Product Description

A new verse translation of the first part of Dante's poetic masterpiece by poet and John Florio Translation Prize winner, J. G. Nichols, this dual-language edition also features an Introduction by M. L. McLaughlin, Fiat-Serena Professor of Italian Studies and Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. It contains introduction / summary to each canto, footnotes: textual notes on the Italian and notes on the translation, diagrams to understand Dante's topology and detailed index. Awaking in a dark wood, Dante is forced to confront the 'darkness' of his own life, and so embarks upon a three-day journey towards redemption. His first day is spent travelling through hell - the Inferno - with the poet Virgil as his guide. As they travel through the different circles of hell, and meet an array of fiendish characters, each one suffering varying degrees of suffering and damnation for the sins they committed on earth, Dante learns to value the true nature of good and evil. Freelance writer and journalist Ian Thomson, one of the last people to interview Primo Levi for a biography which won the W.H.Heinemann Award, has recently published 'Bonjour Blanc: A Journey Through Haiti'

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #573262 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03
• Original language: Italian
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
'It is extremely difficult to read any classic work afresh, in a defamiliarized way, but perhaps that is one of the advantages of a new translation, that it gives a fresh voice to a familiar text, like the restoration of the colours in an old master painting. It is important for the English reader trying to achieve that sense of freshness to remember that Dante's Comedy emerges from the mists of the middle ages almost without precedent... This new translation by J. G. Nicholls has preserved the crucial Dantesque virtues of concreteness, economy and energy.' - from the Introduction by Martin McLaughlin 'Dante's epic of sin and salvation endures powerfully' - from the Foreword by Ian Thomson

From the Author
'It is extremely difficult to read any classic work afresh, in a defamiliarized way, but perhaps that is one of the advantages of a new translation, that it gives a fresh voice to a familiar text, like the restoration of the colours in an old master painting. It is important for the English reader trying to achieve that sense of freshness to remember that Dante’s Comedy emerges from the mists of the middle ages almost without precedent… This new translation by J. G. Nicholls has preserved the crucial Dantesque virtues of concreteness, economy and energy.' - from the Introduction by Martin McLaughlin

'Dante’s epic of sin and salvation endures powerfully' - from the Foreword by Ian Thomson

About the Author
Author of the masterpiece The Divine Comedy, Florentine Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) is one of the greatest writers of all time. M. L. McLaughlin is Fiat-Serena Professor of Italian Studies and Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford Freelance writer and journalist Ian Thomson, one of the last people to interview Primo Levi for a biography which won the W.H. Heinemann Award, has recently published 'Bonjour Blanc: A Journey Through Haiti'

Customer Reviews

As Good As It Gets
Having read The Divine Comedy previously in a bad translation, but nevertheless been impressed with it, when I discovered how bad the translation was, I felt I had to acquaint myself with a good one. So I read this, and really my only complaint is that Purgatory and Paradise are not yet available in Hesperus editions. In addition to all that I found impressive on a first reading, which must shine through even a poorly rendered English version - the amazing structure of The Divine Comedy, the incredible ambition of it, its hauntingness, etc etc - I found much more in the Hesperus edition that greatly benefited my reading of it. I don't speak Italian, so I can't comment on the accuracy of the translation as some would be able to, but to me, this version really seems to show the affinity and connection between Dante and Eliot, the most familiar to me of the many writers influenced by Dante. I was struck again and again by, just as an example, Dante's incredible analogies, and was not at all disappointed by the book as an English version of the Inferno. I greatly look forward to Hesperus versions of Purgatory and Paradise. Literature doesn't get any better.