Dante's Divine Comedy: As Told for Young People

by Dante Alighieri Joseph Tusiani, Dante Alighieri

This is a retelling of Dante's Divine Comedy written especially for young people by poet, novelist and translator Joseph Tusiani. The author combines summary, paraphrase and Dante's own lines translated into English verse to tell a timeless story of sin and salvation.

160 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2001

Reviews

[JaNel · Rating 4 out of 5]

😂 5th Circle for the...GLOOMY or, should we say, moody teenagers?. “Who with their ever gloomy disposition make life miserable to themselves and those around them...do even here what they used to do on earth.…they sigh and sob, with their laments, make the water bubble...” I’m sure there was eye-rolling and whining as well.

😂 The Angel of Heaven (waving his hand in front of his face cause it was groooossss) having to come down City of Dis and “verify” Virgil’s password. “Don’t make me come down here again..!”

Virgil, like a BOSS...
“Master of the situation...
“Striking on his clutching hand, pushes him away from the boat”
”bravely steps up to the gate”
Tells Dante to close his eyes while he makes a quick call to heaven for backup when his password no longer works.

Great “plot summary” introduction to the real thing. I suggest reading with Gustave “Doré’s Illustrations for Dante’s Divine Comedy”.

[Christy Kellner · Rating 5 out of 5]

My young son asked about heaven, hell, and purgatory and I thought, let's go to the master. My son and I enjoyed this version. I skipped/censored over some of the lower circles of Hell so as not to induce nightmares and I was surprised by how much he comprehended. I hope he picks this version up again and reads it on his own in his tween years and to hope he reads the real version in his teens.

[Eric Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joseph Tusiani's prose translation of The Divine Comedy provides a accessible read to Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Tusiani takes some helpful liberties with the text, moving away from cantos into somewhat larger chapters, providing context and explanation to the persons and events taking place, and condensing some of the complexities of the text (such as not listing every single person Dante comes into contact with). I would gauge the text to a eight or ninth grade reading level, and was able to read it to my ten year old child without too many difficulties explaining difficult terms. Tusiani is intentional in treating this work as a devotional read, which for a non-religious or non-Christian reader may be a bit off putting, but I found to be enjoyable. I also read this before reading a more formal poetic translation of The Divine Comedy, and found having this as a primer especially helpful. The Divine Comedy is a rich story everyone should read, and this provides a path to it.

[Vida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book was written for young people, I found it a challenge. There are all the levels of hell, purgatory and heaven and also all the many Greeks and Italians to sort through. I spent a lot of time looking up the people mentioned so I could understand who Dante was talking about. It was nice that Tusiani translated some of the original poetry and included it in his writing.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the different feeling in each section. Hell was horrible and disgusting, purgatory was so much better, and heaven was full of light and warmth and beauty. I think this book was definitely inspired.

[grllopez ~ with freedom and books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to my 7-, 8-, and 11-year olds, and they enjoyed it tremendously. Great introduction to Dante's Divine Comedy for young children.

[Lea]

I need to read it again.