelf. So much to learn and experience. I cannot thank you enough for taking me along on this journey of yours. Truly " a thing of beauty' and a job well done. Congratulations my special friend I cannot wait to see where we go next.
You’re the best, Lee! 😅 And I can’t thank YOU enough for your enthusiasm, my friend. And for all the great reading recommendations.
Finally had the time to watch this, and it is somewhat sad that it is all finally over! Although, you could go through each Canto again, and say something completely different for each one, and still, it would be difficult to capture all of what the Comedy achieves. I completely agree with the comparison to Beethoven's sixth, and Dante being one of (if not thee) greatest poet to ever live. He is most certainly a great candidate. Also, that line, "I am going to live my whole entire life" is really funny, because I used to say "I can't believe I have to live the whole time I am alive." Almost the same thing 😅... Oh, hey! You just made the same joke at 1:06:00 that I made at the beginning of this comment! 😅
🎉🎉 😎🤩 Welcome to the peak !!!! The journey continues….
This journey began as a cultural one for me, but it turned out to be much more than that. It turned out to be a way of precious introspection and reflection. And it is only the beginning as I'm sure to take this journey again soon with more understanding. A deep gratitude goes to you Tom 🙏🏻🤍 this has been so enriching. Wishing you and your family a serene Christmas full of love and light 💫
@@karinar3647 Ohh thank you for coming along, for your insightful comments and what perfect timing to complete this journey! All the best to you and Happy Christmas! 🎄
@tomlabooks3263 🙏🏻 thank you
What a journey! The greatest joy of reading Dante with you has been the poetry itself, and your deep understanding of the way language can grapples with the transcendent. Whether religious or not, nobody can deny that there are moments of transcendence in all our lives, and the Divine Comedy is also a very human story. Thanks again for your spreading JOY.
🙏🏻🙏🏻🤗
Congratulations Tom: you have achieved your goal brilliantly! I have to thank you particularly because, by listening to you, you made me rediscover the Divine Comedy and its extraordinary beauty.
I can't thank you enough for this perfect ending to your long labor of love. Your enthusiasm and love-in-action are real inspirations. And now, as you say, and as I've always felt when I get to this point, on to Inferno 1...
Hi Jon, thanks for joining this journey! 👋🏼
Tom, I have another book to recommend for your background reading. Florence In The Age of Dante by Paul G. Ruggiers. It really fills in all the blanks, I think politically and religious. Worth your time.
Noted! Sounds great, it’s now in my list. 🙏🏻
Grazie! Late in life I've accomplished something I've always wanted to do - read the Divine Comedy. You along with your guests have greatly aided me on my journey. Your commentaries have helped to add to my solid faith foundation and I'm sure that if I read it again it will continue to add to it. Leaving Italy when I was not quite nine years old, I always felt that I missed out on not being taught about Dante. That is no longer true.
Hi Lino, you have no idea how happy your message makes me. Here’s hoping you continue your exploration of Italian literature, maybe with Il Decameron, or The Betrothed, or The baron in the trees (in case you haven’t read them yet).
Complimenti Tom! Hai raggiunto la vetta del tuo prestigioso progetto. Sono felice e orgoglioso di te: hai dato un poderoso contributo di promozione della nostra cultura italiana all'estero. Aspettiamo la versione italiana almeno nei sottotitoli perché anche in Italia occorre la stessa divulgazione per riscoprire e custodire le nostre radici. 👏👏👏👍👍👍🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹
Grazie mille 🙏🏻
Grazie mille di tutto for putting so much time, effort, and love into this marvellous series! I learnt so much from every single video, and you made me think differently about a lot of things, gave me new perspectives and details to consider.
I had known about Dante and the Commedia for awhile, but didn't begin reading it until late December 2003, four months after the car accident that almost killed me and would've made me an amputee in an earlier generation. Despite my difficulty with reading Laurence Binyon's Elizabethan English, faux-archaisms, and forced rhyme schemes, plus all the references to people and things I had no familiarity with, I fully related to Dante's amazing journey. I was in my own dark forest, with the right path appearing not anywhere, and could understand the concept of having to sink to the lowest, saddest, most painful point possible before gradually starting to rise up to happier, more beautiful, more hopeful places and become a better person, with renewed faith and purpose. I've had at least one Dantean reference in every book I've written since (often multiple), and hopefully by next year at this time will have my right helix flat pierced with a heart, a sun, and a cluster of stars to represent the poem's final line.
I agree that people in Florence definitely knew about Dante's romantic feelings for Beatrice! In my alternative history, his buddies are gently teasing him about it on the morning before his wedding to her and again at the bedding ceremony that night. It was obvious to everyone, even if he never named her in all those love poems or did or said anything to give away his feelings in public.
The discussion about forced conversions not working made me think of the awful missionary who showed up on my campus on 9/11. He said he only converted from Judaism to Christianity because he was scared of Hell, preached a bunch of fire and brimstone, and said some of the innocent people who had just died in the terrorist attacks were now in Hell because of supposed immoral behavior. Dante would not have approved of that kind of message! It also reminded me of the tiny minority of Orthodox rabbis I mentioned in my recent video about De Monarchia, who call Christianity idolatry because of the Trinity, and say a few other disrespectful things that do nothing towards interfaith friendship or educating people to be strong in their own faith.
