Book Friends

This is a picture of an old object from my childhood, a coal brazier, used to warm up unheated spaces back in Italy when I was a child.  Hot coals would be deposited carefully in this big flat cauldron with a  wooden base and heavy legs that kept it from tipping. 

As children, we sat around this brazier for hours doing homework, reading books.


When I think about my best friends, friends that never left me to this day, I think of books.
First and most lasting is Dante's Divine Comedy, a book we studied in high school. We only read the first of the three parts, The Inferno, Hell. Just recently, I finally read the entire thing.

The English world has Shakespeare. Italy has Dante Alighieri.  (The last name is superfluous.)

Last summer, at an antique book store, Hubby purchased a set with both English and Italian texts.  These are now my most expensive and most appreciated collection.  I've been reunited with old friends, connecting with all my lives, so to speak.

Someday, I'll explain how this book affected me throughout my life.
If you never heard of The Divine Comedy you are missing a great read.