Inferno Dan Brown

In typical Dan Brown form this book grabs you from the very beginning.  It starts out with Robert Langdon waking up in Italy in a hospital.  He doesn't even remember being in Italy.  In fact his last memory was two days prior when he was in Massachusetts. Along with a lovely lady doctor, we follow Langdon through Italy as he tries to unravel a mystery.

The book focuses on Art influenced by Dante from Florence, Italy who was a poet.  He wrote the Divine Comedy sometime between 1301 an 1321.  It is considered one of the greatest pieces of Italian literature.  It is Dante's vision of an afterlife with a person having to move through three levels Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise (Heaven) so their soul can reach God.

One of the things I love about Dan Brown books is the art history.  I remember when I first came to DC I would hop on the metro and go down to the mall to the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  If you are planning a trip to the DC area it is a must see, so add it to your list.  I used to spend hours happily wandering through the different galleries.  When guest would come into town, that was one of the first places we went. 
I still get there occasionally but because of time constraints not as often as I would like.  In case you are interested in art as well or at least books that the art world is the backdrop for the book check out my post on the Art Forger by B.A Shapiro or A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny.

One of the interesting things written in the book that really had very little to do with the story line but was stated by Robert Langdon I guess to illustrate his deep knowledge of history was the origin of the children's nursery rhyme/playground song Ring around a Rosie. According to some historians, the ring around the rosie referred to a symptom of the Black plague.  The pocket full of posies was to mask the smell of decay and death and the ashes referred to cremation after death.  There are of course many who dispute this interpretation.  I can tell you that I will never think of it as an innocent child's chant.

Once again this is a great summer read.  For that matter it is a great read.  I really enjoy Brown's books.  I see another movie adaptation on the horizon. 





            
A recreated death mask of Dante
at the Palazzo Vecchio.  The
artifact in the book that was stolen

Other books with art as the backdrop