Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture
“The Alaskan Sting is the story of a young man from San Francisco who has two vices: drinking and women. His adventure starts when his cousin gives him a ten-day vacation to Alaska, but, on the way, he experiences several misfortunes. Find out what happens as this young man earns a moral conclusion as he gets caught in a government sting operation.” –John Herold, Amazon, January 20, 2012
“A frustrated poet, he turned to prose in his 30s to pay his bills—and shone. Many of his novels may seem facile, packed with talky introspection and postpubescent brooding, but in fact are densely layered tales, with scores of narrators, soaked in erudition and mordant social comment. A ferocious reader, Bolaño wrote with Cervantes, Dante, and Homer looking over his shoulder.” –Mac Margolis, Newsweek, April 16, 2012
“Enigmatic and sexy, Professor Gabriel Emerson is a well-respected Dante specialist by day, but by night he devotes himself to an uninhibited life of pleasure. He uses his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm to gratify his every whim, but is secretly tortured by his dark past and consumed by the profound belief that he is beyond all hope of redemption.
[. . .]
An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love, and redemption, Gabriel’s Inferno is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man’s escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible: forgiveness and love.” —Amazon, September 4, 2012
“Limbo: Reserved for those who observe the mess that climate science has become, subservient as it is to politics, and wonder whether redemption and a return to a true science-serving path is ever possible.
[. . .]
“Sixth Circle: Miscreants in the Sixth Circle of Hell should be forced to sit while unable to move or speak and repeatedly watch others being lauded in their place for their work, stolen and used without attribution.” –Anthony Watts, WUWT, December 27, 2012
“Dante has nothing on Jason Greene, who stood in line at the DMV for an entire day… With three kids.
“Dante once wrote that Hell had nine circles within its depths. Dante’s Inferno is an amazing literary work that describes in great detail the horror of a place where no person wishes to go. Dante must have been inspired by a trip to the local DMV.
“We recently bought a new vehicle and we needed to get new plates. The month had been difficult and harried and we didn’t get the title from the dealership until our temporary tags were almost set to expire. Unfortunately, only a short time before, I lost my wallet and everything in it. I ordered a new license, but since it had not arrived and the tags were set to expire the next day, we had no choice but to try to register without it. The story gets more complicated; my wife had to leave town at the last minute for business and the title is in both of our names.
“Now, none of that should have been a problem. Before my wife left, she signed all the necessary paperwork, including a form that gave me the right to make all decisions on her behalf. We even had contacted the DMV to make sure that we were walking in with all the correct paperwork and to verify that I could do the deal without a license. They assured us that all would be fine.” [. . .] –Jason Greene, The Good Men Project, September 15, 2012.
All was not fine for Jason Greene at the DMV. Read Greene’s account of the circles of DMV Hell here.
“The Nine Circles of Hell for Whiteys in South Africa” is a comic posted by Alastair Laird, commenting on the different levels of racism for white people in South Africa. The comic is full of South African slang that may be difficult to understand for someone outside of that culture, but a few searches on the internet can help a reader decipher the words.
This comic was posted on Mahala, “a free South African music, culture and reality magazine that strives to report and represent what’s really happening along the fault line and in the trenches of South African culture. Mahala is home to challenging and incisive political and social commentary and strong, fearless opinions. We promote freedom of thought and expression. We’re available online, on your mobile and in print. We’ll always be free, gratis and Mahala. Because you deserve quality information, opinion and entertainment for free! Thought is free!” — cited from Mahala’s About page
Read the full comic here.
Posted on the blog Ink & Snow (December 21, 2012).
“Commenter Firescorpio takes us on a (somewhat misspelled) journey through the nine circles of Xbox Live hell, a path that transforms an innocent online gamer into a foaming, frothing, enjoyment-destroying fuckwit in today’s infographic-tastic edition of Speak-Up on Kotaku.” –Mike Fahey, Kotaku, January 16, 2012
Giuseppe Topo, on Napoli Unplugged, November 16, 2012
Fried eggs.
Like the second part of Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Trapped between heaven and hell.
Uova in Purgatorio, Ova ‘mpriatorio in Neapolitan, or Eggs in Purgatory, this could only be a Neapolitan dish.
Taking its inspiration from Il culto delle anime del Purgatorio, the cult of the Souls of Purgatory, this classic “secondo” comes directly from the pages of Cucina Povera Napoletana. And it is symbolic of the Neapolitan preoccupation with purgatory and the ancient cult that worships anonymous human remains. A tradition that endures in places like the 17th century Santa Maria delle Anima del Purgatorio ad Arco Church in Centro Storico and the Fontanelle Cemetery in Rione Sanità in the scenes of purgatory depicted in the shrines Neapolitans are fond of erecting around the city. And in this culinary rendition of the tradition, where the eggs play the role of souls seeking purification, the sauce, that of the flames of purgatory.
The eggs bubble away in the sauce until the whites are completely cooked, or perhaps we should say, purified. And one can only guess that like the milk from the Virgin’s breast, the breaking of the yolks into the sauce symbolises the extinguishing of the flames. Ouva in Purgatorio, a simple and economical dish that packs a lot of flavour and recalls a tradition that lives on in the hearts and the minds of the Neapolitan people.
Ingredients
1 – 14 oz Can Peeled Tomatoes (or use your leftover Ragù)
4 Eggs
1 Large or 2 Small Cloves Garlic, peeled and halved
Olive Oil
Parsley
Salt and Pepper
“Dante’s Inferno: The Graphic Novel by Joseph Lanzara uses Doré’s engravings as a base to illustrate Dante’s journey. Quite interesting, despite, or perhaps because of some bold swerves form Dante’s own plot line!” — Francesco Ciabattoni
Available for purchase through many online booksellers, such as Amazon.
—Contributed by Francesco Ciabattoni
