Storybook Favorites
I thought this was an interesting and modern way to tell the story of Dante's Divine Comedy. I took a class that was heavily focused on Dante's Inferno last summer, so I believe it was much easier for me to understand the parallels with my background knowledge. I enjoyed that this plot was completely different from Dante's story, but was still able to convey the message of the 3 realms in 3 physical places that the main character visits. Paul's redemption is much more tangible and his story is something that we can relate to in a material world.
I thought this concept was hilarious. I wasn't quite able to understand what the contents of the stories were going to be from the introduction because it was formatted like a standard college introduction, but I understood as soon as I started reading the essays. In fact, I enjoyed the anticipation of not fully understanding the concept until I was already reading the essays. I think the concept is something that is especially interesting to young people, and relate figures from Greek mythology to "normal people" rather than from a pedestal. I think most people know that Greek Gods and Goddesses had many faults, but it's interesting to see how those shortcomings would play out in our world.
I enjoyed reading these stories, as if they were an extension of the already widely-known franchise. I was not familiar with the tales that these stories are supposed to be retelling, but I think it's fun to retell them using known characters in a known fictional universe. The fact that the Harry Potter universe is so well-known expands the audience to people that might not otherwise read or know the tales being depicted. It is also fun for the author because they are able to apply well-developed characters into untold situations.
Just to say you picked some of my favorites here too, Sydney... and the student who did that Common App is in the Indian Epics class this semester, and I'm excited to see what he's going to do. He was debating about doing Common App for Indian gods and goddesses, but I think he's going to do a Shiva project instead. Anyway, you'll get to visit the projects in the other class later in the semester, so look for Neal in the India class and you can see what he ended up with this semester too!
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