Ethan's review
The Inferno of Dante: A New Verse Translation, Bilingual Edition - translated by Robert Pinsky by Dante Alighieri
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 intimidated going in, I found that the translation was very readable and engaging. The footnotes were great for bringing me up to speed on medeival politics and theology, as well as the personal histories of everyone involved. It would have been handy if the notes were on the page with the poetry, rather than included as endnotes, but it's a small quibble.
I really enjoyed it, particularly because the notes connected a lot of the action in the poem to what was going on at the time in Florence, in Dante...more
I really enjoyed it, particularly because the notes connected a lot of the action in the poem to what was going on at the time in Florence, in Dante...more
