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"Musa operates on the principle that a translator's first duty is to render the original text as exactly as possible without compromising the literary quality of the work.... [This is] the best English-language version of the Inferno currently available." --Library Journal
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This vigorous and swift blank verse rendition of the poet's journey through the circles of Hell re-creates for the modern reader the rich meanings that the poem had for Dante's contemporaries.
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First Sentence
Halfway through his life, Dante the Pilgrim wakes to find himself lost in a dark wood. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Halfway through his life, Dante the Pilgrim wakes to find himself lost in a dark wood. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book was fantastic.
Musa's style has made Dante's work accessible to everyone, the blank verse translation is exceptionally easy to read and the accompanying notes means that even non-literature scholars, like me, don't miss a trick. I would like to congratulate him, personally, for a top job. I don't think I would have enjoyed it half as much by a different translator.
Musa's style has made Dante's work accessible to everyone, the blank verse translation is exceptionally easy to read and the accompanying notes means that even non-literature scholars, like me, don't miss a trick. I would like to congratulate him, personally, for a top job. I don't think I would have enjoyed it half as much by a different translator.
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This translation of Dante's "The Divine Comedy" is good in many respects. It provides a long introduction detailing various differences between this (Mark Musa's) edition and many others and the reasons behind these. He also provides many of the stories around Dante's many subtle verses to help the casual reader and student like enjoy the work for its true meaning. His translations of Purgatory and Paradise are also very good.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Here Musa does the impossible. He writes translated poetry that is perfectly readable, understandable, and as invigorating as Dante's original. It is by a long way the best translation available in terms of it sheer readability.
Prefacing each Canto with an introductory paragraph, and ending each with copious contextual notes makes this both a good study edition and one in which no shade of meaning is ever lost. However, he also does what many scholars don't: he makes the poetry itself sing and pulsate with life. Musa shows us why this is one of the most important and timeless works of world literature. Dante (like Shakespeare and Cervantes) was writing ripping yarns. Just because they are old and the language may be strange to us now, there is no reason why they should not thrill us as much now as they did when they were written.
If, like me, the original Italian is beyond you, this book is as close as you will get to perfection.
Prefacing each Canto with an introductory paragraph, and ending each with copious contextual notes makes this both a good study edition and one in which no shade of meaning is ever lost. However, he also does what many scholars don't: he makes the poetry itself sing and pulsate with life. Musa shows us why this is one of the most important and timeless works of world literature. Dante (like Shakespeare and Cervantes) was writing ripping yarns. Just because they are old and the language may be strange to us now, there is no reason why they should not thrill us as much now as they did when they were written.
If, like me, the original Italian is beyond you, this book is as close as you will get to perfection.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great ... in all senses of the word
I have read all volumes of Dantes' Divine Comedy tranlsated by Mark Musa, along with some other translations. Read more
Published 11 months ago by A reader
The Divine Comedy: Inferno v. 1 (Penguin Classics)
Having wanted to read this book for a while but being put off by the seemingly endless number of translations available, after not much research I finally plumped for this version... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Owen Hughes
brilliant
was a fantastic read which went to great lengths to ensure that the reader understood how the poem developed, a fantastic translation which offered different interpretations of the... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Jackman
Elegently written.
This book will as you will know will always be one of the finest literary masterpieces of all time.
That said; the book feels powerful, mysterious and the translation... Read more
That said; the book feels powerful, mysterious and the translation... Read more
Published on 20 Sep 2009 by Steven Roe
Surprisingly easy
This was one of those books that I always thought I'd like to read but never thought I would because I had the feeling it would be too difficult or heavy going. Well, I was wrong. Read more
Published on 8 May 2009 by Twenty20
Enjoying and Understanding it.
This book is great. As a new reader to Dante's work the notes are clear and easier to read than I expected, leaving me looking forward to reading more and more.
Published on 1 Oct 2008 by Sooty
Abandon hope
"Midway life's journey I was made aware/that I had strayed into a dark forest..." Those eerie words open the first cantica of Dante Alighieri's "Inferno," the most famous part of... Read more
Published on 12 Oct 2007 by E. A Solinas
Superb! Easy to understand.
I only wanted to read Part One: Inferno as I had seen to discussed on a recent crime programme. I went on to do a little research and then came across this easy translation. Read more
Published on 18 April 2007 by SJSmith
A good choice for the Dante beginner
After seeing an exhibition of Botticelli's drawings for the Divine Comedy, I thought it would be a good idea to find out what these wonderful drawings were based on. Read more
Published on 23 Mar 2001
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