Inferno by Dan Brown is the fourth bestseller in his Robert Langdon series, following on from Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and The Lost Symbol. Released on May 14, the book was an instant blockbuster, topping both the UK and US book charts.
In this latest installment of American symbologist Dr Robert Langdon’s adventures, Langdon wakes up in a Florentine hospital with short-term amnesia, no idea how he arrived in Italy and having to run for his life almost immediately upon regaining consciousness, with required bella donna in tow.
Inferno revolves around the Divine Comedy, a poem written in the 14th century by Italian poet Dante Alighieri, in which he describes his visions of hell, purgatory and paradise. As with all of Brown’s stories the intrigue lies in solving puzzles and mysteries using knowledge of an historical text, image or objet d’art.
Along the way, readers are taken on a majestic journey through the history of the beautiful city of Florence, and beyond. The descriptions of these cities and their most historic pieces of art, places and buildings are an education. Through reading Inferno many works of art, artists and places will be discovered by the reader probably for the first time. I for one have added a few historical places to my to-visit-list. Not surprisingly, the book has already caused what has become known as “Dante Fever” in Italy, where tourists are taking the exact route that Langdon and his companion take on their mystery-solving quest, through secret passageways and into underground palaces and dungeons. The Italians are happy, saying that they hope this will lead to even more people knowing about Dante and his epic work.
According to wikipedia Dante’s Divine Comedy is widely considered as the preeminent work of Italian literature in Italy, and has inspired other artists such as Boticelli, who features in Dan Brown’s Inferno, for seven centuries.
Nevertheless, with all its nodding to artefacts and world-class masterpieces, Brown’s Inferno cannot be considered high-brow literature – but a good beach read, it definitely is. As a writer, Brown has perfected his craft, with enough twists and unexpected turns to keep those pages turning. Even though I cannot see Langdon in my head as anyone other than Tom Hanks due to watching The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, I look forward to seeing Inferno the movie if and when it comes out.
