Im Apparently From Venus

The Divine Comedy

Dante Alighieri

Well, I am almost done reading it... and i am relieved cuz its taken me like months... i wish i had more time to read... but its like whenever i find time to i get relaxed and fall asleep... so therefore the bus is the only place...

however this book has actually made me relook at my beliefs a bit, as well as change my view on what Christianity was like a thousand years ago... one of the main things i have noticed through reading this book is that in the days of y'or, they weren't so caught up on sins of vice like a lot of christians are today... like i go to a Christian college and there are the big 3, drinking, drugs, and sex, and doing any of those are the supreme evil, and betraying a friend to tell an administrator is not only not wrong, its holy... however Dante (and im assuming much of Christiandom back then) had it flipped around, the emphasis was on things like being trustworthy and not malicious, while incontinence was still wrong, but just seen as a weakness not the most evil of sins...

On the other side of everything is that this book has actually made me think more about my beliefs in regards to things like heaven... one of my favorite aspects of this book is that when he is in "heaven" he even says that this isnt heaven, its just that his human form could not take the immense joy of the true heaven, so he is in the "heavens" instead (planets... as representations of what heaven is)... this book has caused me to look at my life and see a few things that need improvement... like my pride... i am a pretty proud person, actually i am quite full of myself at times... and i recognize now that that can be taken to an extreme that in not beneficial to me... also in heaven he goes through different reasons for people to act good... and really enjoy that part (im actually only half way through it right now) because it actually gives me something to identify with... like the first one is for honor... people do right becuase they feel honor when they do it... which is the lowest form... the next is love... some people have such an immense love for people that they do right for them.. if you understand (its late im getting less and less coherent i understand) ...

so yeah... to wrap up since im tired... i really liked reading this book.. its a classic... it is AMAZING poetry if you are into the whole mechanics of literature thing... its super deep, and i think if you enjoy reading great works of literature the ENTIRE divine comedy should be on your list