Reviews

The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Hell, Purgatory, Paradise by Henry Francis Cary, Dante Alighieri

nooker's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

3.0

anarita3971's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

benwillie's review against another edition

4.0

An epic poem of epic proportions. I'm currently writing an essay on this, so I don't want to exhaust my abilities to write on Dante for non-graded output. I'll try to write something thoughtful once I'm done, or maybe I'll just ⌘C ⌘V my essay in here...

aimeeverret's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

Étant francophone, j’ai lu cette édition en anglais de concert avec la traduction classique de La Mennais, et je dois dire que j’ai trouvée la traduction de Longfellow plus mélodieuse et poétique. Bien que je ne puisse pas la comparer à l’originale, j’aurais tendance à dire qu’entre les deux, elle était supérieure. Je serais toutefois curieuse de parcourir une traduction française plus récente.

gabrielrobartes's review against another edition

4.0

Or, perhaps, 3.5. This translation is never less than readable avoids some of the gnarlier twists and turns of (for example) the Hollanders. But it feels somehow workmanlike. But there are enough flashes of insight (St Bernard's prayer in Canto XXXIII of Paradise is stunningly executed) and the expertise with which Dante's complex trains of poetic syllogising are followed through is admirable (and very welcome - equally easy to get lost in the Hollanders at times). I'd still recommend Esolen over this but feel I've gained additional insight into the text by a close reading of Nichol's take.

theoryoftheafro's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Què es pot dir, sinó? La Comèdia se'ns presenta com a l'obra literària en epopeia més rellevant de la nostra experiència humana, darrere únicament per L'Odissea. Potser siga aquest ύβρις pseudo europeu que ens impregna en la lectura dels nostres grans clàssics, en titllar-la de la "més rellevant", però els hòmens, els éssers humans, hem perdut les nostres infinites epopeies de pobles oblidats arran de la colonització i destrucció dels nostres veïns.
Hem, doncs, de celebrar aquelles fites que encara ens en romanen, de la grandària intel·lectual humana, a les nostres mans. Si el Popol Vuh és el texte sagrat dels maies, la Comèdia ho és de la població que ha patit sota el cristianisme, que encara cerca de definir-se malgrat ell; Dant troba la seua Beatriu, emperò nosaltres? Qui ens acollirà i ens guiarà envers la Llum i Benestar suprema? Serem sempre ànimes perdudes, o fidels batejades a pesar d'haver estat condemnades? Reflexionem, reflectim-hi, doncs, humans: què ens defineix? No serà pas un texte sagrat, això espere.

No oblidaré pas, però, de fer esment de l'aptament divina traducció feta pel mestre Joan Francesc Mira, a qui espere conèixer en un futur no gaire llunyà per poder congratular (i agraïr) per una versió tan commovedora i enlluernadora.

zalopunk's review against another edition

3.0

Al final leí bien el infierno, a medias el purgatorio y por encima el cielo.

Imposible negar que es una obra maestra, no podría ser menos con la cantidad de trabajo que metió Dante en la escritura. Siento que realmente logra insertar una magnitud tremenda de simbolismos, interpretaciones y reflexiones en cada verso.

El gran problema, para la lectura contemporanea, es la cantidad de personajes que a lo largo del tiempo se hicieron irrelevantes. Cuando Dante usa personajes de la mitología todo parece tener mucho sentido, pero cuando empieza a hablar de personas contemporáneas a él se nos pierde mucho del mensaje. Igualmente, no es un libro para leerse en un mes, ni en un año, debería leerse con lentitud y detencion, como fue su escritura.

faircloughliv's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

I'm happy I read The Divine Comedy for its importance in the wider literary world, however it was so infuriatingly dry and lecture like throughout. Reaching the end of Inferno alone felt like an utter slog, and it's categorically the most entertaining section of The Divine Comedy. Happy to have it ticked off but I'll never return

madfil's review against another edition

4.0

(17 November, 2011)

Still great but this translation is a bit too dry for me. I much preferred Mark Musa's from Penguins Books.

brandon_1986's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0