Book Description

Robert and Jean Hollander’s verse translation with facing-page Italian offers the dual virtues of maximum fidelity to Dante’s text with the feeling necessary to give the English reader a sense of the work’s poetic greatness in Italian. And since Robert Hollander’s achievements as a Dante scholar are unsurpassed in the English-speaking world, the commentaries that accompany each canto offer superb guidance in comprehension and interpretation. This translation is also the text of the Princeton Dante Project Web site, an ambitious online project that offers a multimedia version of the Divine Comedy and links to other Dante Web sites. On every count, then, this edition of Paradiso is likely to be a touchstone for generations to come, and it completes one of the great projects of literary translation and scholarship of our time.

Customer Reviews (2)

Hollander's Version
I know there are countless versions of Dante's epic, however, Hollander does the best job in not only translation, but also in immersing the reader into Dante's world.

Hollander gives the reader the original Italian novel on one side, with a well developed English translation on the right. Hollander also has a passionate and thorough introduction with helpful notes all over the text.

Hollander's version is also the best version I've come across, since it not only has the original Italian printed right next to it, and not only do the notes help the reader follow the story, but he also sets the type so that it mirror's Dante's.


Now I know that this edition might be a bit pricey, but if you can afford it, buy it. I own four versions of Dante's Devine Comedy and I can't tell you how I wish I would have had someone point me to Hollanders translation in the beginning. I've also asked other professors who are in the field of English Literature and Italian and they all seem to agree that Hollander is the best so far.

looks wonderful
looks wonderful... arrived in fine condition.. on my reading stack.. my initial look thru it suggests it will be a wonderful ned look at this classic subject ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (4)

Interesting for multiple reasons
This book probably couldn't be labeled as overly entertaining, but it is very interesting. For one thing, it's the very first biography of Dante. Even more importantly, it's written by Giovanni Boccaccio, one of the great luminaries of Italian literature. As far as I know, no other biography written by one literary genius about another exists.

I was pleased to find a lot of material and anecdotes in it that I had also found in modern biographies. I also enjoyed reading firsthand the adoration that Dante's people poured upon him so soon after "The Divine Comedy" was written.

There are a few things in the book that might surprise modern readers. The supposed unhappiness of Dante's marriage is talked about for quite some time, despite Boccaccio acknowledging that he has no evidence of marital troubles besides his (Boccaccio's) own personal misogyny. Also, medieval literary theory and Boccaccio's opinions on literature sidetrack the narrative a bit, but that is simply how biographies were written at the time.

The only thing I don't like and can't explain is why the publishers included a story from "The Decameron" at the end of the book. The tale isn't about Dante and does not add to the biography.

When a son of Florence writes about another son of Florence
"The Life of Dante", by Giovanni Boccaccio, is aptly described in the introduction by J.G. Nichols, at the beginning of this edition, as the "first modern literary biography", which is true, to some extent. Yet, in a time when a string of biographies written on more or less famous people seems to have, as only purpose, the crude expositions of mildly interesting (if at all) juicy tidbits, and this usually in a poor prose, this book, written in the 14th century by the author of the "Decameron", is at the same time light-hearted, poetic and informative. It gives us not only an insight into Dante's life, work and personality, but also into that of Boccaccio (and his infamous aversion to marriage, at least to that of the 'philosophers') and into the Florence both knew.

But most important and touching I think is the honest love for Dante's works and admiration for the man that are on display in every page, even when Boccaccio addresses Dante's faults. And of course, the style of the Florentine, one of the great writers behind the foundation of the Italian literature, only adds to the interest of this biography. A very refreshing reading, and a must for those of you who are at least curious about one of the major masterpieces of European literature and the man behind it.

One literary master on another
Invaluable to anyone interested in Italian literature, Dante or Boccaccio. Boccaccio, of course was a great admirer of Dante's, wrote a commentary on the Divine Comedy and was greatly influenced by him. Writing at a time when Dante was not given the respect he has since (surely inevitably) gained, Boccaccio wrote this biography of him, pointing out his great merits as a person, poet, and political figure. It's fascinating to see the results, with insights on every page into both Dante, Boccaccio, and also Florentine society of the time. There are wonderful stories about Dante to illustrate his peculiarities as a man - I particularly enjoyed the story of him vandalising a workman's tools for misquoting the Comedy. Highly recommended.

