This widely praised version of Dante's masterpiece, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award of the Academy of American Poets, is more idiomatic and approachable than its many predecessors. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Pinsky employs slant rhyme and near rhyme to preserve Dante's terza rima form without distorting the flow of English idiom. The result is a clear and vigorous translation that is also unique, student-friendly, and faithful to the original: "A brilliant success," as Bernard Knox wrote in The New York Review of Books.
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The one quality that all classic works of literature share is their timelessness. Shakespeare still plays in Peoria 400 years after his death because the stories he dramatized resonate in modern readers' hearts and minds; methods of warfare have changed quite a bit since the Trojan War described by Homer in his Iliad, but the passions and conflicts that shaped such warriors as Achilles, Agamemnon, Patroclus, and Odysseus still find their counterparts today on battlefields from Bosnia to Afghanistan. Likewise, a little travel guide to hell written by the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri in the 13th century remains in print at the end of the 20th century, and it continues to speak to new generations of readers. There have been countless translations of the Inferno, but this one by poet Robert Pinsky is both eloquent and tailored to our times.
Yes, this is an epic poem, but don't let that put you off. An excellent introduction provides context for the work, while detailed notes on each canto are a virtual who's who of 13th-century Italian politics, culture, and literature. Best of all, Pinsky's brilliant translation communicates the horror, despair, and terror of hell with such immediacy, you can almost smell the sulfur and feel the heat from the rain of fire as Dante--led by his faithful guide Virgil--descends lower and lower into the pit. Dante's journey through Satan's kingdom must rate as one of the great fictional travel tales of all time, and Pinsky does it great justice.
From Publishers Weekly
Though transforming Dante's terza rima into readable English has bogged down many a distinguished translator, Pinsky (The Want Bone) more than meets the challenge. His rendering has an efficient feel; the lines seem slimmer and less unwieldy than most contemporary verse translations. Each one of the cantos features a good number of stanzas dominated by monosyllables-his answer, along with intriguing patterns of assonance, to approximating the splendor of Dante's profusion of rhymes, which are impossible to replicate in English. The coherent narration of the translation is also welcome, as it keeps a harness on the sometimes meandering diction of the original. Pinsky's voice is nearly irresistible when rounding out the grotesqueries of Dante's Hell: his versions of the ninth and final circle bring the bizarre terror of the fiery pit to life. Plainspoken yet elegant, this Inferno sustains a tactile succession of images over 34 cantos, and lends itself to being read aloud. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Format:Paperback
I first read the Inferno in high school and after several years, wanted to read it again and I am glad I did. Pinsky's translation is very well executed and he does a wonderful job at bringing the terza rima into English. (His introduction explains just how difficult this is when translating from Italian into English)
A great, dark classic, with a singular pathos that I have yet to see any literary (or cinematic) work surpass.
By Jason Baer
Format:Hardcover
This is, by far, the finest English translation of Dante's immortal epic, The Inferno. Several other translations are littered with inaccuracies, stilted sentences, and inept metaphors, all because the translator was set on strictly maintaining Dante's original terza rima structure. Perhaps this is a matter of taste, but personally I prefer to read a translation that rigorously attempts to recreate the nuances of Dante's tale rather than a translation that attempts to recreate his rhyme scheme (invariably at the expense of the story itself). Pinsky's translation is as flawless and artful as is humanly possible, recreating the story's approachability... an approachability that was of prime importance to Dante but was not to most of his translators over the years. Nicole Pinsky also deserves a great deal of credit for the book's outstanding notes.
By "atcgdna"
Format:Paperback
Pinsky, a superb poet in his own right, provides an utterly fulfilling read with his translation of Dante's Inferno. He succeeds not only in conveying the tone of the work admirably, but also in preserving the terza rima (a triplet rhyming pattern: aba bcb cdc) which henceforth has been so difficult to replicate in English. The bilingual edition of the text is beautifully laid out and makes for easy reference.
Pinsky, and the contributing authors who supplied the explanatory notes, clarify some of the obscure Catholic theological and sociopolitical references abundant throughout the text. All in all, this translation is both aesthetically pleasing and technically proficient, though the serious student may find it helpful to read the text side by side with the more literal translation of Mandelbaum.
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4.4 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
the very best Inferno since Dante Alighieri's original?
Robert Pinsky brilliantly translates into terza rima, the difficult rhyme scheme Dante wrote the Divine Comedy in, & does it with such grace, such linguistic precision &... Read more
Published on Mar 21 2003 by I X Key
1.0 out of 5 stars
You've read the book; stay clear of the cassette
This cassette makes you want to pull out the old Dylan Thomas recordings for reassurance that all writers are not dull and indifferent when reading poetry aloud. Read more
Published on Jan 4 2003
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Translation of a Great Work
Robert Pinsky offers a powerful translation of Dante's masterpiece. He found a way to convey a sense of Dante's rhyming scheme to the English speaker -- and he certainly captured... Read more
Published on Jun 28 2002 by Sammy Jo
5.0 out of 5 stars
Do not abandon hope all ye...
The Inferno is by far the most interesting of the three books which make up Dante's Divine Comedy, and Robert Pinsky's translation is by far the best I've ever read. Read more
Published on May 31 2002 by Jae Brodsky
5.0 out of 5 stars
5 Stars aint enough!
Dante's Inferno is a poetic masterpiece filled with intricate details and descriptions that paint a picture without a paintbrush. Read more
Published on May 16 2002 by Enlightened
5.0 out of 5 stars
To the 11 Year old Reader
Dear 11 year old reader,
I do not believe that a child who probably still wears diapers and drinks from a bottle can be reading Dante. Read more
I do not believe that a child who probably still wears diapers and drinks from a bottle can be reading Dante. Read more
Published on May 1 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Terza Rima!
This is the best translation of the Inferno that I have read to this date. Pinsky does great justice to Dante's incredible Divine Comedy. Read more
Published on Feb 24 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dante's passion, grace and fire is captured
Mr. Pinsky's translation of The Inferno is a masterpiece. Most English translations of foreign-language poetry capture the literal sense of the poem but lose much of the liguistic... Read more
Published on Aug 12 2001 by "jalvarnas"
4.0 out of 5 stars
A rare and Clever version of The Inferno
This book is one which should be owned by all dante collectors. Unlike some other versions, the translator has transposed the italian almost word for word to english to convey... Read more
Published on July 29 2001 by Adam Joseph K
5.0 out of 5 stars
"...All ye who enter here..."
I was turned on to Pinsky's translation by reading Thomas Harris's "Hannibal".This is probably the closest thing to a definitive English translation of Dante's Inferno. Read more
Published on July 23 2001 by JR Pinto
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