Il Paradiso vs Inferno: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Italian literature, Pictorial works, Bibliography, Classics, Poetry, Fiction
Il Paradiso
“DANTE STATES his supreme theme as Paradise itself and invokes the aid not only of the Muses but of Apollo.”
The Divine Comedy stands as one of the towering creations of world literature, and its climactic section, the Paradiso, is perhaps the most ambitious poetic attempt ever made to represent the merging of individual…
vs
Inferno
“IN the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.”
Dante, after becoming lost on the path of life, is led by Virgil into Hell to begin his journey back to the light of God.
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Inferno has the widest readership — 212492 ratings behind its score.
- Inferno runs the darker storyline; Il Paradiso stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Il Paradiso | Inferno | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 4.0 (212492) |
| Apple Books | — | 4.5 (7) |
Reception
| Il Paradiso | Inferno | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 6 | 212492 |
| Editions | 291 | 446 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 313596 |
| Reading it now | — | 17622 |
| Written reviews | — | 10757 |
| Wikipedia attention | 1367 | 117225 |
| Pages | 138 | 194 |