The Divine Comedy, Part 1: Hell (Penguin Classics)

I "cut my teeth" on the John Ciardi translation of the Divine Comedy, and I still like it very much. In a college course on Dante, we were required to read this Dorothy Sayers translation. I still enjoy Ciardi, and find his translation at times to be, let's say, earthier, and perhaps more in the spirit of the original. (Canto XV, line 114 is a good example for comparison--Ciardi's is delightedly literal, with a naughty footnote. Even here, though, Sayers echoes the Italian "nervi" with "enervated." See also the last line of Canto XXI.) Sayers, like Ciardi, maintains Dante's terza rima scheme, which is a difficult thing to pull off in English. Her style is a bit more elegant, perhaps a shade more Victorian, than Ciardi's. At times she veers euphemistic, as mentioned above. In many passages the two are quite equal in their achievement. I prefer Sayers' Canto I to Ciardi's. Your taste may vary. But this edition is a must-have for a student of Dante, above all, for its introductory essay and running commentary. Unlike Ciardi, Sayers was a Christian believer of great theological acumen (an Anglican with Catholic sympathies), and her take on Dante has all the more ring of authenticity than provided by a few bawdy lines about backsides and private parts. Her treatment of symbolism and of the allegorical levels (including her category of "Greater Images") is extremely illuminating. Re-reading this after decades, I appreciate how much of my Dante course was in the Sayers school of thought. Another good feature is the running captioning at the top of every page. One has canto, circle, class of sin, summary of action, and timeline (So: "Canto VII, Circle IV, The Hoarders and Spendthrifts--Pluto; The Grim Jousts--Good Friday Night.") Very helpful! Sayers really understands "where Dante's coming from," leaving my old Ciardi version, for all its verbal crispness and bodily frankness, feeling a little flat at the end of the day. John Ciardi taught poetry at Rutgers and was poetry editor of the Saturday Review. Dorothy Sayers is famous for her Lord Peter Wimsey novels (like "The Nine Tailors"). Either of their translations will give you an excellent English introduction to *the* literary masterpiece of the second millennium. Sayers takes the prize, hands down, for introductory matter and commentary. For sheer linguistic skill, I might call it a tie. If you want the grotesqueries in full Anglo-Saxon glory, keep Ciardi handy.

This isn't about the contents of this book. Plenty of other places you can get that info. This review is about this version/printing. Good student version. Uncoated paper for pages, decent font size, lightweight binding. It'll last the semester. You won't wince at the price if you need to recycle at the end of school year.

With the exception of the Holy Bible, this is by far one of the greatest books that I have ever read! Dorothy Sayers translation is incredible and she offers tremendous insight into Florentine & Papal history explanations of Dante's writing and also of history of Beatrice and Dante himself and provides much needed background to enjoy this timeless classic of the Western Canon. It is also easy to understand why Dante ranks high up in Western Canonical literature along with Virgil and Homer. What made the book enjoyable also was that, prior to purchase, I viewed online documentaries about Dante's Inferno which is what I would recommend but even then, you will not anticipate all of the actions of the book.

Excellent translation! Vigorous and clear, easy to read aloud. The notes are the best I've found after reading several translations. To keep the rhythm, she occasionally uses rare words. I find it good to keep a link to google handy to find some definitions, although they usually are clear from context.

The greatest strength of Dorothy Sayers's translation of The Divine Comedy is its notes. Sayers considered this translation her finest work and spent years of her life on it, though she died before she could complete Paradise. Having read The Comedy dozens of times myself, along with many books on Dante and his work, I liked Sayers for her dedication, but her translation--and even her notes--has some problems. The biggest flaw of the translation is that it's just not literal enough, due mainly to Sayers's attempt at rhyming. Dante invented terza rima ("threefold rhyme") for his Comedy, and trying to use the same rhyme in English is a noble effort but ultimately hopeless. She frequently strays from the original or, worse, obscures something very clear in the original so that she can fit the lines into her rhyme scheme. Her English is also littered all over with strange syntax and archaic words, some of which worked while others left me scratching my head and, in at least one case, laughing out loud. But for all that, her translation is entertaining and still allows Dante to speak, if through an imperfect medium. There were some sections in which the wording and rhyme worked so well I was thrilled as I read it--most of the work, however, is not up to that standard. As I said at the beginning, though, this translation's greatest strength is its notes. Sayers shows years of dedicated study in the introduction, notes, and appendices she prepared for this work. One of the most helpful parts of her work are the breakdowns of difficult sections, which she analyzes in the four levels of interpretation at which Dante wrote. These sections are very good and offered even a seasoned reader of Dante like me something to sink my teeth into. Some of her notes are misguided or flawed, but the book is still worthwhile to the new student of Dante for the wealth of good information they contain. I give one star for the translation and three for the notes. If the notes are not what you're after and you want to read something more literal the first time around, check out the Mark Musa translation, also available from Penguin Classics, or that of Anthony Esolen from the Modern Library. Recommended.

Perfect. New books. All 3 came shipped together very quickly. Smooth and easy transaction. What online ordering should be.

Sayers's commentary, notes, glossary, and summaries are essential. Her translation light and even fun. I hope the Purgatory and Paradise are as good.

I don't think I'm quite ready to review Dante's work, or Sayers' translation. I'll leave the translation comparison to others. Other than that, it's slow going, but worth the effort.

The most accessible english translation of The Divine Comedy.

D. Sayers wonderfully explains the imagery, historical figures, references to other texts, mythology, the Bible, and unfamiliar words and phrases to the modern reader. Dante’s poem was written around 1304 in the Italian language of the time.

Dorothy Sayers english sings and is melodious. Her commentaries are fascinating.

The Inferno paperback I ordered was the Dorothy Sayers translation which was last reprinted some 40 years ago, but I wanted it for the excellent introduction to the work, I was very pleased with the overall condition of the edition which was printed in 1975 - the cover was in good shape, and while the pages of the text were inevitably yellowing with the passage of time, there were no manuscript notes.

I love the interpretation and the plentiful notes. I can read how passionate Dorothy Sayers was about The Poet and his subject. That's important to me.