Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 90
 Ciardi's Dante lives! August 25, 2009
A. Kass (Staten Island, NY United States)
Long ago, I slogged through a translation of THE INFERNO by a translator I don't recall. It was interesting, but the language felt a bit like the muck in the Third Ring. Then I picked up Ciardi's rendering of THE PURGATORIO, and my eyes opened. Here was a vivid, living presence taking me through this amazing landscape.
Ciardi's full accomplishment, in bringing Dante vividly back life in a new language, is here. Savor the journey.
 This review is for the Kindle DX edition of this book. August 5, 2009
Laura (USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I gave this a 2 star because it is a huge struggle on kindle, which is the version I am reviewing, but I have seen it in paper form. My recommendation is to go with paper until they fix the kindle issues. The purchaser can't tell the format issues from the sample because it doesn't get into the text, it just has the introduction TOC (which are linked), and translators notes. I bought this book to read on my Kindle Dx. It looks good on the page, the lines breaks are good, the poetry is aligned. The BIG problem is the endnotes. At the end of each canto is a list of endnotes. They are labeled 1, 2, 39-46, 146-159, ect. I assume these are line numbers(?), but you can't tell from the text because nothing in canto 1 is numbered, none of the text throughout this book has any notation numbers for endnotes and the lines aren't numbered either. This makes it nearly impossible to read the work unless you are extremly familiar with it because you can't just go to the endnotes of the chapter and read note 39-46. You have to read the endnote first, then go back to the work count down to line 39-46 and read what the note is referring to. Really not workable on a piece of literature this involved.
I was really disappointed because it says it is formatted for the DX, I tried to read it on a DX, and it does look nice on the page, but that just isn't enough for this work. The reader needs the notes. I was REALLY looking forward to this translation as it is excellent, I read some of it on paper then ordered the sample on kindle. The sample doesn't get into actual text though, so the problem wasn't apparent until after I bought it. I don't know how the reader will know when this work is fixed because, as I said above you can't tell from the sample. I have contacted Amazon kindle support about this and will attempt to contact the publisher. If I get any updated information I'll update here.
As I also said above the paper version looks very good and I do highly recommed this translator.
 Dr. Suess meets Dante July 18, 2009
D. Simpson (CA)
1 out of 8 found this review helpful
I read an edition of Dante's 'Inferno' that I borrowed from my college's library not long ago and loved the true-to-the-times story and translation. Sadly, the campus' newly remodeled library only carried 'Inferno' & 'Paradiso' so I had to look elsewhere for 'Purgatorio.'
An old roommate of mine had "The Divine Comedy" translated by John Ciardi, which I assumed would suffice in my quest to continue with the series. At first I didn't notice the rhyming, but as I kept reading it became more and more apparent. I didn't remember "Inferno" rhyming, but I turned back anyhow to see if it too had the 1st and 3rd lines rhyme. Sure enough it did.
At the beginning of this collection is a small prologue in which the author, Ciardi, describes how he had taken the words of Dante and changed them in order to make them rhyme in an attempt to better explain Dante. Ridiculous!
What is even worse is that this man, John Ciardi, took it upon himself to alter not only the context and original words of Dante, but felt the need to add his own lines of work into the original for the sake of a rhyme scheme.
The final 5 lines of Canto VI in (Ciardi's) "Purgatorio" read as follows:
"But if your wits and memory are not dead
you yet will see yourself as that sick woman
who cannot rest, though on a feather bed,
but fails as if she fenced with pain and grief.
Ah, Florence, may your cure or course be brief." (p.333)
In the Notes that follow every Canto, the explanation of this final piece is described: "152. that sick woman - Though she lies in luxury (on a feather bed) she can find no relief from what is wrong with her but flails about as if she were fencing with her pain and grief, seeking to overcome it by outmaneuvering it. The last line (155) is not in the original. It is my own addition, forced upon me by the need to rhyme." (p.337)
Again, RIDICULOUS! If you purchase this edition you will be sorely disappointed in it's writing style and failure to be anything close to the original works. If Dante Alighieri wanted to write like Dr. Suess, he would have. This tale of travels through the rings of Hell and Purgatory to get to Paradise would be filled with vibrant colors, watoozles, and who-beasts at every turn.
I only give this 1 star because it has to have a rating to be posted. If I could give it no star to 1/4 of a star, I would have.
The Divine Comedy May 12, 2009
Michael Mccaffrey (Chattanooga Tn)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Pleased with the reasonable price and prompt mail delivery of this textbook translation of Dante's Divine Comedy. Will consider using Amazon again for various primary and secondary material.
I love Dante! January 19, 2009
Alexa the Bookworm (Seattle, WA USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I read Dante's Inferno and Purgatory in senior year last year and decided that I wanted to read it again. Dante's work is truly masterful and iteresting. With the summaries at the beginning and the footnotes at the end, the poetry in the middle is easy to understand. Also, John Ciardi is the best Dante translator. He is the one we used in class, and out of all the versions I have read, his is the best.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 90
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