Bio the way it was ment to be
More than a simple biography, Boccaccio's The Life of Dante is an ode to a master by his pupil.Not only does the book tell the tale of Dante's life, it illustrates nicely Italian life and politics.The biography is short and fast paced.The reader can actually feel the author's love of his subject seeping off the pages. ... Read more

Book Description
Jump into the fire

Severo Dante and his brothers had always dismissed rumors of the Inferno—an explosive desire that overtakes Dante men when they first see their soul mates. Then Severo met jewelry designer Francesca Sommers and was astonished by their raw, urgent, mutual attraction. A rising star at a rival company, Francesca has crafted a dazzling new collection that could ruin Severo's plans to rebuild the Dante empire. His solution: blackmail her into becoming his employee—and his fiancée—until their smoldering affair runs its course. But some fires, once lit, can never be extinguished.…

... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Medieval vision of the afterlife
This was required reading for a graduate course in medieval history.
"The Divine Comedy" describes Dante's journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso), guided first by the Roman epic poet Virgil and then by Beatrice, the subject of his love and another of his works, "La Vita Nuova." While the vision of Hell, the Inferno, is vivid for modern readers, the theological niceties presented in the other books require a certain amount of patience and scholarship to understand.Purgatorio, the most lyrical and human of the three, also has the most poets in it; Paradiso, the most heavily theological, has the most beautiful and ecstatic mystic passages in which Dante tries to describe what he confesses he is unable to convey (e.g., when Dante looks into the face of God: "all'alta fantasia qui mancò possa" - "at this high moment, ability failed my capacity to describe," Paradiso, XXXIII, 142).

Dante wrote the Comedy in his regional dialect.By creating a poem of epic structure and philosophic purpose, he established that the Italian language was suitable for the highest sort of expression, and simultaneously established the Tuscan dialect as the standard for Italian. In French, Italian is nicknamed la langue de Dante.Publishing in the vernacular language marked Dante as one of the first (among others such as Geoffrey Chaucer and Giovanni Boccaccio) to break from standards of publishing in only Latin or Greek (the languages of Church and antiquity).This break allowed more literature to be published for a wider audience - setting the stage for greater levels of literacy in the future.

Readers often cannot understand how such a serious work may be called a "comedy".In Dante's time, all serious scholarly works were written in Latin (a tradition that would persist for several hundred years more, until the waning years of the Enlightenment) and works written in any other language were assumed to be comedic in nature.Furthermore, the word "comedy," in the classical sense, refers to works which reflect belief in an ordered universe, in which events not only tended towards a happy or "amusing" ending, but an ending influenced by a Providential will that orders all things to an ultimate good.By this meaning of the word, the progression of Dante's pilgrim from Hell to Paradise is the paradigmatic expression of comedy, since the work begins with the pilgrim's moral confusion and ends with the vision of God.

The Divine Comedy can be described simply as an allegory: Each canto, and the episodes therein, can contain many alternate meanings.Dante's allegory, however, is more complex, and, in explaining how to read the poem (see the "Letter to Can Grande della Scala"), he outlines other levels of meaning besides the allegory (the historical, the moral, the literal, and the anagogical).The structure of the poem, likewise, is quite complex, with mathematical and numerological patterns arching throughout the work, particularly threes and nines.The poem is often lauded for its particularly human qualities: Dante's skillful delineation of the characters he encounters in Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise; his bitter denunciations of Florentine and Italian politics; and his powerful poetic imagination.Dante's use of real characters, according to Dorothy Sayers in her introduction to her translation of "L'Inferno", allows Dante the freedom of not having to involve the reader in description, and allows him to "[make] room in his poem for the discussion of a great many subjects of the utmost importance, thus widening its range and increasing its variety."

Dante called the poem "Comedy" (the adjective "Divine" added later in the 16th century) because poems in the ancient world were classified as High ("Tragedy") or Low ("Comedy"). Low poems had happy endings and were of everyday or vulgar subjects, while High poems were for more serious matters. Dante was one of the first in the Middle Ages to write of a serious subject, the Redemption of man, in the low and vulgar Italian language and not the Latin language as one might expect for such a serious topic.

Paradiso
After an initial ascension (Canto I), Beatrice guides Dante through the nine spheres of Heaven. These are concentric and spherical, similar to Aristotelian and Ptolemaic cosmology.Dante admits that the vision of heaven he receives is the one that his human eyes permit him to see. Thus, the vision of heaven found in the Cantos is Dante's own personal vision, ambiguous in its true construction.The addition of a moral dimension means that a soul that has reached Paradise stops at the level applicable to it.Souls are allotted to the point of heaven that fits with their human ability to love God.Thus, there is a heavenly hierarchy. All parts of heaven are accessible to the heavenly soul.That is to say all experience God but there is a hierarchy in the sense that some souls are more spiritually developed than others.This is not determined by time or learning as such but by their proximity to God (how much they allow themselves to experience him above other things).It must be remembered in Dante's schema that all souls in Heaven are on some level always in contact with God.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in literature and medieval history.

