Category Archives: John Stamps

by John Stamps “There is a circle in hell reserved for the people who stop reading Dante and never make it to canto 10.”[1] And there’s an even deeper circle reserved for Dante bloggers who don’t follow up on their … Continue reading →

by John Stamps Today’s reflections on Dante are just in time for Halloween.1 We stand before the iron walls of the hellish city of Dis. This is the Devil’s city. We can’t figure out how to gain entrance. Our journey … Continue reading →

by John Stamps Today we’re on a boat ride through the deep end of the cesspool known as the River Styx. I am now doing something different in my own reading of Dante’s cantos. I bought an audio book and … Continue reading →

by John Stamps Today in Canto 7 we officially lose our souls. Greed robbed them from us. In the fourth ring of the Inferno, Virgil and Dante encounter the greedy damned. Jesus pointedly warns us: “What shall it profit a … Continue reading →

by John Stamps Remember Los Angeles in Blade Runner? Industrial pollution has befouled the City of Angels. There is no more sunshine in LA, only nonstop acid rain. And the rain is cold, hard, and disgusting. That pretty much describes … Continue reading →

by John Stamps Today in Canto 5 we actually step into Hell. No loitering in a castle garden engaged in quiet conversation with the virtuous damned. The second circle of Hell is The Infernal Real Deal. The best part of … Continue reading →

by John Stamps Today we stand at the brink of Hell, looking down into the Inferno. We’re technically still at the outskirts of Hell. We are in Limbo, from the Latin word limbus, the border that surrounds anything, an edge, … Continue reading →

by John Stamps Today we stand with Dante and Virgil in front of the gates of Hell. We hear the horrible shrieks, cries, and groans coming from “the bad seed of Adam.” If you know anything at all about Dante, … Continue reading →