I am back after taking a couple weeks off. Following my last podcast, I decided to spend my time off evaluating changes that I want to make. Tune in today to find out what those changes are. Hopefully, you will find this a better overall experience.
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August 23, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Conclusion
We are finally at the last act for Dante. If you recall when I started, I was trying to delve more into faith with fiction. It didn’t take long for me to discover that this was more fiction with a faith backdrop. This lead to a long period of disappointment until I reconciled with Dante. More on that in a minute.
It was late into Paradise when I had a revelation. I always knew that Dante was destined to head back to earth. It was this story that he was commanded to take back. That was the genesis story for the Devine comedy.
If I had to stack rank the three books, this would be my order Purgatory, Hell and then Heaven. I know that might be a surprise, I think that I am too. But, of the story Purgatory actually makes the most sense to me. I still don’t believe in Purgatory, but I can understand the logic of how it works. I liked the creativeness of Hell and I was disappointed with Heaven.
I am glad that I read it. With the dust settled a bit, I can appreciate it a little more. It is considered one of the great works of literature. I don’t respect ‘great’ too much but it did allow me to contemplate my own faith given the contrasting opinion with Dante’s view of faith. It is one of those things that you can check off but I don’t think that I will likely be reading it again.
I think that you could probably read this twenty times to catch all of the nuances. I found myself getting caught up in all of the footnotes and backstory to really get in the groove. Some nights it was really hard because my reading was so disjointed flipping back and forth between the footnotes and the actual text. I could hardly remember what I read.
I know that you were all reading along with me right? Sure. Would I recommend this as an entertaining work of fiction? Honestly, I would say no. This is a scholarly work that is deep in Italian history, Greek and Roman mythology and Catholic regimen. I am not telling you what to do, but I am telling you that this is very hard to read. It is harder to understand and impossible to fully identify with.
I have heard that some reading clubs do The Devine Comedy in 100 days. This is because there are 100 Cantos. As much as I read, that would be pretty hard for me to do. Each Canto represented approximately 30 minutes each for me. So, I have about fifty hours into the book. Realistically a lot more than that but who is counting.
You can’t blame Dante really. He was pissed off about getting banished from his home. I would make fun of my enemies too if I were to write a story. The name Comedy was in the title. So shame on me for having different expectations. While I didn’t laugh much, I could see the sarcasm and irony both elements of humor. I am sure that if I had more context with many of the characters, I might have found it more funny.
I can’t remember if I said this or not, I think that I have. Despite not being a Catholic, I have a deep respect for the organization. There is no doubt that many bad things have been done in the name of the Lord. It is the mission of the church that I admire and not the people. That is one of the things that a lot of Catholics seem to miss, including Dante.
End Your Programming Routine: My final answer is that I am glad I read it and I am glad that I am done. Since I read the inferno in high school, reading the full work gave me a much more comprehensive view of the story. I am definitely looking forward to turning the page on The Art of War.
August 16, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Conclusion
So, it has been a long road. Part of me wants to wrap things up completely and part of me wants to savor the end. Since I had a summary at the end of each book, I thought. It muddy the waters between the thoughts of Paradise versus the entire work. While I will save my total thoughts to next week, you can probably guess based on the sum of all of my writings.
Dante’s Paradise is comprised of nine official, ten total and eleven technical levels. The eleventh is technically pre-paradise but I took that as it’s own week since there was all of the pomp and pageantry of crossing the river and such. Those levels were
- Moon – Incontent
- Mercury – Ambitious
- Venus – Lovers
- Sun – Wise
- Mars – Warriors
- Jupiter – Rulers
- Saturn – Contemplatives
- Fixed Stars – Faith, Hope and Love
- Primum Mobile – Angels
- The Empyrean – God and the highest of high
I guess my summed impression is different than Dante’s. First, I never imagined that heaven would have levels. I was told that someone dies, that we would meet in Heaven. If we came from two different positions in life, based on Dante’s description we could be on two different levels forever. It could be my earthly thinking but I want to believe that my version of Heaven is the more accurate one.
Second, I haven’t dwelled much on what heaven would actually be like. I always kind of thought it would be euphoric. But, Dante may be more right than me in this area. Contentment might be the better virtue description here. What could be a better state than perpetual contentment never wanting or never needing.
Like the previous books, I find it convenient that Beatrice, an essentially unknown historical figure and love of Dante’s life is his guide and takes a seat at the top. In the lower levels the figures of interest are Dante’s enemies and people that he holds in disdain. It definitely tempers how I feel about the potential accuracy of Paradise.
