Italian here - your feelings toward this book are most likely the result of our mandatory 3-year Divine Comedy classes we all had in high school. It's sad to note that most of us developed indifference - if not mild aversion - to Dante's work after that. If you have time and will, I really recommend to read this book skipping all comments, interpretations and stuff. Then most likely you'll see why people from all over the world admire his work. Dante was a poetic genius that created an entire language from scratch and pushed it in incredible directions. And yes, he truly was an uber-nerd of his time.

Thanks for chiming in. Actually, the mandatory 3-year Divine Comedy classes didn't bother me. I liked literature, albeit I lacked the maturity to truly appreciate it. Later, I have tried to read the Comedy again and again, but besides the vivid imagery and Dante's mastery of poetry, I have failed to see what value I could extract from it. On the other hand, Giacomo Leopardi -- a literary geek, so to speak -- had some insights to share about human condition.

> Dante was a poetic genius that created an entire language from scratch and pushed it in incredible directions.

I agree with this, but this is something of interest mostly to Italians alone, isn't it?

Dante nerd? Leopardi geek? You are talking about giants, don't use those inappropriate terms to describe them please. Both are Great artists, we all need to study more before judge or even comment about Dante and Leopardi.