Inferno (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)

~ Dante (Author), (Illustrator), Anthony Esolen (Translator)
Key Phrases: seventh circle, ninth circle, eighth circle, Saint Peter

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

If a recent spate of new translations is any evidence, Dante remains as popular as ever with the general reading public. Durling's new verse translation of the Inferno joins recent versions by Robert Pinsky (LJ 1/93) and Mark Musa (LJ 3/1/95). While Durling's translation (with Italian on the facing page) does not use Dante's rhyme or line divisions, it captures the metrical rhythm of the original. Similarly, his rendering of Dante's diction is literal and accurate, conveying the tone and feel while remaining accessible. Supplemented with an introduction, useful notes, and appendixes, this version, soon to be joined by Purgatorio and Paradiso, can be recommended to the general reader. In a new reader's guide to the Divine Comedy, Gallagher, a Catholic priest as well as a poet and scholar, presents the Comedy canto by canto in a series of mini-essays that discuss content, themes, characters, major allusions, and religious doctrines, particularly from the perspective of Dante as a Christian. For a more scholarly commentary on Dante's language and sources, one should still consult Charles Singleton's translation (The Divine Comedy, 6 vols., Princeton Univ., 1970-75); nevertheless, Gallagher's thorough, lucid, and accessible guide is a good starting point for the general reader.?Thomas L. Cooksey, Armstrong State Coll., Savannah, Ga.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

This new blank verse translation of the first ``Canticle'' of Dante's 14th-century masterpiece compares interestingly with some of the recent English versions by American poets, though it suffers particularly by comparison with Allen Mandelbaum's graceful blank verse one. Its aim to provide ``a clear, readable English version . . . that nevertheless retains some of the poetry of the original'' is only imperfectly fulfilled, owing partly to moments of unimaginative informality (``In Germany, where people drink a lot''), though these are intermittently redeemed by simple sublimity (``Night now revealed to us the southern stars,/While bright Polaris dropped beneath the waves./It never rose again from ocean's floor''). Translator Zappulla, an American Dante scholar and teacher, offers helpful historical and biographical information in an Introduction and exhaustive Notes following each of the poem's 34 ``Cantos.'' Readers new to Dante may find his plainspoken version eminently satisfying; those who know the poem well may be disappointed by it. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Modern Library; New edition (December 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812970063
• ISBN-13: 978-0812970067
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (111 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #140,549 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Journey to deep down under, April 6, 2000

By	Shirley Li (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Inferno (Paperback)

Don't read Dante for his fame, don't judge The Inferno for its subject. Instead, savor Dante's overpowering language that is cleverly winded around one of life's most daunting matter-Hell. Pervaded with vivid and often gruesome imageries, Inferno captures the very essence of suffering through Dante's unqiue understanding of religion with a blend of paganism and christianity. Also it's a thrilling ride down the underworld to be met by history's greatest souls. The notes before every Canto is crucially helpful in helping readers keeping up with ancient historical references. And feeling yourself penetrating the Nine Circles of Hell in the company of Dante and Vergil, you will surely catch a rare taste of the living value as Vergil guides curious eyes down a path where judgment befalls every single flaw of human nature. Perhaps, just perhaps you will attain a better sense of your existence once matched against the standards of Nine Circles designed for different sins. I call that a gripping journey.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cream of The Crop, December 15, 2002

By	Vijay Singh - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Inferno (Signet Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

First let me say that i am 13 years old; however, my favorite thing to do is to sit down with a good book and read for a good 2 to 5 hours. I have read books like For Whom The Bell Tolls and To Kill A Mockingbird. I heard about the inferno from one of my teachers who said that I should read it when I get to college or to my seinor year in high school. Well I didn't want to wait that long so I came to this site and purchased this book. It changed my life, never before have I read anything like it. When I finished this book I went and read other translations of it. However, this one was by far the best. It captured every aspect of Dante's genious writing and put it into american coming the closest to the real version as possible. Notes also help to decipher and understand Dante's masterpiece. I would recommend this book to anyone who can read.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful prose version of Dante's extraordinary poem, December 26, 1997

By	[e-mail] (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Volume 1: Inferno (Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri Vol. 1) (Hardcover)

I feel so enthusiastic about this book that I want to tell everybody about it. This translation is unrhymed; it is in prose; and it follow's Dante's syntax and meaning closely. If you know a little Italian, you can use the text (it is a bilingual edition) as a crib to read Dante in the original, which is a tremendously moving experience. Dante's Hell is full of striking characters who still feel the passions they experienced during their life in history; only now their identity is even more sharply defined because they are living in eternity. The narrator travelling through Hell, guided by Virgil, is filled with fear, pity and anguish. Dante's writing is extraordinarily beautiful and supple.