Ultimately, Paradise left me feeling a little underwhelmed. I was expecting more big named bible stars and historical figures like the previous two books. I think that the work does little to settle the free will vs. predestination argument. It seems like Dante was talking out of both sides of his mouth with both mechanisms in play.
My version of Christianity has predestination as the end of your life but free will as what you do in between the beginning and end. I think that we are predestined to go to heaven unless we do things to interrupt that. And I would imagine us all ending in the Empyrean not permanently on different planets.
End Your Programming Routine: Next week I will issue the final verdict for the entire work. Don’t forget that we will be starting the Art of War following that. I haven’t even had a chance to look at the book yet despite I have had it in my possession for several months. While Paradise is not what I ultimately expected, it doesn’t mean that it is still my ultimate goal.
August 12, 2024 – From the Heart
Perspective is always valuable. It is really hard to get perspective alone unless you have a mirror or a camera to see what you are doing. In order for me to get it, I need to get some air, maybe even get out of the pool and watch my video using a swimming analogy. I am not going to spoil the podcast, but I do a little self analysis today. You may be surprised at what I am thinking.
August 9, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto XXX – XXXIII
We are at the the end. I am not totally sure how this fits into the cosmology scene. Since there was already a level on the sun it is not that. This blazing rose is so bright that Dante cannot see Beatrice’s face. Is this an actual star? Who know.
Empyrean is full of mysteries but also contains some answers. For instance, why does this not merit a level? I suppose that it could be like pre-hell or pre-purgatory but this is a final destination. It is the prize. Unlike the pre stages, those are waiting for entry and will ultimately get the soul’s just desserts.
One thing that is finally solved for me was where were the rock starts of the Old Testament? With the exception of David, we finally get to see some of them here like Moses. There were plenty of very faithful souls that never got a mention like Noah and Jonas. Instead, we got a whole lot of popes and kings that had very little overall influence on Christianity.
Without delving too much into theology, there was a path before the crucifixion to heaven. If I were trying to write a convincing story I would think that it has to include many of the known characters that were extremely faithful and surely I would expect to see before Adam and Eve.
I never gave it much thought. I suppose that Adam and Eve represent the Christian foundation of humanity but they were the origin of sin. They did disobey God so it is hard to me to believe that they deserve higher seats than others. I have to say that I am conflicted on this one.
As the rose is described, God is at the center of it. There are layers of petals that are seats belonging to the ultra faithful. The closer you got to the center the more godlike you were. There were some interesting choices with seats in the rose. One of them was a whole vertical of Hebrew women. Another was unborn children. Of course none of this was really explained or detailed. There you go Catholics. At least all of the aborted fetuses have a seat next to God.
Dante’s time is short here as he must return to earth. He never sees or God or Jesus. Not too much is said about them other than it is too bright to stare into. I find it interesting that the apostles are in the lower levels of heaven and yet Beatrice, Dante’s personal obsession ranks higher than the founders of Christianity.
Finally, there is no doubt that Mary is worthy of being next to God. She was chosen by God. But, since I am not Catholic, I don’t hold the same reverence for the Virgin Mary. In fact, in my book Bernard’s prayer to the Virgin Mary borders on idol worship, the first commandment. I kind of keep my distance from this whole idea but ‘thou shalt not have any idols before me’ is a violation of that. Mary is not one of the Trinity (father, son and Holy Spirit) nor is she in the center. I rest here.
End Your Programming Routine: We have gone through many, many weeks of this tome. Next week I will be talking about Paradise in total. My final thoughts will be the entire work the following week. If we are looking farther than that ahead, the next Brooke is going to be Sun Tsu’s Art of War. Keeping it here one last time, according to Dante the ultimate reward is true love. That is something that modern Christianity can identify with.
August 8, 2024 – Are You Enjoying the Olympics?
The Olympics are almost over for another four years. If there is any silver lining in being cooped up in a hotel/hospital room is that there is not that much to do. I would never sit down and watch hours on hours of TV especially not day after day. But yet here I am with the TV on most days. Sometimes it is background but sometimes I watch glued to the TV.
It should come as no surprise that I am a fan of the Olympics. I wrote about it as I was traveling in 2022. That was another occasion where I didn’t have much to do except flip the TV on at the hotel. This goes all the way back to my first exposure in 1984. While I didn’t see much of it for various reasons it sowed the seeds for a lifetime of fandom.
