The Inferno (AmazonClassics Edition)

I highly recommend this translation of Dante's Inferno. For many years, Ciardi's translation has been the standard and it has much to recommend it. But Ciardi's rhymed stanzas are looser, wordier, and less faithful to the original than Thornton's blank verse. Thornton brings us closer to what Dante wrote. And the excellent notes at the end of each canto help bring this masterpiece to life for a modern reader.

With decades of study and meticulous craftsmanship, Dr. Peter Thornton has offered his translation of “The Inferno.” I do not know Italian, but I have read a couple of other translations of “The Inferno,” and I found this one the best for several reasons. First, the poetry is vivid. I felt like orange flames and the stench of Sulphur were my companions as much as were Dante and Virgil.The verse itself is a second reason I liked this translation. The meter – iambic pentameter, the ordinary meter of the English language – does not intrude into the poetry itself. That is, I wasn’t conscious of stretching of words or awkward diction for the sake of the meter.You can enjoy the translation without bothering to read the footnotes, but once you start, you are off on another journey, equally absorbing – this one through contemporary (to Dante) Florentine history, Christian metaphors and allusions, Roman legend and mythology, and Catholic scholars from Augustine on.Read the translation; savor the footnotes. There’s always room for a fresh version of hell.

THANK YOU !! I've been trying to expose my kids to more of the classics. But every translation of the Divine Comedy I've come across has been so difficult that I couldn't even get through Hell (felt like hell trying to read it). UNTIL NOW !!! Thank you Mr. Douglas Neff for this translation. It keeps all the flavor, tension, and character; and stays true to the original story. Reading this translation, I find myself more absorbed and engaged in trying to understand what Dante was trying to get across, and why he picked certain persons for certain levels, and doing research into some of the people, places, vices, etc. that he talks about, instead of spending hours trying to decipher the actual language of the translation. My 7 year old is totally engaged, while at the same time, my 15 year old and I are getting into some very interesting discussions (Dante put Pope Celestine V with those souls who neither heaven nor hell want, because he resigned as Pope . . . I wonder what that means for old former pope Benedict XVI / cardinal Ratzinger who just did the same thing). And none of us are getting ground down by having to stop and try and translate the language.I cannot encourage you strongly enough to get this book. You will not be disappointed. I'm now trying to find a comparable translation of Purgatory and Paradise so we can complete the story.

This masterpiece of medieval poetry is offered in an English verse translation from the mid-19th century. This matters because rendering Italian verse into English verse forces the translator into all sorts of contortions -- including using unusual and archaic words, changing the logical order of words in sentences, etc., in order to keep rhymes and prosody -- in addition to the use of words that were common in English 150 years ago but aren't anymore. This makes it quite hard to read. At the same time, there is a sense that this translation gets closer to the original complexity of the language -- a modern Italian speaker might find the same problems in the original from 700 years ago! The abundant footnotes are crucial to understanding the references Dante makes to his contemporaries, and the backstory of why they are now in hell. Without those, the text would often be impenetrable. Overall, this book is a double tour de force -- by author and translator. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because there must be easier to understand translations around, either more recent or less burdened by the demands of verse.

Peter Thornton's verse translation of the first book of the Divine Commedy, The Inferno, is certainly readable. To the extent that that was an (the?) intention it succeeds.I think for a general reader who just wants to know why The Inferno has remained influential this will serve them well. There are plenty of contextualizing notes, a must for just about any translation, which will make understanding why certain people are where they are comprehensible to a contemporary reader.For study purposes I have my doubts but I have my own favorite translations so am doing more of a comparison than simply an isolated assessment. First, my preferred verse translation is still Ciardi's version (plus, if for study purposes, he translated all of the Comedy not just one book so you don't have to change translations when you leave the Inferno). Part of my favoritism here is likely because it was the third version I had read and the first with a professor who made it come alive for me, so I do want to acknowledge that. Part of it for me is how the translators try to solve the issue of form. Some compromise is necessary to make an English translation and I am not sure there is a right vs a wrong way, they will all fall well short of Dante in Italian. I just think that wrestling with a form closer to Dante's helps students to slow down and do a better close reading while making it too easy to read turns Dante's work into simply a story that can be read quickly and easily. Again, this is personal opinion and preference. The necessary notes will keep the work from being read like a contemporary novel and could, with the right effort from an instructor, keep the reading close. I just have a hard time imagining The Inferno as an easy read and hope not to see this type of translation of Purgatorio or Paradiso since those should be more difficult to grasp in keeping with Dante's apparent intentions.I would certainly recommend this to general readers who just want to read it and maybe for high school classes that want to get through it with just a few areas of closer reading. I would also recommend instructors look at it and decide if this translation would serve their purposes for what they hope to achieve in their courses. It is a good translation even though I would personally choose not to use it.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss.

Pinsky's translation really brought the Inferno to life for me. Having been disapponted with Sisson's translation (OUP), I was hooked with Pinsky's: I found the power, tangibility and (relative) clarity I was hoping for. When it comes to notes, however, Mark Musa's (Penguin) are preferrable. After having read Pinsky's Inferno, I obviously had to read the rest of the Comedy. I found two wonderful translations, in Merwin (Purgatorio) and Musa (Paradise). As Indicated I find the latter's notes to be unsurpassed troughout The Divine Comedy.Although the Comedy (naturally) contains scholastic elements, the poem's originality, coupled with its existential dimension, make sure The Divine Comedy still resonates.

