The Inferno of Dante: A New Verse Translation, Bilingual Edition - translated by Robert Pinsky
by Dante Alighieri, Robert Pinsky (translator)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 4547)
Read in January, 2008
As though I could really give Dante anything but five stars? Seriously, The Inferno in general and this edition in particular is a great read. Anthony Esolen does a great job of not only placing the book in its historical context (almost anyone who can write numbers can do that), but also of helping the reader to appreciate and to almost step inside of the world-view held by Dante himself. This is accomplished both through the use of copious informative endnotes and through the inclusion at t...more
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Read in August, 2007
Clearly my rating is more about my subjective reaction to the book than an attempt at an overall critical appraisal, because really, who am I to judge an undisputed classic? ("That Dante guy, he's awright, I'd give'em four outta five!"). This belongs to the section of books on my shelf that I technically "read" in college but that I actually wanted to really read at a later date. As someone who's not terribly familiar with medeival epic poetry and who felt a little intimidate...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
seducers, panderers, flatterers, hypocrites, thieves, murderers, counterfeiters, and the like
So I finally read The Inferno. It gets four stars due to its epic scope and talent. It wasn't boring, but any book like this is a struggle when taken out of the classroom setting and left up to its own presentation. Thankfully I read a good Barnes & Noble Classics version that had introductory segments and, more importantly, a thorough endnotes section that explains details and expounds upon Longfellow's translation.
I can see why the series (of which The Inferno is just the first part...more
I can see why the series (of which The Inferno is just the first part...more
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recommends it for:
Blasphemers, Heretics, Suicides, Murderers, Gluttons, Hypocrites, Theives, and the like
Yes, I understand that this book is practically the classic of classics, but before you begin an angry tirade at my two-star rating understand that this is simply a reflection of my personal beliefs and not necessarily the artistic quality of the poetry. Poetry is too hard for me to judge...
Anyway, I find Dante's extremist views of what is considered right and wrong, regardless of his time period, to be absolutely absurd. Admittedly, I enjoyed discovering the punishments of the condemned an...more
Anyway, I find Dante's extremist views of what is considered right and wrong, regardless of his time period, to be absolutely absurd. Admittedly, I enjoyed discovering the punishments of the condemned an...more
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Read in June, 2008
I read this as part of my effort to educate myself as I attempt to educate my children. I know so little of the history of the Catholic church and it's tenets that it was very eye opening. I learned a lot on those subjects but I also enjoyed his writing. It was very personal and political. I learned a lot about him and it made me want to have a conversation with him. He obviously was a true Renaissance man, a lover of Classic Greek and Roman literature and personalities and philosophies. He give...more
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As one of the book read in Global Literature class, this book is truly an entertainer!With a complex language, setting, and story, it was difficult to comprehend, and read. However after discussing the story with my groupmates and classmates, I understand the story pretty well.
The protagonist of the story is Dante and it is a story about him and his companion, his guide named Virgil, who travels through the circles of hell. As they travel through hell, there are 10 circles in hell, in each ...more
The protagonist of the story is Dante and it is a story about him and his companion, his guide named Virgil, who travels through the circles of hell. As they travel through hell, there are 10 circles in hell, in each ...more
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If you'd asked me recently about this book I'd have told you that I read it years ago, over twenty, in fact, and that it was tops.
I still think it is tops, but I must never have finished it. I'd no idea Judas became a popsicle forever being eaten by a weeping devil.
Some of the images just stay with you for days and days. I think I've always loved the image of people swirling around and bashing into each other. If this is thought of as a metaphor, rather than literally true, then this ...more
I still think it is tops, but I must never have finished it. I'd no idea Judas became a popsicle forever being eaten by a weeping devil.
Some of the images just stay with you for days and days. I think I've always loved the image of people swirling around and bashing into each other. If this is thought of as a metaphor, rather than literally true, then this ...more
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The Inferno of Dante: Melting Away the Phoenician Way
I left this copy in the car during the summer in between stops and the extreme, if not infernal, Arizonan Sonoran desert heat had melted away the book's binding by the time I returned. Lots of loose pages to say the least.
Later I attended Robert Pinsky's poetry reading at ASU main campus. The place was packed. The reading rocked like jazz. Afterwards, as I approached him in that long line, I thought about what to say. I explained the ...more
I left this copy in the car during the summer in between stops and the extreme, if not infernal, Arizonan Sonoran desert heat had melted away the book's binding by the time I returned. Lots of loose pages to say the least.
Later I attended Robert Pinsky's poetry reading at ASU main campus. The place was packed. The reading rocked like jazz. Afterwards, as I approached him in that long line, I thought about what to say. I explained the ...more
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Read in November, 2005
This book, apparently, is the foundation of the belief about the nature and content of Hell for the last 700 years. Take Roman mythology, Catholic dogma, and Dante's personal beliefs, put the three of them in a idea blender, and you get Dante's Hell. I loved the disgusting, and sometimes gory descriptions of the punishments. I like the 'levels' or different severities of sins/punishments. I really liked some of the clevel tricks being played from a poetical standpoint. The real problems with thi...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
televangelists
A classic that remains interesting thanks to the multitude of old school gore that Dante flings upon his readers, grossing us out and intriguing us more each bolgia he encounters. I think my favorite descriptives are probably a toss-up between the gluttonous in Circle 3 (still permanently have the image of the guy who literally explodes in the film 'Seven' in the back of my mind) and the Heretics in Circle 6, who are basically semi-permanent zombies in a graveyard until 'Judgement Day.'
