I've been reading this, and I'm up to Canto XIX. And

>>9739440

The Divine Comedy is filled with allusions and references to shit even some of the most learned readers will miss out on. As with any other difficult work, go slow and do your research.

>>9739474
Well that makes me feel a bit better, I'll def. have to reread it a few times.

Thanks for the advice

>>9739489
Thanks for the info. anon

>>9739440
Even Italians can't read the Comedy without extensive footnotes. Some reference have been lost completely and you're left with educated guesses from scholars. It gets worse after Inferno too.

>>9739440
I read a version (not english tho) with a shitton of endnotes (endnotes were literally almost as big as the whole book) which helped a huge amount.
Even if you know your Aristotle et al. you'll still need them

>>9739440
Just keep reading, and I mean reading the Divine Comedy, read purgatorio straight after.

It's called the Divine Comedy for a reason

>>9739549
I havent even thought about going into purgatorio or paradiso yet, so that sounds pretty intimidating.

>>9739551
The version Im reading has notes at the end of the book, but doesnt seem as extensive as the version youve read i can assume.

Im seeing now it was very foolish of me to think it was gonna be just another book to read.

>>9739653
I'll give it a shot, though as i said before, seems intimidating.