The Inferno (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

You can see why it is a classic

Yes, once again, Aaron actually reads a classic. The last time this happened was, ummm..., a few years ago. Anyway, this time I tackled the famous recounting of one man's journey to Hell. The version I read used the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translation from the nineteenth century, which might have made things harder then they needed to be, as there were definitely some archaic words used. Not that the subject wasn't hard enough, considering that the book was written around 750 years ago. What I wasn't prepared for was how personal everything would be (for the author, not for me). See, Dante used this book (and most likely all of the Divine Comedy, of which The Inferno is just the first part) to take some rather serious pot shots at various people he didn't like, as well as showing favor to people that he did like. For example, many of Dante's political enemies find themselves in some rather interesting situations in hell, undergoing some rather perverse tortures for their sins in life. A number of classical philosphers and poets show up in Hell, too, which only makes sense considering that they died without acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus Christ. However, because Dante likes these guys, they are only in the first circle of Hell, where things relatively aren't all that unpleasant (like Judas Iscariot, who gets eaten by Lucifer for all eternity. Lovely.). Lastly, I would like to note that the preface, the footnotes, and the endnotes were very helpful in getting a proper understanding for what was going on and putting it in the proper context. Props to whoever put that all together.

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Excellent

The writing in Dante¿s Inferno is beautiful, powerful, and effective. It was a little hard to comprehend, but I understood much of it. I thought the book was very excellent and fun to read. I would recommend it to anyone who finds fantasy interesting. The way God/Dante punishes the people in Hell is weird/interesting, but I loved it.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

JUST READ IT

If your looking at this as a possible book to reread, get it. If you've never read The Inferno, BUY THIS COPY. Its the greatest poem in history, arguably the greatest work of art in history. It is epic, beautiful, amazing, and stimulating, intellectualy and emotionally. In ways, it is beyond flawless. Everything about this work: the writing, the story, the characters, the presentation, eben the preface is masterful. Buy it, and never sell it unless you can get another copy cheaper.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Great book......

I really enjoyed this book. It was great I L.O.V.E a book with symbolizism in it. This book is always misrepresented as one thing when its talking about something else. Dante biography is amazing. N his L.O.V.E for Beatrice was incredible. I had decided to do farther research on his life. From start to finish the book his life....both very wonderful. I enjoyed it...it is a MUST READ!!!

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Very intellectual

Dante takes a journey through the 9 levels of hell with incredible dipictions of the tortures of each level... yeah if you can understand it. This was written in 1300 so obviously the writting is much different. I found it incredibly hard to read and if it hadnt been for the endnotes i would have finished and had no idea what i just read. The idea behind the book is briliant, i loved it, i just couldnt follow along very well. I learned a lot and it was interesting enough, but it is just a tough book to follow along with. If you have lots of time, READ IT, and good luck.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

donna911

...and I read this because I wanted to. And enjoyed it so much more than in college. The professors were generous with their dialogue and had easy to follow commentaries. It resparked my enjoyment of the original by guiding me line by line through this great work. The translation from the Italian enhanced not only the understanding of the original, but provided a rich understanding and guide. The guide on the opposing page to the original was so useful, as well as extensive. The Hollender translation truly raises the bar.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

There is a reason this book has stood the test of time.

The Inferno is one of the best books I have read. Once I began reading it, I could not stop. Normally books written in this time period do not hold my interest, but Dante did.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Inferno is a Must

The Inferno is an epic poem, rather than a novel. Written in the first person, Dante takes the reader through his version of Hell. As he descends, the sins become increasingly catastrophic. Comical at times, serious at times, but all around a great read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The good, the bad, and the poorly told

I had rather mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand the actual plot is fascinating. One man¿s chance to walk through hell and report what it¿s like. This is what actually drew me to the book in the first place. I also liked Dante¿s interpretations of the punishments of hell, with each punishment being symbolic of the actual offense committed: poetic justice. However, I didn¿t care for the manner in which Dante narrated the story. When he is in Limbo, he describes how the great poets of the world accepted him into their numbers, and he describes how angels in heaven weep for him so that they sent him a guide to bring him safely through hell. This undertone, which is found throughout the novel, I think make Dante sound rather arrogant and preachy. This ¿holier than tho¿ attitude, I find, distracts from the story. Also, while I like Dante¿s use of poetic justice, I thought he might have played down hell. Hell is supposed to be a place of eternal torment, but for many of the punishments he lists I found myself thinking, ¿Yeah that would suck for the first couple decades¿but then you¿d get used to it.¿ Being devoured by the Cerberus on level 3 would be torture, but you have an eternity of it ahead: you would learn to live with it. Even all the way down on level 9 where you are frozen in ice for committing treason. You would eventually become accustomed to the cold. In conclusion, I would say that The Inferno by Dante is a good story told poorly. It has no real climax, no conflict to speak of, it seems to contradict itself in being something interesting portrayed in an uninteresting way. I¿m afraid I must admit that I did not enjoy reading The Inferno.

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

great transltion

I have wanted to read the Inferno on my own for quite a while. However, not reading it in an English class somewhat concerned me. I thought that perhaps not having a professor explaining all of the symbolism and historical background might cheat me of the Dantean experience. Ciardi's translation, summary at the beggining of each canto, and notes on the text at the end of the canto were amazing! But let's not forget the genius that was Dante here. I thought that his work was highly creative and imaginative. I would not only recommend this to someone who wishes to read a great classic, (that everyong one should atleast be aware of)but to those that simple like horror novles.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

John Ciardi's translation is by far the best!

Virgil guides Dante through the torturing of Hell. Dante gives his readers a great and scary vision through the eternal misery of Hell.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Love this book

This book is one of my favorites, the translation is excellent especially if you are a first time reader of this book. Very easy to read and understand.

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Oh my gosh sooo awsome

could be better for the price

This translation is much easier to read than the traditional Longfellow. I really enjoyed it. However, it could really use an interactive TOC and footnotes.

leave a better sample

Sample review gives you no idea how the book is laid out, just talks about why he translates the way he does, and creds to his family. No example of the actual text of the story which is what lead me to purchase from another author.

Best Translation Out There

Quite simply, this is the best modern translation of Inferno. If you are interested in medieval Italian, you are in luck, because this is a bilingual edition with facing pages of Italian and English. The notes work amazingly well and the text flows very easily. It'd be good to invest in all of the translations of The Comedy by the Hollanders, but so far only Inferno and Purgatorio are in paperback; Paradiso is still only a hardcover and is on the higher price end.

Intellectually Challenging

Interesting book, but the writing stile makes it a slow read. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time and ability to absorb what you are reading.

My son loves it.

My fifteen year old son bought this to read for pleasure, and he enjoyed it very much.

review

An excelent first part in this trilogy. Dante is a genious. This epic is fascinationg and also scary in its depiction of Hell. I was, at first, reluctant to read it because of how graphic it sounded, but I did and it was worth it. The only bad thing is the use of archaic words and the fact that, I know its poetry, but the way things are worded sometimes gets confusing. Other than that, well done.