Rating: 
Summary: A Fresh Translation
Review: Ciardi's translation is one of my favorites: few others so capture the essence of Dante. Others have noted Ciardi's abandonment of the strict tezra form that so constrains English translation (A language lacking the feminimity of Italian, and unable to easily conform to such a complicated rhyming pattern). This, in itself, liberates the work -- so long as we keep in mind the importance of the form, we can well do without it in order to catch a closer and more literal idea of Dante's work. Another thing Ciardi does well is revealing Dante, "King of the Disgusting." The tendency in a language closely associated with Protestant culture is to purify the "naughtiness" of Catholic works. Ciardi makes a point to use four-letter words and to use the most vulgar and obscene language and imagery where the work calls for it (Ciardi shrewdly observes the differences between cursing for Protestants and for Catholics -- the former finding bodily and worldly things obscene, the latter finding only blasphemy to be obscene). Another reviewer noted the overuse of "thees and thous" -- they must have read a different translation. These are reserved only for the most important figures in the book, when Dante clearly wanted to show respect.A solid translation. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: exceptional master piece
Review: i find that this book rivals even the work of the great shakespeare (is that how you spell it i forgot) i find this much more interesting then romeo and juliet (yes i am aware that romeo and juliet is not his best work) everyone should read this book not only is it great it has profoundly affected the world even now all that you think of in terms of hell is what dante put into the world
Rating:
Summary: The line starts here
Review: I don't have this particular volume, but I wish I did. I have Ciardi's trans. of Inferno and Paradiso, and they impress me: fairly direct, perfectly comprehensible, and (what it most important by far) still poetic. I have not yet been able to find his version of Purgatorio, but to acquaint myself with the work I bought the Viking Portable version of the Divine Comedy. In comparing that version with Ciardi's, I have at every point rued greatly ever buying Viking's; not that Viking's is bad, because its footnotes are more convenient than Ciardi's, and it is a more straightforward rendition of Dante, but Ciardi's annotations are worth the extra effort and his translation is wonderfully energetic. In the notations, which are the decisive factor in my view, Viking's Comedy lists primarily historical and mythical points of interest, with an occasional narrative reference. Ciardi, on the other hand, points out for his readers tidbits of information of all kinds, which we who don't read Italian must appreciate greatly, as his method brings us as close to Dante as we in all actuality can get. I can't say enough in praise of Ciardi's effort, but if you are looking to read Dante in translation and are new to his work, Ciardi's is the translation you want.
Rating:
Summary: Dante is simply a stupendous writer!
Review: Having read all three parts of the divine comedy, I therefore had an inclination to hear it on tape. To my utter suprise, it , i.e., The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri was very well read and the entire masterpiece comes on 10 cassetes. I have to say that this work in question is probably one the literary works that have influenced my views of spirituality and live in general the most. Highly Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: What is the best edition?
Review: So what is the best edition of this tremendous work upon which hyperbole could fail? Dorothy Sayers rendered the work into a stylistically matched slightly archaic version in three volumes through Penguin Classics. These volumes have the advantage of dedication from the author, a Christian with a precision of language and handy illustrations and extensive notes. I found Mark Musa's versions simpler and less poetic (he refused to imitate the rhythms as Sayers had attempted) and scholars may have their own favourite version. But for people on the go, who would like it all in one the radio (BBC) recommended the translation by C. H. Sisson with notes by Higgins published under World's Classics which may also feature as Oxford World's Classics around 1993. This contains practically all the elements a reader will need including figures and illustrations mapping the voyage and notes on the history and context. The translated verses are numbered and readable though they maintain their depth. The first book in the most exciting but by the time Dante was writing paradiso his views had softened and he admits at least one "heathen" into his paradise clearly indicating that "works" is just as good if not better than "grace & faith" alone.
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: Dante's Divine Comedy is compulsory reading in Italian high schools. Generally, the three books are read one per year. Because I *had* to read it, I never paid much attention to Dante's language (save for a few famous passages), nor the meaning. I recently picked my old tattered version and began to read. As a youngster I had preferred the Inferno, mostly for its almost gossipy quality-a veritable who's who in hell. Now, my preferences have shifted towards the last canto of Purgatory and all of Paradise. The beauty of the language the Alighieri uses, as he enters into Paradise, where Beatrice now guides him (instead of Virgil, elevating her to celestial status); where he dialogues with saints and describes the radiance and mysteries of heaven is so vivid. This is a body of work that surpasses the divine, at times, and should be read by young and old. I highly recommend this version as the translation is exquisite.
