The Inferno

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Summary: Inferno (Ciardi's Translation)
Review: I picked up Inferno with the idea that I ought to read it, but I wasn't too excited about it. Man, did I underestimate Dante! I couldn't put the book down. Ciardi's translation is excellent too. I was most impressed by how he maintains his rhyme scheme throughout the translation, without ruining the ease of reading. I also enjoyed the endnotes for each chapter so much that I found myself reading them straight through. Another reviewer mentioned that they would like to see this as a movie. I had the same thought while reading it. The imagery is so vivid it would be great on the big screen. But then again, it's disturbing enough that I'm not sure I'd want to see it.

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Summary: Ciardi
Review: You've heard all the descriptions of this work: If not, you will. Let me make this simple. NO ONE comes close to Ciardi in translating skill. Most translations of Dante are awkward, but not Ciardi. In this book, Dante's mastery, coupled with Ciardi's own, creates a true masterpeice.

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Summary: An Engrossing and Interesting Translation
Review: I began reading this book for a high school class, and did not finish it prior to the due date. However, this book so enthralled me that I simply had to keep reading it through the finish. Robert M. Durling & Co.'s notes proved to be very helpful in understanding the worldview with which Dante was writing. If there was ever a movie I would want to see, the Inferno would be it. I should note that I was so involved in the book that I became obsessed with death for the duration, listening to music such as Mozart's Requiem and more. I thus highly reccommend it, but discourage it for those individuals that are easily depressed.

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Summary: Good translation of a masterful classic.
Review: I was very pleased with this edition of Inferno, Dante's controversial verse of man's sins. First, the translation was smooth and stayed true to the essence of the story, even though any translation can lose some of the quality of the words. However, there are also facing pages of the original Italian as well. With a short summary of each Canto and a few powerful pencil sketches scattered here and there, this is a very well put together edition. The notes are in the back of the book, which I prefer, so as they don't detract from the story while reading it. There's also a map of Hell and of the Universe according to Dante. Altogether, this is a very informative edition and one of my favorites.

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Summary: Greatest piece of world lit?
Review: Watch the humanity decline as you decend with Virgil. Was yourself laugh at the ironic punishments that prophets must suffer. Be amazed at the imagery of Satan one you meet him. Emerge after your three day journey a better person.

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Summary: Available on the Web
Review: Reading poetry in translation is problematic. I am sure that even the best translators fail to capture essential elements of great poetry. For linguistically limited individuals like me, there is no option. Mandelbaum's translation was praised highly when first published. This translation is really interesting reading, is very clear, probably gives an excellent sense of what Dante wrote, and some sense of the quality of his language. This translation is available also on the Web at a very nice site maintained at Columbia University.

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Summary: Zappulla succeeds in his task
Review: As mentioned above by the translator himself, Zappulla's aim in this book was to make a piece of classical literature accessible to those that are otherwise turned off by verse. This edition is one of few that summarize the canto immediately after the verse, and give a good, general explanation of the allusions and meanings behind less obvious lines (2-5 pages of notes each canto). For one inexperienced in reading Dante, I would suggest Zappulla's free verse translation, and once the semantic and logistical aspects of Inferno are understood, attempt a more stylized translation (maybe Pinsky's edition). And yes, it is well worth buying two copies of the "same" book, if you hope to have any more than a superficial understanding of the book.

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Summary: A divine novel!
Review: The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri : Inferno is one of the most profound and thought provoking novels that I have ever encountered. The point that I took to heart is that people that we find to be evil now will not be seen as being as important 500 years from now. Dante brings up allot of contemporary figures as being the reincarnation of true and base evil. I am oblivious to most and this will also be true 500 years from now when people remember the 20 th and the 21 st century in an entirely different light.

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Summary: Excellent Verse Translation
Review: For a verse translation of Inferno, Sinclair succesfully retains the poems tone and imagery. Sinclair has succeeded in conveying the sense of grand poetry inherent in Dante's work in a prose translation. In fact, for a prose structure the sense of beautiful poetry has been well preserved, better than in many contemporary modern English translations. Sinclair has offered the reader a replete look at the Inferno, mirroring his own translation with Dante's original text on the adjacent page and critical reflections at the end of each canto. An excellent verse translation that captures the beauty of Dante's inferno

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Summary: Great visualization represented by this wonderful poem
Review: This book is one of the best books I have ever read. It made my mind start thinking about what was going on from the very first words to the very last sentence. I have never read book that had been written as one long poem untill now, but I enjoyed it very much. One of the key points about this book I liked were all the symbolic refrences the poem uses, everything from the bible to greek mythology. If you want a book that will intrege you and you can learn from it at the same time, then this would be a great book to try.