So we think we mostly know the story but rarely does one know the whole story without muscling your way through the read. This is dense, long term, situational reading. The whole story includes the ubiquitous `Inferno' plus the far less known `Pugatorio' and `Paradiso'. Ciardi's deeply footnoted version, I'm certain, to a 100% probability, must contain at least 1 error of some relevance to some reader, but it's certainly adequate and far more curious than my previous reads.
Every reader draws his own conclusions and opinions and they are probably all correct. In the context of John Ciardi's translation, it cannot be overstated how meticulous this translation actually is. The Divine Comedy is the `first of its kind' exposition of the Tuscan dialect that much later emerges as the consolidated `Italian' language. Dante's syntax, meanings and nearly everything linguistic are 21st century translationally imputed into this `first of its kind'. The debates for perfection can never be ended.
So, opinions? ... here's mine ...
The `Divine Comedy' is a relentless satirical, pseudo-theological exposition of super-epic length. Context and setting are everything. The 14th Century was perhaps the single most catastrophic century for historical Western humankind and so Dante relates his world as an observer to the human cataclysm erupting all around him day after stinking day. A first-time read of Dante ... without some historical perspective on time and place, will leave the reader confused and inevitably horribly bored. That Dante skewers his living `enemies' in some level of damnation's treadmill is the `commedia'. I might suggest this historical pre-read
A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
Some imagine there's theology here. Some even imagine Christianity might be defined here. That notion is unfortunately absurd and very unfortunately plays into some readers mind as `Christian' to confuse scriptural vs the imaginings of Dante's fantasy. Is Christianity defined by Tom Hanks in the DaVinci Code? Of course not. Dante's epic here is nightmare scary stuff intended to keep people awake at night ... an afterlife of eternally walking the treadmill to 'paradiso' is grim indeed. A chance error of Dante's perception of sin here or there and the treadmill of damnation-to-paradise is right there to snatch you. It's fun but it's not Christianity.
John Ciardi's annotation makes this translation entertaining. You will wear out Wikipedia searching for the story of the devilishly tormented and transitionally divine characters. These are generally obscure folks of no otherwise historical note then to be mentioned by Dante. Hypocrisy reigns supreme and the fundamental answers to the great 'unknowns' of the faith are dreamed up by Dante Alighieri and rendered here by Ciardi.
Enjoy the show!
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Great book, but Extremely Fragile
The packaging was perfect and received the book in immaculate condition. The only gripe I have with this book is how fragile it is. The paper cover is thin and the pages are in similar thickness to a Bible's pages, or at least the ones I have handled. To combat this, I taped the edges and made a plastic cover for the book. Still, this book is amazing, so don't hold off on it.
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