Book excerpt: Dante's Comedy has become a literary monument but first and foremost it is an engaging and vividly imagined story of a personal journey. Dante, the narrator, through encounters with the souls of dead people, masterly and completely etched in their earthly persona, especially in the Inferno, holds our attention even after so many years, so many stories and despite Dante's world view having become meaningless to us and his faith alien to many of us too.