Dante Books

An excellent story of how a man who was too small to play in college (much less the NFL) has excelled.

...just like Dante and the Swiss Cheifs offense. He can't even beat out WRs like Sammie Parker and Eddie Kennison. Kennison couldn't even stay on his other NFL team.

I was a bit puzzled not to see any author; the item being called a "book", and having a "review" that spoke of how they used to make illuminated manuscripts, I ordered this "Divine Comedy: The Illuminated Manuscripts" by "Dante", to get a real shock: it turned out to be a plain notebook, or blank book if you prefer.
The only thing related to the "title" was the pasted on the front cover illustration of a page of a famous manuscript; the manufacturer is "Hartley & Marks Publishers Inc." and states on the label on the back cover that "This edition of Dante's masterpiece was illuminated in 1481 by Niccolò di Lorenzo". "Edition", no mistake. All the (scant) information given by the publisher and by Amazon as well, is, to put it mildly, misleading.
It couldn't happen in the stationary shop but expect it when you buy online. Strongly protested. Photos on demand.

Maybe Amazon has changed their title of this item since the last review, but it pretty clearly says "blank journal" now. That aside, I bought this book several years ago but only now have gotten around to writing in it. It is beautiful. I love the cover, of course, being a huge Dante fan; the paper is smooth, acid-free, and thick enough that you can write on both sides. The binding seems very strong and good. I do not think it mentions anywhere that it is lined, however, or that it has a spine (unlike some of their recent products). I am giving it 5 stars to balance the other review, and I do think it merits 5 stars as a high-quality product, but the actual description of these products seems to be very spotty, and probably should be rated much lower, like 2 stars.

The publisher should be embarrassed putting out a book like this. It is full of mistakes. In some cases all four of the four answers are incorrect for the problems. Most of the tests only give you the correct answers for the problems not how they were solved. If would be helpful if they explained all of the questions.

Jack Rudman has really outdone himself in perfecting the ultimate preparation guide for the Dante Business exam. Jack's clear and concise explanation of the subject has led me and the rest of my class at St. Joseph's College to master the exam. Even my cousin with a learning deficiency has almost passed the exam and within seven to eight more tries I'm sure she will.

A great poet's work is massacred here by an editor who pulls apart many of his great works such as the House of Life with arbtirary and misleading editing. The editor of this really has done a poor job in selecting DG rossetti's fine work or presenting it properly.Its like reading selections from Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet what does it mean?

Dante Gabriel Rossetti is perhaps the most famous of the pre-Raphaelite artists, a poet and painter of unusual skill. "Selected Poems" brings together quite a few of his best poems, including some of his more famous poems, but also more obscure ones.

It includes his best known ones such as "The Blessed Damozel" ("Her robe, ungirt from clasp to hem,/No wrought flowers did adorn,/But a white rose of Mary's gift,/For service meetly worn"), but also lesser-known ones like the charming "Woodspurge," the haunting balladic "Sister Helen," and the lush, sensuous "Card-Dealer" ("Into the silence languidly/As a tune into a tune,/Those eyes unravel the coil'd night/And know the stars at noon.")

If one thing shines through in this collection, it is Rossetti's love of beauty and his rich use of language. The pre-Raphaelite movement was created to advance the styles of Renaissance Italy, and Rossetti was among the most successful. His writing style is on best display here, in all its forms.

Clive Wilmer makes several good choices for the poems involved, showcasing all of the styles that Rossetti did best. Some are like songs, some are sonnets, and some simply straightforward rhyming poems. So the focus is on pure poetry that has aged the best, not on the style of the Victorian era.

Rossetti's style is ornate and a bit old-sounding ("Thou seest the card that falls; -- she knows/The card that followeth"), and is overwhelmed with references to nature -- plants, wind, hills, diamonds and "smooth polish'd silent things." And, of course, beautiful women with shadowy eyes and golden hair.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti's poetry is well-chosen in Clive Wilmer's collection, and a good introduction to his writings. Lush, rich and lastingly beautiful.

In The Soul's Journey Alan Jones explores the three universal spiritual passages of human life by drawing insights from the timeless allegorical truths of Dante's The Divine Comedy. He gently but persistantly guides us through Dante's descent into hell, his climb through purgatory, and his ascent into heaven, thus illustrating the three stages of spiritual growth: a healthy soul, a healed community, and a recovered vision of God. Jones is a profoundly clear spiritual companion for all who feel they have lost their way and have embarked on the journey of finding their life's "right" path. About the author: Alan Jones is the dean of Grace Episcopal Cathedral in San Francisco.

The subtitle of this book, "exploring the spiritual life with Dante," should warn all who want to immerse themselves in the great sea that is the Divine Comedy that they are entering a text that will read THEM up and down, backwards and forwards, through numerous levels, many times over. The Divine Comedy is inexhaustable and exhausting.

