The Divine Comedy (The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso)

So we think we mostly know the story but rarely does one know the whole story without muscling your way through the read. This is dense, long term, situational reading. The whole story includes the ubiquitous `Inferno' plus the far less known `Pugatorio' and `Paradiso'. Ciardi's deeply footnoted version, I'm certain, to a 100% probability, must contain at least 1 error of some relevance to some reader, but it's certainly adequate and far more curious than my previous reads. Every reader draws his own conclusions and opinions and they are probably all correct. In the context of John Ciardi's translation, it cannot be overstated how meticulous this translation actually is. The Divine Comedy is the `first of its kind' exposition of the Tuscan dialect that much later emerges as the consolidated `Italian' language. Dante's syntax, meanings and nearly everything linguistic are 21st century translationally imputed into this `first of its kind'. The debates for perfection can never be ended. So, opinions? ... here's mine ... The `Divine Comedy' is a relentless satirical, pseudo-theological exposition of super-epic length. Context and setting are everything. The 14th Century was perhaps the single most catastrophic century for historical Western humankind and so Dante relates his world as an observer to the human cataclysm erupting all around him day after stinking day. A first-time read of Dante ... without some historical perspective on time and place, will leave the reader confused and inevitably horribly bored. That Dante skewers his living `enemies' in some level of damnation's treadmill is the `commedia'. I might suggest this historical pre-read A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century Some imagine there's theology here. Some even imagine Christianity might be defined here. That notion is unfortunately absurd and very unfortunately plays into some readers mind as `Christian' to confuse scriptural vs the imaginings of Dante's fantasy. Is Christianity defined by Tom Hanks in the DaVinci Code? Of course not. Dante's epic here is nightmare scary stuff intended to keep people awake at night ... an afterlife of eternally walking the treadmill to 'paradiso' is grim indeed. A chance error of Dante's perception of sin here or there and the treadmill of damnation-to-paradise is right there to snatch you. It's fun but it's not Christianity. John Ciardi's annotation makes this translation entertaining. You will wear out Wikipedia searching for the story of the devilishly tormented and transitionally divine characters. These are generally obscure folks of no otherwise historical note then to be mentioned by Dante. Hypocrisy reigns supreme and the fundamental answers to the great 'unknowns' of the faith are dreamed up by Dante Alighieri and rendered here by Ciardi. Enjoy the show!

This is a translation from the original, so it is in the original format of sorts. Very interesting and informative, but I want to get a good synopsis first. Like I was glad I saw the movie before reading DR ZHIVAGO.

Such a great classic piece comes with the best translation ever, and great notes which provide the meaning and the history of the poems after each cantos. Good read and nice meditation as well!

Not only does the translator explain his process, which I found fascinating, there are notes after each section to help put the language and events in historical context, which I really appreciate. Not a fast read, if you want to get the most out of it, but well worth the time.

Certain works of human imagination transcend genius. They stagger us, forcing us to marvel at how something so nuanced and transformative could spring from one mortal mind: Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA” - all examples of this lofty tier of creativity. Dante Alighieri’s THE DIVINE COMEDY, has earned its place in the empyrean. Yes, it really is worth reading. Even today. Even if you’re not a student. First, I should touch on the quality of translation in this edition, a fundamental aspect of any foreign work written 800 years ago. John Ciardi bends his English to match Dante’s ABA rhyme scheme. This is problematic, as he acknowledges at the beginning of the book. He admits that he sometimes couldn’t fit the rhyme, so he had to manipulate the phrasing and structure. Something has to be lost in this. Original meaning had to have been distorted in his quest for that ABA sequence. I don’t read Italian, so I can’t point to any specific examples of Ciardi straying obscenely from the original, but it stands to reason that it’s not as pure a translation as one would get if it were translated in blank verse instead of terza rima. That said, the ABA does have its charms: “Time and again at daybreak I have seen/the eastern sky glow with a wash of rose/while all the rest hung limpid and serene,/and the Sun’s face rises tempered from its rest/so veiled by vapors that the naked eye/could look at it for minutes undistressed.” Reading THE DIVINE COMEDY without footnotes would be like watching Dutch TV - you can mostly figure out what’s going on, but vital details would be lost. Ciardi’s footnotes are excellent. He clearly explains the extremely arcane reference within the poem and parses the complex fourteenth century theology that Dante delves into, especially in PARADISO. Even after the better part of a millennium, THE DIVINE COMEDY is a gripping read, with imagery so surreal, intense, and moving it has rarely been rivalled in world literature. It’s mind bending imagination mixed with profound philosophical contemplation with a gloss of unrequited human yearning. It’s the story of how to live life with virtue, even when sin and temptation endlessly besiege us. To echo Dante’s first line, THE DIVINE COMEDY is “our life’s journey.” Ciardi’s translation is an imperfect but good addition to the English language Dante catalogue.

I got this as a gift for my wife. It's a big book packed with three translations; The Inferno, The Pergatorio, and The Paradiso. It's a paperback which makes it a little easier to manage when reading since it has over 900 pages. I haven't personally seen any other versions, but this one seems to be very good.

I was introduced to Ciardi's translation of "The Divine Comedy" in an anthology of continental literature I read in college. At that time, after experiencing fragments of Fagles' horrible "verse" translation of Homer's works, I had low expectations for the translations in that anthology. However, the instant I started reading John Ciardi's verse translation of "The Inferno", my hardened heart once again began to beat with the vibrancy it had when I read poems of Wordsworth or Browning. John Ciardi, with a poetic talent that seems to be unmatched -- except for what I?ve read of W.S. Merwin's "Paradiso XXXIII," -- creates a poetic flow that feels, tastes, and even smells Italian. A poetic flow that delightfully contrasts Fagles', whose poetic flow is limited by popular styles and even phrases of the 20th century. Instead of trying to lift Dante to the 20th century, Ciardi gracefully carries us to the early 14th century. Instead of assuming that Dante is arcane, old fashioned, and in need of John's own poetic help, he believes that the original Italian is fresh, exciting, and poetically graceful. The translation of Dante would have been diluted if Ciardi were to try and bring the 14th century to us through the modernization of the language, symbolism, and even the geography of Dante's world. (Fagles even geographically modified his "Odyssey" at one point to rename a Greek river the Nile because readers may get 'confused'.) I?m glad that Ciardi tries to bring us back in time when the universe was cosmically full of life, where even the stars were more than the mere byproducts of abstract forces, chance, that can only be systematically analyzed and dissected. The medieval worldview is far richer than the purely logical and scientific mindset that?s now common. By bringing Dante to us unfiltered by that mindset, Ciardi helps move us towards the bright and vibrant medieval world. I strongly recommend John Ciardi's poetic translation of "The Divine Comedy," a lot is missed when reading only "The Inferno." The whole work is amazingly balanced.

Stoked it was gently used when I’m done. I will gently return it so it can be in someone else’s hands. Thank you for offering these options for ones a budget. Xo N. J.