Popular Culture Review Vol. 27, No. 1, Winter 2016 | Page 82

Genre. Brown’s  Inferno blends three popular genres—suspense, mystery, and detective fiction--with a solid dose of travel writing. (Interestingly, the publisher also lists the  book’s  genres  as  “fact  fiction,”  conspiracy fiction, and thriller.) The mysterydetective fiction format is updated with contemporary techniques to solve several Danterelated codes. For example, after Langdon opens what appears to be a small biohazard container, he finds a miniature medieval bone cylinder outfitted with a high-tech laser projector. When  the  projector  is  illuminated,  a  modified  version  of  Botticelli’s  Map  is   displayed. This Map of Hell (also known as The Abyss of Hell) is one of the earliest representations  of  Dante’s  highly visual representation of hell. Additional clues—and recollections of lectures he has given at Harvard and to the Dante Society--help Langdon realize that the traditional Map of Hell has been digitally modified. In addition, the letters CATROVACER have been  added  to  each  ditch  of  the  Malebolge,  Dante’s   eighth circle of hell. (This eighth circle, with ten different ditches for the categories of those  who  have  committed  the  sin  of  fraud,  plays  an  important  role  in  Brown’s  work.)     But because the map has been  altered,  the  letters  really  spell  CERCA  TROVA  (“seek   and  find”). This revelation propels Langdon and his Mensa-talented doctor assistant to search for a painting in the Vasari Corridor, an above-ground walkway linking two major palaces in Florence. So the Dante-linked codes and clues, the use of technology, and the travel-guide  approach  to  Florence’s  art  and  architecture  catapult  Langdon  and  Dr.   Sienna  Brooks  into  an  intense  “cat  and  mouse”  chase  through  Florence’s  famous   Palazzo Vecchio. Dante Connections. Brown does not try to follow the order and path of Inferno from Canto I to Canto XXXIV. Instead, Parker and Parker contend that Inferno provides a  “conceptual  model  for  the  central  action  of  the  novel”  (177). References to Dante, his poems (primarily Inferno), classical works inspired by the author, and influences by Dante  are  integrated  throughout  Brown’s  novel. Some references are instructional or explanatory:  (1)  a  review  of  Dante’s  life  and  background  from  a  student  lecture;;  (2)  a   lecture for the Viennese  Dante  Society  incorporating  the  poet’s  influence  on  Italian   artists Michaelangelo, Botticelli, and Dore; and (3) quotations attributed to him or from verses in Inferno. Early  in  Brown’s  novel,  Langdon  reminisces  about  the  close  ties   between Dante and  Florence,  simultaneously  reflecting  on  Florence’s  architecture  and   the  10  ditches  of  the  poet’s  Malebolge. Langdon provides an elementary review of Dante’s  life,  his  portraits  by  various  artists  (some  quite  soon  after  his  death),  and  a   summary of the contributions the great author made to art, literature, and culture. While the purpose of this instruction is to inform the members of a learned society about Dante, we have to suspend disbelief that such academics would not know the basics about Dante. However,  Langdon’s  comments  are  essential  to  help  us,  as  readers,  know   what we should know (but never knew or remembered, at least in the detail required for the plot) about the immortal poet, including the role of his guide, Virgil, the eighth circle of hell, and the three-headed  Satan’s  consumption  of  three  people  in  the  9th circle of hell. Langdon’s  remembered lectures or presentations are essential to understanding the Dante-related clues and references that are incorporated throughout the novel. Some of these references include: 81