Deborah Parker (1) (1954–)

I've always liked rereading _The Divine Comedy_, and I wanted to read this book because of Dante's name on the cover — not because of Dan Brown's. I found the authors' treatment of Dante's original work to be interesting and well-balanced. Their discussion of the later works that were inspired by the _Inferno_, or adaptations or derivations of it, some of which I was familiar with and some of which were new to me, was also enjoyable.

On the other hand, I have never read a page of Dan Brown; and this book did nothing to make me want to change that. While Brown may have drawn on a highly respectable source for his inspiration, the Parkers, perhaps unintentionally, make it clear that he had a rather imprecise understanding of Dante's depiction of Hell.

The one reservation I have about _Inferno Revealed_, then, is its degree of focus on Brown. I'm afraid that the cynical thought occurred to me that his name was included on the cover in part to capitalize on his popularity. I would have preferred to have seen less material devoted to Brown's _Inferno_ and more time allotted to the other, arguably more interesting, derivative works.… (más)

With less than 300 pages, this book is packed with information. It is a great introduction to Dante's Divine Comedy and a useful review for those who haven't read Dante's Inferno. If you liked Dan Brown's Inferno, you will also want this book. All references to Dante's work that Dan Brown used are listed and analyzed. The authors also discuss other adaptations of Inferno, with my favorite being the film se7en. It would also be a poor choice to overlook The Appendix, Notes and Bibliography. Those were just as enjoyable to read and to get further reading. If you ever read Dante or you are a Dan Brown fan, you definitely need this book to read and keep.… (más)