Gate to Literature and Paradise

Welcome to the cKotch.Com blog. I’m Christopher Kotcher, and this is the first time I fell in love with a book.

A Writer Before a Reader?

I am a strange case among writers.

Most writers start as readers. They devour every book they can find. Over time, this love of books leads them to make their own.

I started as a gamer. I did not enjoy reading. I really only chose to write books because my dad said people would love my stories more as books. This advice was reinforced when I saw that many of my schoolmates’ favorite books were inspiring movie adaptations.

My feelings toward reading started to change in high school. English classes there introduced me to some pretty fine literature. But I still did not read much on my own.

All my family’s attempts to make me a pleasure reader proved fruitless. My mom gave me books about wizards and dragons. I hardly ever finished them. One of my uncles gave me the murder mystery book which made him love reading. The story seemed like a slow slog to me.

Then I found a book which grabbed me.

Shopping Around

Senior year was drawing to a close.

One day, on the way home from school, my mom and I stopped at a Barnes & Noble for a sale. While she searched for books, I decided to check the collectibles section. On my way there, I found a nearly empty sales rack.

The sales rack held a single collector’s edition copy of The Divine Comedy by the famed Italian poet Dante. The book held not only Dante’s journey through Hell in Inferno, but also his journeys through Purgatory and Heaven in Purgatorio and Paradiso.

Across twelve years of Catholic schools, Dante’s works were referenced in textbooks, videos, readings, and lectures. Classes took any chance they could get to mention the comedy.

I had already read parts of Dante’s tale. A man in midlife got lost in the woods and discovered the way to Hell. His guide through the horror was his literary idol, the Latin poet Virgil.

Now I could finally read the rest of the classic. The low sale price of the collection was a good bonus too. Still, my mom advised me to get the book only if I could commit to reading it.

I nodded. Somehow I knew this book would be different.

Journey Through Fire and Flames

I dove into the comedy right away. The story began with the scenes most often discussed in school.

Dante followed Virgil through nine circles of Hell. Each new circle was more dismal and punishing than the last. People from history and mythology alike populated the one place with no room for hope.

Lustful spirits flew loosely through the wind. Wrathful souls clawed at each other in the swampy slime of the River Styx. A three-headed Satan sat at the bottom of the world, frozen in eternal misery.

These were moments I had already seen before in class. So, they did not affect me much.

Although, I did encounter some intriguing new scenes in this part of the journey.

Dante visited a home for virtuous non-believers just outside of Hell They were the good people who refused to follow Jesus out to Heaven after the crucifixion. These figures were mostly ancient poets and philosophers, even including Virgil himself.

I felt Dante was true to the figures he called virtuous non-believers. They were good people who would not seem to deserve eternal punishment. But they were also people who would likely not show immediate support for someone claiming to save them. In Dante’s mind, there was likely no better place to put them.

Dante also met his old friend and mentor Brunetto Latini. Latini was supposed to have been a good man in life. Having him in the pit emphasized anyone could stumble and fall in life.

Throughout the whole journey, Dante’s writing was well-crafted, and his vision was intriguing. Still, I did not feel I was hitting all the literary heights I had been expecting.

Then Dante left Hell for Mount Purgatory on the other side of the world.

Climbing the Mountain

Purgatorio also showed people suffering for their sins.

However, the mountain’s hardships were meant to heal repentant souls. These flawed people wanted to better themselves in hopes of entering Heaven. They wanted to reject past pleasures which only ever ended in pain.

Mount Purgatory is ultimately a place of hope. The hope there is so contagious even Dante decided to better himself there.

Recognizing his own hubris, Dante joined the prideful and arrogant. Stones on their backs made them walk with their eyes looking down on the ground rather than down on other people. This exercise served to make them more humble and grounded.

Redemption is the whole purpose of Mount Purgatory. People’s lives are filled with tragedies, failures, and mistakes. To truly improve, they need to accept what they have been given and what they have done in life. They must then pick up this weight and carry it forward, aiming to become better versions of themselves. The fire and flames of Inferno are reserved for those who sacrifice their better selves to the worst parts of their nature.

Virgil Departs

At the border between Mount Purgatory and Heaven, Virgil left Dante.

The Latin poet was one of the virtuous non-believers. He did not know Heaven well enough to guide Dante through it.

So, Dante was reunited with a bright and beautiful soul named Beatrice. This good woman was Dante’s former childhood love. Naturally, she would be the only one perfect enough to guide the Italian poet through Heaven.

Beatrice led Dante most of the way through paradise. Though she did eventually allow the mystical thinker St. Bernard to finish Dante’s journey. The closer Dante moved to God, the more he needed an expert on contemplating divine mysteries and wonders.

Journey Through Light and Love

For Dante, Heaven was found among the heavens.

All souls in Heaven lived beyond the physical world in God’s throne, the Empyrean. Portions of the solar system along the way allowed Dante to meet specific groups of blessed souls along the way. They wanted to teach Dante about their particular virtues.

Wise minds populated the sun. Faithful warriors waited on Mars. Just rulers sat at Jupiter. Before the Empyrean lay the Primium Mobile, a swirling sphere of light. God directly moved this sphere to guide all movement in the universe. Angels flew here with powerful grace and beauty.

The whole journey had come together.

Dante started in place where all hope is abandoned. Now he could see a world full of light. He saw “the love that moves the sun and the other stars.” This love balanced Dante’s desires. It showed him the reason for hope on Mount Purgatory.

Everything changes when you find paradise and see that it calls to everyone.

A Writer Becomes a Reader

I finished reading The Divine Comedy far sooner than anyone expected, including myself. The book ignited something in me. This great work did something my family once thought impossible.

It made me a reader.

So many things I had learned over the years came together in this masterpiece found on sale. Religion classes always framed Heaven and Hell as personal choices based on who we want to be. English classes showed stories of both heroic redemptions and tragic falls. History classes helped me understand the comedy’s various references. Dante’s great journey really was the perfect unity of everything I learned in school.

I wanted to read more books like the comedy, more classics. I wanted books which brought the human experience together. A book standing the test of time seemed the greatest proof of this ability.

During final exams week, I went back to Barnes & Noble. This trip landed me collections of works by Edgar Allan Poe, Homer, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Birthdays and Christmases brought even more books every year.

My growing library has given me countless new ideas and angles for my writing. But I will always remember the one book which started it all.

Kotcher’s Call to Action

Also, if you liked my content and want to make sure you read all my new blog posts, be sure to like my Facebook page and share it with your friends. I post a link there whenever a new blog post goes live each Friday at 5:00 PM EST.