Here is what I have seen so far. It appears to me that the United States has lost its complete dominance of the summer games. If you go back a few years ago to the golden era of Micheal Phelps who won everything that he entered, it seemed like the US could not lose. These games, I am watching gold medal favorites land Broze medals.
The media likes to skew the overall results by posting the US having the most medals of any country. When you look at the breakdown of medals, the US does not have the the most golds, They have triple the bronze to gold (side note: I am writing this a week before it posts). I see a much more equitable distribution of talent than I have ever have in the past.
Of course I am always going to root for the US first. But, part of what I love about the Olympics is the human interest aspect. There was a story about some divers from Mexico that paid their own way to get there and promised to auction any medals as proceeds to repay debt on the trip. Fortunately, somebody stepped up on their behalf but this is the will and the drive to sacrifice everything for a chance.
I have already watched so much that I have seen events I have never seen before. I caught fencing for the first time. I watched equestrian riding, triathlon, water polo and rugby for the first time. My son played rugby one year. I told my wife that I have forgotten more about rugby that I currently know. I won’t say that I get it totally know but seeing teams that know what they are doing kind of make sense now. It always seemed like sort of senseless melee when middle schoolers were playing.
I don’t know if I have a favorite event. Like a lot of things in my life, I admire people that are passionate about what they do. At this point, I am more than double the age of most of the people that have dedicated their lives to a specific pursuit. That means that I have been out of shape longer than they have been alive. But, perception is reality and to them, this is everything.
I used to have infinite will power. I could set my mind and sacrifice until the end of the earth. Some of that is still buried in my somewhere but unfortunately for me, I have never been much of an athlete no matter how much I willed and sacrificed for it. What that process taught me was that anything reasonably achievable could be accomplished with a plan and work. That part I still have. I just had to go after the right goals that fit my abilities.
As the Olympics wrap up, it seems like our banishment to Portland is going to end as well. The trends and motions that the doctors are making leads me to believe that we are a few days from going home. It may not feel as good as winning a gold medal but I am feeling like a million bucks in anticipation of this experience being over. I will take this change in perspective that is watching the Olympics to pass time to really enjoying it while it lasts.
End Your Programming Routine: I am actually surprised that my wife has had the Olympics on nearly continuously. It certainly is something different than binge watching all the shows that she normally watches. We haven’t talked about it, but I think that we kind of feel the same way about the human interest. We are not 100% different, but pretty close. Finally something that we can agree on.
August 7, 2024 – I Am Being Censored
I didn’t make this very clear in my podcast. I after I mentioned that I was going to talk about censorship, I meant to follow up later and say that I was going to write about it later in the week. This is what you get when I don’t finish my notes is that I don’t get things wrapped up real neatly. We are here now.
I have been waiting for this moment. I have known for months now, going all the way back to December when I was trying to work while waiting for some sort of diagnosis about my wife’s fatigue that I was on the black list. My work has me working for a tobacco company and the doctor’s office blocked my computer from accessing the wi-if.
I combat that by carrying my own hotspot. As long as I can get cell service it works pretty well. Unfortunately, as the local hospital cell service is a black hole so with Wi-Fi blocked and no cell service, it is impossible for me to work at the doctors or the hospital.
When we came up to Portland, I thought I would try it. I had Wi-Fi access for several days on my work computer. But, then I got to a point where my work computer seemed to connect to the Wi-Fi but not work. Back to the hotspot. Fortunately, the cell phone service is good, even in the depths of the hospital.
What I didn’t expect is that they blocked access to some of the blogs I check on a daily basis. nearly everyday I check ammoland and the outdoor wire. It is part industry news and part politics and opinion. I tried to check several times and several days always with the same result. Finally, I tried my phone off of Wi-Fi and it worked. So, I know that they are blocking websites.
I don’t know what comparable left wing websites are out there. My personal opinion is a lot of most major news outlets are propaganda for the left. As a result, I pretty much find anti god and anti constitutional ideals as offensive. I am not quite sure why they censor legal and right leaning sites while allowing others to proliferate.
I can understand to a point why my work laptop is banned. I work for a sworn enemy of the medical establishment. I just can’t get over the hypocrisy of my drug company over the hidden evils of their drug companies. It is all about what propaganda channel you swallow. And while the prescriptions are not in my name, I am looking at some of the most addictive drugs known to man right in front of me.
End Your Programming Routine: I figured that this was a question of when not if. I can even understand the reason why they think it is necessary to ban firearms on the premises. But, to ban what I am reading goes a step too far for me. This is a government institution, not a private entity. To be clear, they are violating my first and second amendment rights. Welcome to your future.
