The Divine Comedy

It was the first dense book I ever read, and I remember feeling I was reading far too slowly. Every canto called for a footnote, historical context, the name of some Florentine politician I had never heard of. At first I thought I would give up while still in Hell (God forbid).

I didn't give up, and it became my way into classic literature. I have read it twice, and the second reading was a different book. The first time, I followed Dante and Virgil down the circles almost like playing an exploration game, wanting to know what the next level held. The second time, I paid attention to the structure, to how each punishment mirrors its own sin. It is an entire moral system organised with an almost architectural logic, and that got me in a way I didn't expect.

As a Catholic, Paradise touched me differently. It is the part fewer people talk about and, for me, it is where the book made complete sense, with Beatrice leading the way.

Purgatory at times felt slower than it needed to be. It is also not a book to read on São Paulo's packed Red Line metro; it asks for your full attention.

Good for anyone who wants to start on the classics and is willing to go slowly. It teaches a lot, about literature and about the mind of an entire era.