Dante's Divine Comedy In Plain and Simple English

by Dante Alighieri, BookCaps (Translator)

Taking a literary journey through hell certainly sounds intriguing enough--and it is! If you can understand it! If you don't understand it, then you are not alone. If you have struggled in the past reading the ancient classic, then BookCaps can help you out. This book is a modern translation with a fresh spin. The original text is also presented in the book, along with a comparable version of the modern text. We all need refreshers every now and then. Whether you are a student trying to cram for that big final, or someone just trying to understand a book more, BookCaps can help. We are a small, but growing company, and are adding titles every month.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Poetry

1408 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 26, 2013

About the author

Dante Alighieri, or simply Dante (May 14/June 13 1265 – September 13/14, 1321), is one of the greatest poets in the Italian language; with the story-teller, Boccaccio, and the poet, Petrarch, he forms the classic trio of Italian authors. Dante Alighieri was born in the city-state Florence in 1265. He first saw the woman, or rather the child, who was to become the poetic love of his life when he was almost nine years old and she was some months younger. In fact, Beatrice married another man, Simone di' Bardi, and died when Dante was 25, so their relationship existed almost entirely in Dante's imagination, but she nonetheless plays an extremely important role in his poetry. Dante attributed all the heavenly virtues to her soul and imagined, in his masterpiece The Divine Comedy, that she was his guardian angel who alternately berated and encouraged him on his search for salvation.

Politics as well as love deeply influenced Dante's literary and emotional life. Renaissance Florence was a thriving, but not a peaceful city: different opposing factions continually struggled for dominance there. The Guelfs and the Ghibellines were the two major factions, and in fact that division was important in all of Italy and other countries as well. The Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor were political rivals for much of this time period, and in general the Guelfs were in favor of the Pope, while the Ghibellines supported Imperial power. By 1289 in the battle of Campaldino the Ghibellines largely disappeared from Florence. Peace, however, did not insue. Instead, the Guelf party divided between the Whites and the Blacks (Dante was a White Guelf). The Whites were more opposed to Papal power than the Blacks, and tended to favor the emperor, so in fact the preoccupations of the White Guelfs were much like those of the defeated Ghibellines. In this divisive atmosphere Dante rose to a position of leadership. in 1302, while he was in Rome on a diplomatic mission to the Pope, the Blacks in Florence seized power with the help of the French (and pro-Pope) Charles of Valois. The Blacks exiled Dante, confiscating his goods and condemning him to be burned if he should return to Florence.

Dante never returned to Florence. He wandered from city to city, depending on noble patrons there. Between 1302 and 1304 some attempts were made by the exiled Whites to retrieve their position in Florence, but none of these succeeded and Dante contented himself with hoping for the appearance of a new powerful Holy Roman Emperor who would unite the country and banish strife. Henry VII was elected Emperor in 1308, and indeed laid seige to Florence in 1312, but was defeated, and he died a year later, destroying Dante's hopes. Dante passed from court to court, writing passionate political and moral epistles and finishing his Divine Comedy, which contains the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. He finally died in Ravenna in 1321.

Reviews

[Karen Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been over twenty-five years since I last looked at Dante’s poetic work, Inferno. In order to revisit it, I turned to the “plain English” version and absolutely loved it, though missed, at times, the poesy of more authentic translations and the way they mimic the arduousness and emotional complexity of Dante’s journey through hell.

Laced with gruesome descriptions of tormented souls, lashings of politics and references to historical figures, Dante’s journey through the twenty-four circles of hell, guided by his mentor or “leader” as he most often refers to him, the poet, Virgil, is amazing. Sometimes funny, other times ironic and even playful as well as soulful and always passionate, the reader accompanies the living Dante and his dead companion, seeing what occurs in this imagined space and how those who offend God and the living pay for their sins once dead.

Have just commenced Purgatorio, but this time with a more accurate translation as well as the plain. Would be a bit concerned about recommending this for other readers (unless they have read say Clive James wonderful version or another and just want a quick reminder of the tale rather than losing themselves in the rich language) as too much is lost once the beautiful structure and thus Dante’s intention, is changed.

[Suellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translation by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow

[Randall Kidder · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book gives you very little information. As one person indicated in a review, the translation is by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882). It is not the "original" version like the book mentions. The first full English translation was by Henry Boyd (1785-1802). The translator(s) of the more modern version in this book are not named. In my copy the versions are in black type in parallel columns, Longfellow's on the left. For some bizarre reason the publishers unnecessarily put the "easier" translation in dark gray blocks, so it's an eyestrain to read. There is plenty of space between the columns so I see no reason for the dark gray blocks, especially since I think more people would be interested in the updated text.
The verses are not numbered counting by threes, fives or tens (or even randomly) as in other translations for cross-referencing. The hardbound Longfellow edition I have is numbered every fifth verse, each Canto restarting with "1."
Longfellow kept the three-line stanza form but without the rhyme but kept to various poetic rhythms. (No English translator has been able to duplicate Dante's terza-rima rhyme scheme that I know of. In this book there are one-line stanzas up to eight, and they jumbled up Longfellow's tertiary scheme. The "easy" version is basically prose in a semi poetic format.
Coffee-table 8½x11 size. Kind of a flimsy cover for an oversized paperback. It could have stood some human proof-reading as there are some typographical errors.
There are no notes or explanations of the many many many person and place names mentioned.
It's ok, but if a person wants to dive into "The Comedy" for the first time, I'd recommend Clive James for a modern version (no distracting notes or footnotes). Translations with helpful explanations could be Allen Mandelbaum - but the profuse notes are in the back of the book, almost worth a
, Steve Ellis (wonderful notes and brief background), John Ciardi, and Carlyle-Okey-Wickstead' prose version (unnumbered lines), John Sinclair also has a very readable prose version. It has the Italian as well. The Italian lines are numbered but not the English.
I was disappointed in this book.
It all comes down to personal preference.

[R. Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

This version of Dante's Divine Comedy is translated in both old English and Modern English with the old English verses written right above the Modern English Verse and that makes it much easier to read compare the two different translations. The book contains all three books of the Devine Comedy, Inferno consisting of34 Cantos & Purgatory which has 33 Cantos plus it contains Paradise which has another 33 cantos.

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent help with understanding this very difficult read.