Newest and favorite book

Here is my newest book and to be honest it’s one of my favorite.

It reads “To one side I turn with the fear of being left alone.”

The quote comes from Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy – here’s the premise…

So this poet (Dante) wakes up in the woods and is unable to find his way – enter Virgil who will guide Dante through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise.  They begin their journey, first through Hell –  after sliding down Satan’s back, through the bottom of hell and in to Purgatory they begin their journey to the top of Purgatory, the Garden of Eden, which is the gateway to heaven.   That’s actually as far as I am in the book but you get the idea.

The quote comes from Purgatory when Dante looks down and sees only one shadow, he looks behind him thinking that Virgil might have left him.  Of course Virgil didn’t leave him it’s just that Dante is technically still alive so he has a shadow and no one else does.

The artwork is by Gustave Dore, a French artist from the 19th century who illustrated lots of classic works like the Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost, and some of Tennyson’s work.  This particular picture isn’t actually depicting the quote but it fit well enough.

~ by chj48 on February 6, 2011.