The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso (Everymans Library, 183)

The reader is taken through scenes depicting souls stationed
upside down through eternity somewhat like bats. In other parts,
the soul is tortured by flying demons with pitchforks.
The work is a good assignment to challenge the imagination
of young readers. It is highly recommended for readers in the
latter part of high school or the early collegiate years.

Dantes work is the longest love poem ever put on paper, and that for a pubescent girl, whom the author probably saw only on a few ephemeral occasions. They were for him his Divine Appearances of Beatrice.

On the other hand, certain political aspects of the Comedy are still very modern, like the clashes between religious and worldly powers. Here, Dante criticizes the interventions of the Catholic Church in worldly matters to defend her profane but huge interests.

Dantes work is also an eminent catholic poem. As Jesus Christ, who said whos not for me, is against me, Dante fulminates (and puts in hell) against those who didnt accept his vision of society (strict separation between religious and wordly powers), or those who didnt belong to his political party and sent him in exile.

My personal preference goes to the Hell part, where certain images evoke the impressive pictures of Jheronimus Bosch.

Everybody - even the heathen - should read this monument of human art, even if Dantes message is sometimes biased or flawed.