What I most love about the poem is how universalist it is at heart, despite its very Catholic content. People of all faiths, or no faiths, can relate to the core message and lessons learnt along the way.
So great to have found you as I really think we’re kindred spirits when it comes to the way Dante speaks to us. Thank you again for your support. 🙏🏻 I look forward to reading your book + I will SO MUCH keep looking forward to your Dante book next year.
Thank you Tom for the time and effort you have put into this series. It has been a pleasure for me to read the Divine Comedy for the first time with such a passionate and knowledgeable guide. Like you, I am now heading back to Canto I.
So glad you enjoyed the journey 🙏🏻
Just saw this video posted and wanted to say Congratulations!!! I’m still only halfway thru Paradise but that’s for your commitment to this project and for being such a wonderful guide!!
Thank you !! I’d love to hear your overall impressions on the Comedy (even if this was a re-read for you) once you get to the end.
Congratulations on finishing this project! It has certainly been an interesting ride. This was a great conversation with Dan on the final canto.
Thanks John for your interest and for all the interactions all the way through - I just saw the thumbnail of your video with the itinerary of your trip, wow! What a great experience.
@@tomlabooks3263 I wouldn't haven't gotten through the Divine Comedy without you, so thanks for the guidance. Also, thanks for giving me a reason to brave LA traffic.
@@HeyYallListenUp 😅😅
It's been two weeks since I finished your videos (thanks!), and I've been reading the Convivio and some of Dante's lyrics. All in English translation, I'm afraid. Please help me with one short quote from Convivio 3.8.12, the part where Dante talks about laughter and smiling. Here is the Italian, with two translations:
Ahi mirabile riso de la mia donna, di cui io parlo, che mai non si sentia se non de l'occhio!
Ah, the sweet wonder of my Lady's smile, which is never seen but in the eyes!
Ah, wonderful smile of my lady of whom I speak, which has never been perceived except by the eye!
It's the last phrase that bothers me. How would you translate it? Which of the two translations is closer? I want it to be the first one, since Beatrice's eyes are so important to Dante, and I like the idea that even when her face is reserved her eyes can be smiling. Thanks again for all your videos, and for whatever you can tell me here.
Hi Jon, please accept my apologies for my delayed reply. I just re-read that Convivio passage and the two translations that you’ve shared here, and I have to be honest: they are both technically correct. Like you, I also would love the first one to be what Dante really meant, but the grammar and the terms utilized could be translated in either way. If only we could ask Dante !!
@@tomlabooks3263 Thanks for your answer, and don't worry about the delay. You're a far busier man than I am! After I sent the question, I thought about it some more, looked at it in context, and reluctantly decided that the second one was probably closer to what Dante meant.
I was turned on to _The Divine Comedy_ in the summer of 2014 by the late, great Irishman & Joycean Frank Delaney and was immediately captivated by the history (and the violence) of Florence: the Guelphs (on the Pope's side) and the Ghibellines (on the Emperor's side), plus Virgil and his _Aeneid,_ and all the mythology, and reading the Bible as literature (which has a beginning, middle, and end) and on and on and on! _Grazie mille,_ Tomasso!
Prego, my friend! Thanks for sharing this and for following along since the very beginning.
Many thanks for your outstanding, deeply meaningful, and generous commentaries, Tom.
To answer the question you posed (what I learned from this study) , I would say the three most salient understandings have been: (1) the level of awareness required of human beings when following the Good; (2) that the Divine Light is accessible not by striving to become perfect but to those seekers who are pure in heart, like Dante was at the end of the Commedia; and (3) that the concept of Divine Incarnation also applies to the human being.
As an aside, was wondering whether the reference to small children three times in the last cantos alludes to this Scripture verse: “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." The layers of symbolism in this last canto feel almost limitless!
Mille, mille grazie!
Those are really 3 points to keep always with ourselves! So important.
And yes, thanks for pointing out that the children as an image of how we should approach God is another layer to add to the reference to the children’s language.
So grateful for all the friends I’ve made along this journey, including you 🙏🏻
Tom, do you have a street address or PO box?
@@marystafford8012 Hi, Mary. Happy to share via email - please contact me at ttodesca@hotmail.com
Just saved the playlist and went back to your very first video and discovered ... I was the 2nd person to comment upon it, over a year ago. Isnt that funny?!? Now, we've actually met--in person--and become friends. Hail BookTube, indeed! 🤓👍🤣 My Musa volumes are now "in a box" in Phoenix, but Ill always keep (along w my Gabler _Ulysses_ and Bishop _Finnegans Wake_ editions) Ciardi's _Comedy_ w me, wherever I my roam. Now,IMA sit back and enjoy this last video! (What're we gonna buddy read, next, ah?) _Arrivederci,_ Tomasso 😊
“Roz just told me this is good news - I’m in, Tom”. That was your first comment in 2020! What a great journey. 🙏🏻
You have another email please check, thanks, Lee
Thank you, received! Traveling today but will reply soon.
@@tomlabooks3263 NP. Be safe.