Questions About Orlando Furioso

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Orlando Furioso, please sign up.

Answered Questions (1)

Which English translation is recommended?

Jabba If you want to read it in prose, you're probably going to want the one by Guido Waldman; the one by Allan H. Gilbert is less embroidered, but much har…moreIf you want to read it in prose, you're probably going to want the one by Guido Waldman; the one by Allan H. Gilbert is less embroidered, but much harder to find and not laid out for consecutive reading. (Use the ebook for Waldman, unless you relish extremely tiny print.) For verse, the one by Barbara Reynolds is the decisive choice, though if you love Elizabethan literature you should also look at the one by Sir John Harington. Reynolds also offers plenty of editorial apparatus helpful to newcomers, or at least newcomers who like plenty of apparatus (and if you don't like it, you can ignore it) .

The best BARGAIN among translations is the new (2022) verse translation by A. S. Kline. Often though not always the equal of Reynolds, Kline's is also the first and only English translation to include Gustave Dore's complete illustrations for the poem, and all for the meager price of only $4 for the ebook or $20 for the magnificent paperback! Well worth it even if you only want to look at the pictures, and ideal if you want to let the pictures lure you into sampling, and then immersing yourself in, the poem itself.(less)

flag

Unanswered Questions

About Goodreads Q&A

Ask and answer questions about books!

You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.

See Featured Authors Answering Questions

Learn more