Reddit reviews The Divine Comedy (The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso)

We found 13 Reddit comments about The Divine Comedy (The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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13 Reddit comments about The Divine Comedy (The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso):

u/Ratman_84 · 11 pointsr/wimmelbilder

The John Ciardi one.

It keeps the original rhyming structure, which must have been really hard to do when translating from Italian to English. It isn't really rigid English like some of the other translations that can make your brain get tired after reading for a while. And most importantly it has notes for each chapter. Dante himself is the main character, and he writes in a bunch of actual people from in and around Italy during his lifetime, so reading the notes really helps understand a lot of the references to people/places/things in the book. I just read the notes before I read each chapter so I knew as I read it what was going on.

u/Iwannaliveonthemoon · 8 pointsr/literature

http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Comedy-Inferno-Purgatorio-Paradiso/dp/0451208633/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1458687908&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=inferno+john+ciardi

The whole Shebang for $13, all three books.

Ciardi does lots of annotations, a summary before each Canto, and defintions/annotations at the end of each one. The text is translated to a rhyme scheme and structure similar to the original Italian. I'm not sure of the specifics because I'm not a huge language person, but Ciardi's reputation if you look him up will speak for his skill and commitment. It also has illustrations of the wood carvings done of the books by Gustave Dore.

u/forgotmeloginagain · 5 pointsr/books

Just in case Turkish helps anyway:
http://www.idefix.com/kitap/ilahi-komedya-cehennem-araf-cennet-3-cilt-takim-dante-alighieri/tanim.asp?sid=N7RM4ES0DL1ETQHE4P65

For English, I'm told this is very good:
http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Comedy-Inferno-Purgatorio-Paradiso/dp/0451208633

u/4-1-3-2 · 3 pointsr/radiohead

u/Molech · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

This is the translation I have. Reviews seem to say it is accesible, maybe it is time I give it another go?

u/LeucanthemumVulgare · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

Amazon!

u/deleterofworlds · 2 pointsr/AskLiteraryStudies

Having read a few, I've enjoyed the Robert & Jean Hollander version the most. It's very readable and quite poetic, making it a great first version.

Unfortunately, as far as I know, with the Hollanders you have to buy each book of The Divine Comedy separately, and it can get pricy. For a good edition in one volume, with the added bonus of being a "terza rima" version, I would recommend the John Ciardi translation.

u/PaninosBoy · 1 pointr/suggestmeabook

Would this work? https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0451208633/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&amp;psc=1 Can't find any mention of a summary. Interested in reading all 3

u/bearded_justice · 1 pointr/AskHistorians

John Ciardi's is excellent. That was the translation I had to get for high school and college. Good footnotes and introductions as well as a three line rhyming scheme.

Amazon Link

u/GregorF92 · 1 pointr/CringeAnarchy

Like others have said, this is obviously participation bias. Those who purchase the book are likely to rate it highly.

You can see the exact same thing has happened with Milo's book, Dangerous. It's currently sitting at 4.9 stars from over 2000 reviews, which is just as ridiculous as Hillary's book having 4.8 from over 1,300 reviews.

Milo's book has 4.9/5 stars from 1,657 verified purchases (2,005 total).

Hillary's has 4.8/5 stars from 1,356 verified purchases (1,408 total).

Compare this to The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri sitting at 4.2/5 from 961 verified purchases (1,251 total).

I don't think anyone's saying that either of these books are better written than The Divine Comedy, just that both books are bought by fans of those people, who are likely to rate the books highly afterwards.

u/AustinRivers25 · 1 pointr/PKA

I am reading American Sniper (which has a movie adaptation coming out). It is the autobiography of Chris Kyle, a sniper with the most confirmed kills in US Military history (150), he talks about his childhood, and his missions in Iraq. He shots he has had to take, the friends he's lost...

I read and definitely recommend A Brief History of Time: The Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition by Stephen Hawkings. As you can tell by the name of the book it talks about the universe, black holes, the possibility of worm holes/white holes. Stephen Hawking really knows how to write a book.

I have yet to get to it, but I recommend The Divine Comedy (written in the 1300s). It is an Epic Poem about Dante Alighieri travels through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Heaven (Paradiso).

Edit: Does someone hate these books?

u/HaliaxHame · 1 pointr/whatsthatbook

The Ciardi translation is my favorite and presents the Italian and English on facing pages.

https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Comedy-Inferno-Purgatorio-Paradiso/dp/0451208633

u/jetpacktuxedo · 1 pointr/secretsanta

Uhh... well... erm... no. The Inferno is terrific, and the Purgatorio was pretty good, but the Paradisio is nearly unreadable. It seriously took me about 20 minutes to a half hour to read each stanza, and even then they only made sense with the summary and definitions provided in my translation.

I would recommend this translation.