August 6, 2024 – Living In a Foreign Language
Living in a Foreign Language by Micheal Tucker is the Left Coast Culinary Book Club selection for July. I am not just the a member but the President. Remember that one? Unfortunately, I am keeping up with the reading but I have been missing the gatherings. Fortunately, the group is doing a good job carrying on without me.
This book is an easy read by an actor that had his heyday in the 1990s. Tucker was the star of a TV show called LA Law and when the show ended he kind of checked out according to the book. The book is about what happened next which seems to be a shift toward spending more time in Italy.
As many Mediterranean cultures go, there is a heavy influence of food and leisure in their lifestyle. This story is no exception. There is a lot of talk about pasta and meals take a heavy role in the story. The search for the best butcher or cheese monger or fruit vendor. Then there is the ever present garden of peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini. A giant bread oven sits dormant in the back yard and looms foreboding to be used.
As much as food plays a role in this book, the real star is the is the house. There is the torrid love affair on first meeting. After it has been secured, there is a major remodeling project to double the size of the structure. Each time there is a separation, Tucker longs to come back again.
The story is set in Umbria. I would say that is the lesser known Tuscany. What I mean is that it is rolling hills, picturesque and is mostly rural. The region is commonly referred to as the breadbasket of Italy. At least that is what I learned when I watched the Stanley Tucci Netflix series on Italy.
The book is light. There were elements of humor throughout the book. I liked that. It was one of the nicer memoirs that I have read about people that I don’t really care about. The self deprecating approach that Tucker takes is much preferable to the smugness of Tucci. As you know, I like to work on houses as well as cook.
While I have been to Italy, I am not drawn to Italian cuisine. I certainly appreciate their love and appreciation of food culture, I could care less about pasta. I guess that I hail from butter culture and not olive oil culture. I keep thinking that if I admire the culture enough, I will eventually like it. So far, it is not true.
End Your Programming Routine: Would I recommend this book? No, not necessarily. If you are a Tucker fan or can’t get enough of Under the Tuscan Sun then I think the imagery would be appealing. I can’t necessarily get behind a celebrity buying his second home in Europe and in the process having to give up his personal assistant in the process. Especially when he hasn’t worked in several years. I am not bitter, I just can’t relate. To each his own.
August 2, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto XXVIII – XXIX
This is the last level of paradise so to speak. Of course, there is one more and that is true heaven. The Primum Mobile as it is called are groups of Angels. Apparently, they revolve around the Empyrean (or true Heaven). As it is described, the mobile is comprised of nine rings. The closer the rings to Empyrean, the more godlike the angel.
If you think about it a little bit, this all kind of makes spatial sense. There is Earth with the mortals, the underworld of Hell, the mountain of Purgatory and then each planet or star then represents some pint in the after world. I have to imagine that Saturn was probably the extent of the known solar system in the early 1300s so how do you really explain the rest.
I my view, not a whole lot of significance really happens in this level. I guess I get the theory that the best angels are closer to god but ultimately, I have never subscribed to this lasagna theory of heaven. It is really hard for me to imagine based on my own faith that you follow as best a mortal can on earth only to have your final destination be assigned based an accepted sinful nature of man. I think what I am saying will be more clear in the final weeks of this review.
To add to that, I never thought of angels having levels either. We are familiar with the fallen angel Satan. But in the Christian sense, angels predate creation. So I guess that they really didn’t have a chance to earn their spot by earthly deeds? To me, it is confusing theology. The Bible says very little about angels so I suppose that it could be true with different levels.
We get another chance to knock the church and preachers specifically from no less than Beatrice. I am honestly not sure about the context of this other than I feel like it is Dante’s parting blows. He will take one more shot next week. Beatrice finally takes her place in the rose (more about that next week) to replaced with Bernard or St Bernard. He puts in his two cents on the church as well.
Maybe I missed this part but apparently Dante only has a limited amount of time in the afterworld. The more time he spends on the lesser levels the less he has at the end. One of the reasons this level is so short is because Dante is running out of time. So it is on to the final state, Empyrean.
End Your Programming Routine: Unfortunately, I started writing this a week ago and it lost some of its mojo. I had a plan, now I don’t remember if I accomplished it or not. Due to my fatigue on this project, I am kind of phoning in the remainder. By that, I mean that I don’t have the book with me to double check if I am getting everything that I thought I was. So, I am just getting the summary from different websites as a reference. Next week we finish the book.
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