Inferno (Modern Library Series) - English translation (Hardcover)

~ Dante (Author), (Translator) "Midway in his allotted threescore years and ten, Dante comes to himself with a start and realizes that he has strayed from the True Way..." (more)
Key Phrases: seventh circle, three beasts, boiling blood, Circle Eight, Eighth Circle, Master Adam (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Modern Library (October 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679602097
• ISBN-13: 978-0679602095
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #743,183 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ciardi's translation is truly striking, August 28, 2004

By	Lalinda (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

Ciardi's translation of Dante's Inferno is one of the very best. Its major strength is the intensity and power of its language. Although the translation is now more than fifty years old, it remains fresh, unencumbered by archaisms. Ciardi is a poet and it shows. I found myself more stunned by the horrors of hell in this translation than any other I've seen. Chills ran down my spine as I read about Count Ugolino encased in the ice.

This edition includes a plot summary before each canto, and footnotes telling you which dead Florentine did what after each canto. For the first-time reader, these are truly helpful -- indeed, essential.

Unlike most translators who completely abandon the idea of making Dante rhyme in English, Ciardi preserves a partial rhyme scheme. The first and third lines of each tercet rhyme, while the middle rhyme is dropped. While Ciardi's translation is reasonably faithful to the original, he had to take minor liberties with the text to make it rhyme. The excellent Musa and Hollander translations are more literal and straightforward, and the Hollander version comes in a handy bilingual edition if you want to try your hand at reading Dante's incredible Italian. Still, the best poetic translation of the Inferno in English remains Ciardi's.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best translation I've encountered, July 25, 2001

By	Corey Graham "cgraham86" (Seattle, Washington United States) - See all my reviews

Absolutely excellent. Ciardi's description of the Canto, and the actual translated text followed by his notes helped me disect and understand Inferno better than anyone's translation to date.

There are suppositions, where Ciardi does his best to determine or even guess what Dante's intentions where with phrases and descriptions. This is not by any means a negative attribute of his efforts. Any speculation is clearly stated, and determined using history, Greek mythology, and Dante's political entanglements at the time of his writings.

This is a copy worth collecting. Too bad Random House has discontinued both Pergatorio and Paradisio in hard cover though...hard to find.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ciardi's the Best, August 23, 1998

By	Ryan Harvey "Wolf Shadow" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

There's no doubt about it...Ciardi's is the best translation of the haunting and powerful poem about the medieval view of God's divine plan. Ciardi dumps archaisms and goes for the throat of Dante's poetry and meaning. You'll never touch another translation after you read this!