For those who have not read Dante Alighieri’s masterpiece “Divine Comedy,” one of literature’s crown jewels, DanBrown’s “Inferno” is a unique opportunity to get close to this masterpiece. Tintafresca sat down with the bestselling author to talk about his latest book.

By Marcela Álvarez, www.tintafresca.us

Among the few things I share with Dan Brown, we both love art, history, symbols and several European cities.

Brown, the writer of literary symbolism, is at it again with his latest enigma: Inferno, published in Spanish by Vintage Español.

Before us we have an entertaining novel that moves frenetically from page one ‘til the very end. There is no cessation as the story rushes through a canvas of secret passageways, museums, piazzas, halls and tombs.

This is the same winning formula that catapulted Brown to international stardom with his blockbuster books The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, both adapted to the silver screen.

For those who have not read Dante Alighieri’s masterpiece Divine Comedy, one of literature’s crown jewels, Brown’s Inferno is a unique opportunity to get close to this masterpiece. We recently sat down with Brown to discuss Inferno.

Among so many classical works of literature, many of which relate to art, which you feel passionately about, why did you choose Dante´s Divine Comedy for your new book?

No book, other than the Bible, has inspired more art, sculptures and music than The Divine Comedy. Dante has been an inspiration to many.

Of the three poems that make up The Divine Comedy, why did you choose Inferno?

Inferno is the most frightening, the most vivid, the most exciting; it’s perfect for a writer of thrillers.

If you had a magic wand…would you like to meet Dante? What would be the first thing you would ask him?

I would ask him what he would imagine, how he would feel if he knew that 700 years in the future his writing would still have resonance. That 700 years in the future he would have inspired more art, architecture, sculpture, and music than any other writers than writers of the Bible.

How did it feel to bid farewell to your Inferno? How would you size up the experience?

It is always a pleasure to finish a book. I was in hell for three years and it’s very nice to see the light of day again, very nice.

As in his previous books, the leading character, Robert Langdon, combs through the art centers in Florence, Venice and Istanbul in his quest to unearth an international conspiracy that threatens a large swath of the world’s population whose secret code is hidden in Dante’s death mask in Florence.

Brown avoids excesses and writes with a compressed intensity to describe the Paradise of Florence, the sounds of Venice, the mythical light of Haga Sofia in Istanbul. With great narrative skill and sound knowledge of art, the author masterfully paints these legendary cities and validates his credentials as master of the modern thriller.

Inferno’s is a well-researched book. A solid effort by Brown to recapture some of the glory and magic of The Da Vinci Code.

Dan Brown is the author of numerous #1 bestselling novels, including The Da Vinci Code, which has become one of the bestselling novels of all time. Brown’s novels are published in 52 languages around the world with 81 million copies in print. It is also one of the top most read books in the world, along with The Bible, the Harry Potter saga, and Gone With the Wind.