Rating:
Summary: John Ciardi's uniquely enjoyable translation
Review: This review is of the John Ciardi translation - apparently Amazon links it in to all versions? Different translations will suit different tastes. This classic translation of Dante's trilogy remains one of the best. It nicely preserves the musicality of the original by retaining the "terza rima" rhyme scheme throughout. This may seem like a narrow point but it makes this a satisfying read for one who enjoys rhyme. Terza rima is an ABA, BCB, CDC... arrangement of triplets where the first and third lines rhyme and the middle line's rhyme becomes the first of the next triplet - simple but not sing-song. Over a poem of this length it helps to weave an amazing fabric of rhyme and story. In the original Italian, a language with only a handful of primary word endings, such an approach was not the central challenge of a poetic work - Dante gets credit for the vision and scope. The challenge for translators is whether to preserve the content or the rhyme more closely; the English language is not comfortably suited for such relentless rhyming. Ciardi has, nevertheless, done a wonderful job of this. As to the other element, I've been told that the "story" is a tad "creative" at times. Perhaps Dante would object a few times if he reread this translation, but I found Ciardi's telling well crafted. This edition combines all three parts of the "Comedy" in a nice, clothbound package. You might end up owning other translations of Dante (I have three), but you should certainly own this one.
Rating: 
Summary: A classic among afterlife enthusiasts
Review: Considered by most as a classic among classics, this book has changed many and created many people's opinions and beliefs about the afterlife experience. A little hard to read at times, due to the archaic grammar, but invaluable to the student of religion.
Rating:
Summary: One of the main sources of Western culture
Review: The all-encompassing mind of Dante has produced indeed one of the main sources of Western culture. It is a rich poem, full of interesting stories and commentary and which, like all true classics, can be read from different standpoints and has different dimensions. It tells Dante's travel to Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. Daniel Boorstin has called it "Adventures in Death". It is also one of the main bridges between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Like other works from this period, it mixes classical mythology and tradition with Christian history. The first evidence of this is the fact that although Dante travels to the Christian underworld, his guide is the Roman poet Virgil, no less. Dante's work is thus multi-layered: it is an exploration of virtue and sin and their consequences; a profound criticism of the state of the Catholic Church at the time, attacking fiercely the institution of the Papacy and Boniface VIII in particular, for their corruption; a reelaboration of old Medieval themes; a bitter analysis of Italian and especially Florentine politics of his day, whose effects he so cruelly suffered. During his trip, Dante meets and speaks with Biblical characters, Greco-Roman ones, and contemporaries of him. These people tell their stories and explain why they are where they are. Dante touches practically on all relevant and controversial subjects of his time, as well as many of our own. Although in any translation we miss the lyricism of his verse, we can still appreciate the quality and dignity of his writing. It is not, of course, an easy reading. It is not "light" literature and it demands intelligent, cultivated and also demanding readers. But the reward is infinite. Dante's work has had any number of repercussions in subsequent culture. I think, for example, of Tchaikovsky's "Francesca di Rimini", based on one of the fascinating stories told to Dante in Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. Dante's images are powerful, terrorific in Hell and purely Divine in Heaven. His imagination is truly remarkable, in the way he describes the punsihments and rewards, as well as the characters and their situations. Lose the fear and plunge into this greatest tour de force. It is really Dantesque.
Rating:
Summary: A Christian odyssey
Review: "The Divine Comedy" is one of the most monumental masterpieces in European literature and a pioneering work of its kind. One can detect in it a break from medieval trends and the manifestation of the "modern" Renaissance spirit, in its new classicism (as in the appearance of Virgil as a guide) and its sublimity and grandeur. Though often plodding and diffuse, it is a sprawling epic, unconventional and bold, characterised by arcane erudition, allusion and symbolic richness. However, it contains many elements that one would associate with comedy, such as wit, invective and lampoon. It is also written in vulgar Tuscan and not Latin, the language of the ecclesiastics and pedants of the universities. As such, it is supposed to achieve by its language a suitably low and humble effect. The circular topography of hell, where the flatterers, the gluttons, the schismatics, the lechers endure a variety of torments, provides many instances of mirthful satire. The details are direful and sometimes scatalogical: " Even the cask with the bottom knocked out/Does not gape in the way that I saw one/Ripped open from chin to where he farts."(Inferno, XXVIII, 22-4) and "The marsh, which sends out so much stinking breath/Surrounds on every side the weeping city" (Inferno, IX, 31-2) Being written against a backdrop of political rivalry, disunion and corruption, Dante, himself a major political actor at the time, took as many liberties as possible in censuring and ridiculing the vices of notable figures. (One can compare the results of "The Divine Comedy" being transferred to contemporary times wherein the likes of Tony Blair, Bill Gates and Bill Clinton are consigned to languish in hell.) Above all, it is a didactic work of a sinful and imperfect man's (Dante) spiritual odyssey and his redemption, exhorting his hearers to virtue and justice and condemning the vice and corruption to which medieval Europe had sunk. It can be called a comedy in the sense that it begins ominously, with Dante lost in the dark forest of sin (Inferno, I) his baneful encounters in hell and purgatory, and ends happily and gloriously with his salvation and union with Beatrice and God, the happy ending being a prerequisite for comedy.
| 
