About this title: "The Divine Comedy" is the story of a pilgrim's journey to God. A man named Dante is lost in dark wood; through the intervention of his beloved Beatrice in Heaven, the Roman poet Virgil appears in the forest to lead Dante to her. In order to reach heaven, however, they must first pass through Hell and Purgatory. After journeying through Hell (Inferno), they climb the mountain of Purgatory (Purgatorio); at the peak, Dante is reunited with Beatrice, who serves as his guide through Paradise (Paradisio).
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Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston
Date Published: 1967
Description: A good reading copy only. Previous owners name inscribed inside front. May have underlining or highlighting throughout. -, Trade PaperBack, Good / read more
Description: Acceptable. 1998-Paperback----Used-Acceptable-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: Good. 1998, Paperback. Used-Good All of our Oxford World Classics are previously unread with no underlining or highlighting. They may contain remainder marks or minimal shelf wear. Hall Street Books Proudly ships all books from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours M-F. 100% Money-Back Guarantee and No-Worry return policy. read more
Edition: Edition Unstated
Binding: Hardcover
Date Published: 1947
Description: Romano, Umberto. Good. As issued No Jacket. Slight spine lean, board corners are bumped, spine is darkened and heavily soiled, boards are lightly soiled, and other moderate shopwear. Some pretty intense illustrations in coloy by Umberto Romano. read more
"Dante's Divine Comedy is the story of the soul's journey from the depths of despair to pure enlightenment, and you don't have to be a Catholic or even religious to be awed and inspired by it. If you ignore all the academic dust that has settled on this astounding creation over the seven hundred years since it was written, and imagine it more as an adventure movie with better special effects than The Matrix and with a deeper message than The Seventh Seal, you'll set off on a journey across space and time that you'll never forget.
The great love of Dante's life was Beatrice, whom he first glimpsed in Florence in 1274, when she was eight years old and he was nine, and he spent the rest of his life idolising her, long after her marriage and early death. He wrote his La Vita Nuova in praise of her beauty and purity, and it is one of the world's greatest romantic poems, but he felt that it didn't do her justice, and he went on to compose the Divine Comedy as his unprecedented and unsurpassed monument to her. He started it when he was 29 years old and finished it just before his death 27 years later, in 1321, and it hasn't been out of print since.
Dante, approaching middle-age, descends into Hell and is guided through the terrible circles of damned souls by the poet Virgil, and past Satan himself, who stands in ice to his waist, before attaining Purgatory. It is in Purgatory that souls who escaped Hell are cleansed and made ready for promotion to Paradise. At the peak of Mount Purgatory, Virgil - who lived before the Incarnation and can go no farther - hands Dante over to Beatrice, and together they make their way to the Godhead. Dante spends eternity with the girl he first saw and fell in love with 47 years earlier.
As well as reading it as homage to Love and the soul's struggle towards perfection, it is jam-packed with gossip and details about the people and the politics of Florence at the time. Dante is often criticised for peopling Hell with his enemies and Paradise with his friends, but whatever the case he left us with a huge range of vividly drawn characters that really bring those times to life. And naturally the sinners tend to be a lot more fun than the saints. As in the Canterbury Tales, we can recognise these people easily today: the devious politicians, the star-crossed lovers, the dictators and gang bosses, the holier-than-thou brigade and the ones who just couldn't make up their minds. If human nature has changed at all since Dante, it's only been for the worse.
This is a book that has exerted an incredible influence down the centuries, especially on artists. If your imagination is a bit jaded, just type 'Dante Durer' into Google to come up with fantastic engravings from the Renaissance master, or 'Dante Blake' to view William Blake's more restrained and impressionistic but no less powerful impressions. There is no shortage of English translations, either, the best to date being the new one by Robert Pinsky."
"Oh Dante! Tuscan master of belle langue Who crafted these three heavenly pearls Of stunning verse, that unleash in song Of tortuous treks, our pilgrim led by Virgil's Wise spirit, mastering fierce devils and Hell To reach the base of Purgatory's mount Bewitched by souls who stumble in a veil Attempting Heaven's Gate too long to count Menagerie of repenting souls, now wise To past life's sins, Latins whom before Our pilgrim Dante, in asking, brooks no lies And gains much wisdom wending through the door That leads unto the vast celestial sea Wherein Beatrice, so fair, his heart's true love, Guides him through the star's holy tapestry E'en as our traveler seeks Grace from above, Oh Dante! Shakespeare's sole rival and confrere Whose stanzas, like diamonds, glisten and shine Whose beauty and genius seem beyond compare Not for every taste, true, but ah! for mine!
(Yeah, OK, it's not exactly Terza Rima...I'm no Dante!)"
"T. S. Eliot: "Dante and Shakespeare divide the modern world between them, there is no third."
Dante's magnus opus exceeds my weak grasp to illuminate. If you are part of the Western world, you have been colored by this book, whether you have read it or not. So many authors have drawn upon the imagery from Dante's work, and used so many ideas from him. Not to mention how Dante took poetry to new heights and new places, using common tongue from his part of Italy instead Latin, he weaves in the poetry and songs of the ancients, science and theology of his time, innovative storytelling techniques, history, the Old and New Testaments, cosmology, and an unabashed sense of poetical prowess. Dante's persona in the poem goes through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. Each stage is worth books of commentary and discussion, but suffice it to say that going through with Dante isn't like anything else I have read.
There is so much in there, I don't know where to start or what else I can add that hasn't been said before.
"I would give the Divine Comedy five stars, but this translation doesn't bring the reader to that level of experience. I much prefer Pinsky's Inferno to Ciardi's, but I did find myself returning to Ciardi for notes and maps. This is the only version of the Purgatorio and the Paradiso that I've ever read, so I don't have much to compare to there.
Reading Dante is like enrolling in a guided tour of the literary, philosophical, and ethical stratas of the medieval imaginary. You have to do a lot of work, but it's all worth it."
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