Noth...more
Noth...more
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Read in January, 2008
It is beautifully written, don't get me wrong, and Dante has a knack for accurately (I assume) depicting humans in the most desperate conditions of torment and despair. But the problem I have with all of this is that he speaks over and over about God's justice and to me none of this pain seems just. Indeed, it seems to me that the only thing that would justify an ETERNITY of the most intense and brutal torture would be an ETERNITY of the darkest and most sinister evil. But these people that they...more
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Read in May, 2008
The Inferno was a story about a man named Dante Alighlieri who venture through hell and wish to reach heaven to meet with his love Beatrice. On his way through a forest a soul named Virgil who is a famous Roman poet ask to guide him. It was predicted that Virgil was sent by Beatrice to guide Dante. They went through nine circles of hell to reach a three head monster which helped them to get closer to heaven. During all the circles Dante saw a lot of hatreds and evilness. Most of the evil peo...more
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Read in April, 1981
recommends it for:
Anybody with a soul.
This is the translation by John Ciardi. It is supple and enjoyable. Marvelous diagrams of Hell accompany this. They resemble the Broadway seating charts in STUBBS.
I read this in college and it may be the only thing I read in college which I felt completely comfortable with. This is not a difficult book at all. And yet it's a work of genius.
John Ciardi kept a vernacular flavor, which was important because Dante wrote in Italian instead of in the language all Italian writers who got anywhere u...more
I read this in college and it may be the only thing I read in college which I felt completely comfortable with. This is not a difficult book at all. And yet it's a work of genius.
John Ciardi kept a vernacular flavor, which was important because Dante wrote in Italian instead of in the language all Italian writers who got anywhere u...more
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Read in January, 2008
a re-read, and a slight disappointement given astronomical expectations. i had forgotten the depth and detail of the political payback involved in the characters and placement of same in hell. and with the intrigues of 14th century florentine politics no longer in my grasp, there were just too many "whozzat?" moments. and i got a bit weary of looking them up. hollander's verse translation is eminently readable and powerful. the imagery is often compleling. no more so than the fin...more
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Am only through Canto IV so far -- however, am enjoying this immensely -- especially because the first time I read the Inferno I wasn't entirely present.
It's especially fun to see the other figures show up -- my favorite so far is Virgil and Dante's trip through Limbo when they see all the philosophers (Plato, Seneca, etc.) hanging together in a little group -- and then Homer, Ovid, and the rest of the poet boys start walking with them -- until the river where Charon is hanging out in the ro...more
It's especially fun to see the other figures show up -- my favorite so far is Virgil and Dante's trip through Limbo when they see all the philosophers (Plato, Seneca, etc.) hanging together in a little group -- and then Homer, Ovid, and the rest of the poet boys start walking with them -- until the river where Charon is hanging out in the ro...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
everyone
Simply awesome. I read through this book twice. I found myself re-reading every chapter not because I didn't understand (the notes in the back help with understanding Dante's political rantings), but because I was in awe of the way each canto provided unique horrors. I recommend reading the notes in the back as you go so you can really appreciate how Dante places his political enemies in the different circles of hell. Loved this book. Again, Italian is on the opposite page so you can examine it ...more
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Read in June, 2005
recommends it for:
Sort of
The value of this book is not in the story, but as a window into Dante's thought and life. The bolgas of hell and the views he sees were most likely believed and new in the day they were written, but are contrived, fantastic, and overly poetic today.
What is most interesting is the order in which he arranges the bolgas, based on his grievances against others in his day. For instance, corrupt bankers are placed far lower in hell than murderers, adulterers, and the violently-inclined. He pla...more
What is most interesting is the order in which he arranges the bolgas, based on his grievances against others in his day. For instance, corrupt bankers are placed far lower in hell than murderers, adulterers, and the violently-inclined. He pla...more
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Read in March, 2004
I read this book after writing an essay in comparative mythology where I was comparing parts of the Mayan Popul Vuh to parts of the Greco-Roman mythology with sprinklings of comparison to Christianity. I had gotten a high A on the essay, but the only note in the margins left by the professor pointed me to Dante's Inferno, which I had never read.
In the middle of reading it, I realized how absolutely correct the professor was and saw a great deal of potential value the allusions could have ma...more
In the middle of reading it, I realized how absolutely correct the professor was and saw a great deal of potential value the allusions could have ma...more
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This is an impressive work. To set about creating hell, peopling it with great figures from history and mythology, adding a dose of recently departed contemporary "celebrities," punishing each one of them as befits the crime... that's no small task. It's a formidable creative effort, and I admire it.
It's difficult to talk about this one without dropping into a theological discussion. I don’t believe in hell; moreover, I think believing in hell causes humanity much strife. So I wi...more
It's difficult to talk about this one without dropping into a theological discussion. I don’t believe in hell; moreover, I think believing in hell causes humanity much strife. So I wi...more
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Read in January, 1998
Boy there must have been a lot of pissed off people in Italy when this book was released. Dante systematically slams all kinds of cultural and political figures by placing them in the different levels of hell based on what he considers to be their sins. The pettiness of it made me reluctant to take the story seriously, I wonder about the writing process and who made the cut to be portrayed in hell, and what personal grievances went onto those decisions. This series of subplots dominates the book...more
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