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The Divine Comedy

(La Divina Commedia #1-3)

Dante Alighieri,

Allen Mandelbaum (Translator),

Eugenio Montale (Introduction)

4.04 · Rating details · 133,350 ratings · 4,397 reviews

The Divine Comedy describes Dante's descent into Hell with Virgil as a guide; his ascent of Mount Purgatory and encounter with his dead love, Beatrice; and finally, his arrival in Heaven. Examining questions of faith, desire and enlightenment, the poem is a brilliantly nuanced and moving allegory of human redemption.

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in 1265 and belonge ...more

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Hardcover, 798 pages

Published August 1st 1995 by Everyman's Library (first published 1320)

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Anyone have an opinion as to what is the best English translation? I bought a volume of the Cary translation (still in the mail) which I realize is written in archaic English, but it might be nice to have a more modern version as well.

Joo Hani I've read a few and can now say that the Robert Durling and Ronald Martinez version is the authoritative Divine Comedy.

The facing Italian / English, …moreI've read a few and can now say that the Robert Durling and Ronald Martinez version is the authoritative Divine Comedy.

The facing Italian / English, the endnotes, the inter cantica essays - everything about it helps you to understand the Comedy in a way that is never overbearing or intimidating. (less)

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Longfellow's translation is not the easiest or fluent translation of Dante but it provides the most gratifying and poetic version I ever encountered. This edition will take a while for me to finish but life is about the journey not the finish. What are your thoughts Goodreads? What english translation do you like and why?

Leon Stephens The most important thing to know is that all translations are bad in comparison with the original, so the best thing is to study Italian. Failing that…moreThe most important thing to know is that all translations are bad in comparison with the original, so the best thing is to study Italian. Failing that, I would recommend mine as the least bad. It's bilingual, in three volumes, available at www.lulu.com/spotlight/pluramon. It took me 36 years to complete it. To read a sample, click on the title and then on the word Preview under the enlarged cover photo that will then appear. (less)

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Oct 07, 2016 Ladislav rated it liked it

Veľmi svojské dielo, ale vydržal som do konca.

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About Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri

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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 comic 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 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 comic 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. ...more