This is a review of the hardcover illustrated Classic Edition of Dante's Inferno published by Barnes & Noble 2018 (Fall River Press)Buy this for its 70 superb and beautifully reproduced illustrations, even if Longfellow's translation with its archaic flourishes is not your cup of tea. For a modern English translation also buy the Penguin version by Musa with its extensive notes.

I could hardly believe how awful this was! Looks like it was put together by someone who knows nothing about page/book design. There are footnotes all over the place, in same size text, no indentations to indicate when the summaries end and text proper begins, etc. I could go on. It is an insult to a great classic, and I hope that some of the other editions are better. I will AVOID 'Kindle Editions' in future!!!! But will try another one, perhaps ...... the Kindle is such a great idea, so I'm optimistic that if people give honest feedback they will perhaps get their act together and offer books which are actually readable.

So much easier than the original. Makes it manageable. Good book as a whole

Great copy of an amazing read

It is wonderful to be able to listen to the Inferno being read. Sometimes on my car CD player the narrator's voice drops and I find myself having to turn up the volume. Some of the voices that he adopts for some of the characters I find a little grating.

A very good set of English language versions of the the first Canticle of the Commedia. These are not really translations, but renderings by often well-known poets, and not uniformly excellent - but that is a matter of personal taste, of course.

The modern english suited me to be able to better understand the prose. I bought this copy because of the many references in the new Dan Brown book "INFERNO". It was very useful to see the connections to Dante's Inferno. I think I got more out of Dan Brown's "Inferno by having read this text.

Would have been helpful to know that the book was also in its original Italian too. But I don't know Italian all that well, and I'm constantly having to find the next English part in all 34 "cante." It's tedious work. Horrible formatting too.

This is the edition that I would recommend to anyone deciding to buy a copy of Inferno. It is an easy to read translation, has useful notes and includes an Italian text.

Excellent book to Accompany Cliffs Notes on the Inferno together with the English translation. Adds so much to the understanding of Date's work.

Great book. Who wouldn't like it?

Ich werde mir nicht anmaßen, eine inhaltliche Rezension der Göttlichen Komödie vorzunehmen. Oder besser: Des Infernos. Denn dem Käufer dieser Ausgabe sollte zunächst klar sein, dass er in diesem Buch "nur" den ersten Teil der dreiteiligen Göttlichen Komödie (engl. "Divine Comedy") erwirbt, also Dantes Reise durch die Hölle. Die weitere Reise durch das Fegefeuer und schließlich das Paradies müssen in diesem Falle extra erworben werden. Für bereits drei bis manchmal fünf Euro mehr gibt es schon die gesamte Ausgabe der Komödie. Der Einzelpreis von knapp fünf Euro für ausschließlich den ersten Teil ist also nur begrenzt sinnvoll. Einzig das dünnere Ausmaß des ansonsten seitenreichen Werkes ist hier als Vorteil für kleine Reisetaschen zu nennen, sonst würde ich wohl in jedem Falle zu einer der "Gesamtausgaben" raten.Aber das ist natürlich nicht der Grund des Sterneabzuges, denn das weiß man ja bereits vor dem Kauf. Der Grund wieso ich ausschließlich zwei Sterne vergeben möchte ist viel mehr in der Qualität des Druckes zu finden. Das eigentlich sehr ansprechende Cover des Buches ist in einer dermaßen minderen Auflösung gedruckt, dass man ohne näher hinzusehen bereits Pixelmatsch erkennt. Hier wurde wohl einfach ein Bild in geringer Auflösung ohne weitere Bearbeitung größer gezogen.Die Druckqualität der Gesänge an sich ist nicht zu beanstanden, aber wenn man sich schon die Druckversion eines Buches kauft, dann sollte das doch wenigstens ansehnlich aussehen, oder etwa nicht? Zumindest für mich schmälert das den Wert des Buches immens, insbesondere weil es wie schon erwähnt für ein paar Euro mehr hochwertigere Gesamtversionen des Buches gibt. So wüsste ich nicht wem ich diese Version empfehlen sollte.Zum Abschluss sei noch gesagt, dass die Göttliche Komödie kein einfacher Titel ist. Bereits in deutscher Sprache fällt es schwer "am Stück" zu lesen. Ohne Hilfslektüre wird es zudem häufig schwierig, Anspielungen, veraltete Ausdrücke oder schlichtweg historische Ereignisse nachzuvollziehen. Das fließt jetzt natürlich wieder nicht in die Bewertung mit ein, ich empfehle aber jedem deutschen Erstleser zunächst zu einer deutschen Ausgabe zu greifen, möglichst mit Hilfsliteratur oder entsprechenden Anmerkungen.Fazit: Das Werk an sich ist über alle Zweifel erhaben und wird nicht ohne Grund als eines der wichtigsten Werke der Weltliteratur genannt, doch diese Version des Buches ist dank miserabler Druckqualität des Covers nicht besonders zu empfehlen.

Quick delivery. Very satisfied thank you

excellent read