The Divine Comedy (Dodo Press) [Paperback]

Dante Aligheiri (Author), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2005

Large format paper back for easy reading. Dante's epic and controversial poem describing a journey through hell, purgatory and paradise.

Product Details

• Paperback: 520 pages
• Publisher: Dodo Press (June 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 190543202X
• ISBN-13: 978-1905432028
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,487,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dante Alighieri was born in 1265 in Florence. His family, of minor nobility, was not wealthy nor especially distinguished; his mother died when he was a child, his father before 1283. At about the age of 20 he married Gemma Donati, by whom he had three children. Little is known of Dante's formal education-it is likely to have included study with the Dominicans, the Augustinians, and the Franciscans in Florence, and at the university in Bologna. In 1295 he entered Florentine politics and in the summer of 1300 he became one of the six governing Priors of Florence. In 1301, the political situation forced Dante and his party into exile. For the rest of his life he wandered through Italy, perhaps studied at Paris, while depending for refuge on the generosity of various nobles. He continued to write and at some point late in life he took asylum in Ravenna where he completed the Divine Commedia and died, much honoured, in 1321.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great classic, but Kindle edition not as promised, July 3, 2011

By 

Rosie Perera (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Divine Comedy (Kindle Edition)

The Kindle store said, "This is an electronic edition of the complete book complemented by author biography. This book features the table of contents linked to every part and canto." Both statements turned out to be partially false. Yes, the complete Divine Comedy is included, but no bigraphy of Dante. And the table of contents included is virtually useless, because it is not linked. Nevertheless, Longfellow's is a good old translation, reads like poetry (as one might expect from a poet!), and is well worth the $0.95 price.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Translation of a Great Work, June 8, 2011

By 

JSmalls - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Divine Comedy (Hardcover)

Like all classics -- the parts that are really good as as good as anything ever written while the parts that are bad are plain forgettable. This book is beautifully written and structured and contains so many powerful scenes that it is easy to see why it stands the test of time.