The Divine Comedy Publisher: NAL Trade

by John Ciardi

The excellent translation of The Divine Comedy by poet John Ciardi.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction

Paperback

Published January 1, 2003

About the author

John Anthony Ciardi was an American poet, translator, editor, writer and etymologist.

Reviews

[Lindsey Reid · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good.

Literally a book from hell. Inferno was good but the rest was the most head up own ass thing I’ve ever read.

[Nicole Farison · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me 5 months! The first time I tried to read it without an annotated version but then I was recommended John Ciardi’s version. It probably took so long to read because it was so in-depth. I love the imagery in all three books. Inferno was jaw dropping at times. Purgatory had some dry places and Paradiso was the hardest to get through. I realized I don’t know my Italian history that well especially the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Roman Empire. The emphasis on astronomy was fascinating. They really paid attention to the night sky back then. I have a pretty good foundation in Greek mythology but definitely didn’t catch all the references. I definitely want to read the Aeneid. I did know the Bible references and there is a lot of that! I like how in Canto 2 of Paradiso Dante tells the reader not to continue if they don’t know it. “You other few who have set yourselves to eat the bread of angels,…you may trust your keel to the salt track and follow in the furrow of my wake…”

[Talulah Giacalone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great version of The Divine Comedy for beginners and expert alike. Contains a short overview at the beginning of each canto that helps to guide anyone not accustomed to Dante’s work, and annotations at the end of each canto that give relevant information for those looking more in depth into the story. Overall, the comedy itself was great, trailing Dante as he travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. The descriptions are vivid and the language beautiful, leading to an interesting view on faith and sin from his perspective. There are a few barriers to understanding Dante, with political, astrological, and biblical references being very specific, and with the language difference between modern speaking and the language of the book. But this version helps break them down in a way that broadens understanding considerably. I definitely recommend this version for anyone wanting to read these books.

[Jackson Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing story of a pilgrimage to Heaven, has incredible allegorical significance, mostly stating of divine love and divine revelation take us farther than human reason. The book is much to vast for me to explain it’s beautiful complexities in a review, I’d advise anyone interested to watch Michael Knowles lecture of Dante for context and to get a feel for the near perfect work.