Perhaps the problem is inherent in the approach of taking such a challenging text as an "exploration," as does Jones. His book is targeted to educated, middle class searchers, those acquainted with pyschotherapeutic understandings. It is always right to remember that a masterpiece asks everything of its readers and interpreters. It wants you way down deep, and asks you to change your life.

Unfortunately, early on Jones goes through a lot of circular, repetitive and confessional observations, making too many therapeutic concessions to readers, instead of plunging them into the epic poem's metaphysics, especially its Christian metaphysics, and its late Medieval sense of justice as well as Dante's sense of mercy. Jones also tries to be conversant with just too many concerns and they get away from him, are unsatisfactorily resolved, or distract the reader from the demands of the Divine Comedy.

The book DOES have a fairly thorough bibliography and the reader will be better advised to consult it for more promising endeavors than Jones.

In addition, please note that there is another review here and it is favorable. It comes from .......none other than the book's publisher, Cowley Publications. CAVEAT EMPTOR!

Oliver Wang has assembled a group of some of the greatest writers/media assassins to create a book of essays, containing some of hip hops greatest records. The book covers everything from the Cash Money crew down to Gangstarr. No years of hip hop history is left out up to 1998. Various writers cover certain albums which is a gift and a curse. A gift in that it brings out the passion of each writers experiences with the music they are documenting. A curse in that it seems like a bunch of essays were just jumbled alphabetically, by group name together with no cohesive reading from one page to the next. There are some pros and cons when reading this book.

One thing that is apparent are the memories the book provokes. For example, Oliver Wangs first time when his life was forever changed by "3 Feet High and Rising". Dante Ross' involvement in the making of seminal classics like "Mecca and The Soul Brother" and the self titled debut of "Cypress Hill". And of coarse, the music that is documented in each essay. However, there are some cons that really drags this book down from being great.

First off, even though many great records are covered...it is not nearly enough. Maybe time has made many of the non-covered material age like fine wine since the book came out, but there are dozens of records off the head that deserved recognition. With so many renknowned journalists, you'd think they could expand this hand book into something more. However, this minor criticism is shadowed by something much worse. Certain writers actually misquote the artists they are documenting frequently. For example, on pages 42-43 the writer transposes quotes between Brand Nubians Sadat X and Grand Puba. It's a little embarrassing, especially when they state, "back in 1990 everybody thought Grand Puba was the best emcee," when they were using Sadat X quotes by example. On page 81, another writer misquotes Willie D when Scarface used the line, "keep letting the gov't dictate what you hear/ Next they'll put stickers on your ears" from "We Can't Be Stopped". The misquotes keeps coming. On page 114, the writer quotes Prodigy using the opening line on "Start of Your Ending" with "I keep it real packin' steal" when it was in fact a Havoc line.

In conclusion, the frequent "not giving credit where it is due" hurts "Classic Material, The Hip Hop-Album Guide" from being great. I myself have made mistakes reviewing (like any human being) but from people whose profession is to critique albums presents some rough edges. Still..."Classic Material" is a solid read, front to back, with plenty of memorable moments. Hopefully, if there is another book in the making, it can be more accurate.

This printing of this classic work seems to be over abridged. As someone who has read other versions, this work seems to be a good starting point for getting into the heavy work. Yet, it is little better than a more indepth Cliff Note.

The Penguin Epics selection of Dante is rather ungenerous--a little over half of Inferno is reproduced here in the subpar but entertaining Sayers translation.

This book includes the most famous sections of Inferno, which is only the first of the three canticles of Dante's Divine Comedy. How and why these sections were selected must remain a mystery, as there is no foreword or introduction to explain the selection process, only a brief note that will tell you nothing more than I have written here.

There are no notes, which may pose a problem to anyone unfamiliar with Dante or the mythological and historical figures to which he repeatedly refers. If you are looking for a highly readable and complete edition of The Inferno, check out the Mark Musa and Anthony Esolen translations.

Recommended as rainy day reading for anyone who already likes Dante.

Do not take DANTES Rise and Fall of The Soviet Union unless you absolutely have to as it is a really hard DANTES test. If you have not already taken some of the easier DANTES tests then buy DSST Success read it and then take Ethics in America and then Introduction to Business and then go from there. This review by Jack Rudman is decent but it does not cover the material on the actual DANTES test word for word.

In the Hand of Dante is a decent enough book. It's major faults, in my opinion, lie in the first half of the book, where it seems that the author hadn't much direction in which to take his characters. Indeed, even their relationship to each other is extremely slow in being presented. I found myself often wondering more about why the characters were doing what they were, rather than looking forward to their actions.
Stylistically, however, it is obvious that the author is a fantastic wordsmith. He is very skilled at writing in the style of the time, place and point of view.
All in all, this wasn't a bad book, though it wasn't a great one either. I don't know that I would ever really recommend it to anyone. However, I don't regret having read it, so I guess I wouldn't suggest avoiding it either.