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Dante The New Life (La Vita Nuova) (1901)

by Dante Alighieri(Favorite Author)

3.85 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Penguin Books

review 1: Much Like Pilgrim's Progress, I viewed this as pure religious allegory. Dante seeks eternal love in Heaven and rejects the base rewards of this world. Beatrice was simply the vehicle which brought him to this realization. He didn't even "know" her in any sense of the word. He could not possess her or even be near her in this world but she inspired him to seek God. He could only rise so high if he gave in to the woman in the window, but through his adoration of Beatrice he could ascend to the clouds. Dante implies that the greatest "spiritual" love can only be achieved in Heaven. And his great revelation at the end was his idea to use his literary gifts to inspire others to seek salvation through God.
review 2: "La Vita Nuova" means, perhaps obviously, "t... morehe new life". This little autobiographical work is essential for anyone gearing up to read Dante's "Comedy" for two reasons: style and history.On the surface, "La Vita Nuova" is about the blessing of Beatrice. It is both prose and poetry woven into a memoir-esque fiction about the effect of the beatific Beatrice on Dante's life as a whole. That is why, in my mind, Dante's style is covers multiple genres. The darling light of Love shines in all corners of art (prose and poetry) and life (memoir and fiction).It is as important to note that this is a Medieval work. So, courtly love and honor reside deep within the historical culture. Dante's interaction with women, and his stand-offish adoration of Beatrice, can seem terse to the modern mind -- but don't get tripped up. Mind the historical gap.All in all, a pleasure to read for anyone (like me) fascinated with Medieval art. Again, read this before Comedy if you can. less

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