Pearl led the group in “Dante and the Concept of Justice,” and it was his re-exploration of Dante that he says re-ignited his interest, and motivated Pearl to write snatches of scenes, which he calls “experiments.”
“I had never written any fiction, and I have never taken a creative writing course—not that I recommend that as a way to go. It was hard to jump in,” Pearl says.
But the actual writing of the novel did not take place until after Pearl completed several months of research. Though he was familiar with the Dante Club itself, he was unfamiliar with the details of daily life in 19th-century America.
It was not until Pearl had completed three-fourths of his novel that he tested the possibility of having it published. “I decided that I should figure out if this project was viable as a professional endeavor in order to make sure I wasn’t screwing up my law career.”
During most of the writing and publication process, Pearl received support and guidance from Pertile, whom Pearl dubs “Longfellow’s heir.” Pearl confesses to worrying about revealing his writing project to Pertile.
“I was terrified at telling him about the project, much less showing it to him, because you never know if you are doing something wrong or too commercial,” he says. “That is something that is drilled into you as a literature concentrator, that anything too commercial is suspect.”
Eventually, Pearl did speak with Pertile, who was very excited about the project in general. He read the manuscript and helped Pearl throughout the process.
“[Pertile] was a great friend…he was an advisor, a counselor, and a Dante expert,” Pearl says.
As if writing a novel were not difficult enough, Pearl conceived of publishing a companion edition of Dante’s Inferno. He says it was important because translating the Inferno is the main project that the protagonists pursue, and the Longfellow translation of the Inferno has been out of print for forty years.
Random House loved Pearl’s idea, and did in fact publish the companion, with a preface written by Pearl and an introduction by Pertile.
The translation itself also proved to be a huge undertaking. After reading the many versions of translations published during Longfellow’s life, Pearl chose the 1867 edition since it was the same text of the Inferno that the first Americans reading Dante would have seen. A large portion of the companion book is Longfellow’s notes, which serve as crucial guideposts throughout the text.
Pertile says the “living” quality of Pearl’s book is crucial to its success.
“[The Dante Club] proves the vitality of the Divine Comedy not only in Cambridge 140 years ago, but today as well,” he says. “The issues of justice and truth that are at the core of Dante’s great poem and inspire the Dante Club, are as relevant today as they were in both 1300 Florence and 1865 Cambridge.”
Pearl says he plans to write another novel for Random House, after the “commotion” of The Dante Club subsides. Though he claims that his idea is still vague, he said that it would be about another 19th century literary culture with different characters, and no Dante.
“I want to give Dante a break before I drive him crazy,” he says.
—Staff writer Rebecca Cantu can be reached at cantu@fas.harvard.edu.