The book’s end poses a much larger problem than tone with the depiction of the paradise inherited by completing the challenges of Purgatory. The story ends on a bright and shiny note that rings just a bit flat. But perhaps this is my fussiness and my sour grapes for not having the opportunity to live in such a place. Overall, the novel is rich in detail and challenges the reader to conduct outside research. Such historically based fiction has a value in informing us of ancient art still worthy of study. I prepared to read this book by reading all of Purgatorio and an Internet biography of Dante as well as of Cato the Younger. It takes very little outside work to increase the overall enjoyment of this fine book.
"A sinister cabal of superior writers."
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1 - The Candid Professor
The Hypnerotomachia is not a manuscript.