Inferno

by Dante Alighieri, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Translator)

Overview

On a divine journey through the depths of Hell, Dante--with his guide, the poet Virgil--witnesses the fate of Earth’s sinners. Inferno, a 14th century poem and the first part of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, paints an allegorical underworld in which sinners are punished in accordance with their sins. Journey through the darkness and meet famous historical and mythical figures and the fate that has become them, from Homer and Julius Caesar who dwell in Limbo with the unbaptized and the virtuous pagans, to Judas Iscariot and Satan himself, who dwell in the deepest circle of hell for the sin of treachery. Influential, even after seven centuries in print, readers of Inferno will appreciate the plethora of allusions both within and concerning this work, as well as the moral implications the story develops. Now available as part of the Word Cloud Classics series, Inferno is a must-have addition to the libraries of all classic literature lovers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607109976
Publisher:	Thunder Bay Press
Publication date:	05/14/2013
Series:	Word Cloud Classics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
Lexile:	1120L (what's this?)
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321)was an Italian poet, writer, and political thinker. After studying at the University of Bologna, he married and had four children. Dante was exiled from his hometown of Florence in 1302 due to his political leanings, finally settling in the city of Ravenna in 1307, when he began writing The Divine Comedy.

John Lotherington has written widely on Renaissance literature and history, including co-authored surveys of sixteenth-century Europe, Years of Renewal, and sixteenth-century England, The Tudor Years.  He is at present a Program Director at the Salzburg Global Seminar.

Editorial Reviews

"Bravo for this new version of Dante . . . Bravo, Professor Nichols!" - The Church Times

"All life is written in Dante's burning pages, and Nichols has done him proud." - Ian Thomson, The Observer

"For sheer liveliness, combined with accuracy and closeness to the text, it will be hard to rival." - A.N. Wilson

"This new translation by J.G. Nichols, clearly grounded in a secure knowledge of and familiarity with Dante and in English verse which is rarely less than competently handled, is one that deserves to be taken seriously and will reward any reader who makes his first encounter with Dante through it. It is an intelligent and sophisticated piece of work." - Acumen Literary Journal

"Dante is my spiritual food." - James Joyce

From the Publisher

An extraordinary verse-rendering—the fruit of many years' work—of Dante's The Divine Comedy…[James] has not only tackled this Everest of translation, but has scrambled to the summit in triumph.”

Robert McCrum - Guardian

Seeking to preserve Dante's 'infinitely variable rhythmic pulse,' James makes an inspired metrical choice…The greatest virtue of James's translation is his gift for infusing poetry in the least likely places…James's austere volume achieves something remarkable: It lets Dante's poetry shine in all its brilliance.

Joseph Luzzi - New York Times Book Review

The freedoms James takes allow him to get off some beautiful phrases…James is a poet, doing a poet's work…[He] is also a premier practitioner of the high-low style that became so popular in the nineteen-twenties, notably via Eliot and Pound, which is to say, in part, via Dante.

Joan Acocella - The New Yorker