Difficult text, rendered well
I am not a professional Dante scholar, and in fact, speak no Italian at all, so my judgement as to the accuracy of the translation is suspect. That said, Musa does an admirable job of helping the reader understand this very difficult final third of the Divine Comedy. Of the three sections of the Comedy, my feeling is that Paradise is the least interesting, though it would be a shame to read the first two parts and neglect the third, since they all are integral to understanding what Dante was trying to accomplish. But the characters in Paradise are all literally perfect and sinless, and there is not nearly as much of interest as in the other books. There is a lot of symbolism involving what shapes the saints stand in and the like, but its all rather trying and sometimes monotonous, to me anyway. Musa is a good guide though. The translation smartly abandons any hope of recreating Rima Terza, and goes with a straight blank verse rendering. The translation is subtle and effective, even when the poem itself is slow and tedious. Despite my beliefs about Paradise, both history and personal experience tell me that Divine Comedy is an important and fulfilling part of the Western Canon that should not go neglected. I have no problem recommending Musa's version of Paradise.

Wonderful, Informative, Scary Story
My interest in classic literature did not arise until recently. I read many reviews which indicated that people with this such interest absolutely MUST read Dante's Inferno. With that hefty weight upon my "newbie" shoulders I decided to undergo the journey that so many others have made over the last 700 years.

As it turns out, Mark Musa's translation of Inferno is fantastic. Each chapter begins with a very brief but informative synopsis, followed by the prose, then finally capped off my Musa's notes on the text. Musa's notes give backgroud on all of the characters and situations that take place throughout the story. These notes are a MUST for any newcomer to Dante and classical literature in general. So, not only is there the original text in English for us non-Italian speakers, but there are notes to increase the readers comprehension.

Dante is guided by the author of the Aeneid, Virgil.Virgil takes Dante through the Nine Levels of Hell to show him the pain and suffering of all those who do not love and follow God.Dante learns a great deal on this journey as does the reader.

Mark Musa's translation of Dante is smooth, entertaining, and very informative. Anyone interested in Christianity, Hell, famous Greeks, and classical literature should definitely indulge themselves as this translation is not overwhelming in the slightest. Five stars across the board.

I understood the grace and beauty
The pilgrim's journey continues to heaven.

If you, like me, are intimidated by Dante but are interested in these great works of Western Literature, you now have an accessible translation of the Divine Comedy.Musa's translation communicates the divinity of the events in the story onan understandable level. The Divine Comedy colored my perception ofreligion and helped me to a new understanding of the harmony ofresponsibility and grace. The work also educates the reader in an enrichingway about the belief system of the middle ages.

Don't miss this book anddon't read any other translation.

Divine Comedy : Paradise
In this translation of paradise, Mark Musa exhibits the same sensitivity to language and knowledge of translation that enabled his versions of the Inferno and Purgatory to caputure the vibrant powers of Dantes poetry.Thats what it says on the back of the book and boy you couldnt have said itbetter than that.This book is by far better than the first and a perfectsequel to the secound translation.Mark Musa puts Dante's complex poetryinto plain english so that even a common student like myself canunderstand.I think anyone who likes Dantes interpretations about lifewill love this addition to his work. ... Read more

Book Description
_The Divine Comedy_ is perhaps the greatest Christian classic ever written, and probably the greatest adveture story ever told.Dante wrote it to entertain, guide, and enrich ordinary readers, not just the intellectual elite.This clear new version with unique aids makes the fascinating story accessible to such readers today.

Those who love Dante best as a storyteller and teacher will find in this book what they have been waiting for...the freshest, clearest, most exact, and most readable Divine Comedy in the English language, with full-page illustrations and original notes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Dante Musa Style
Mark Musa has produced an extremely readable translation of a text that at times can be next to inaccessible.As a non-Dante scholar, I have struggled with other translations.The notes accompanying each canto also are well done:thorough and very illuminating.Musa's deft pen has turned Purgatory into a pleasure.

Bit of a slog after Hell.
By its very title, 'The Divine comedy' announces its theological purpose.For those not so inclined, the 'Inferno' offered many subsidiary pleasures - compelling narrative drive (both in the adventure of two men descinding into hell, and in the stories of the people they meet); an overpowering visual sense, both in the grand design of Hell's geography and the plan of its punishments, and in the individual details of the sinner's torments; and the endearing characterisation of the heroes, Virgil the stern, noble guide, and Dante, the clumsy, gossipy Everyman.

'Purgatory' has fewer of these delights.Here, it is impossible to avoid the doctrine.Every vast visual set-piece (the Angel fighting off the snake in the Valley of the Princes; the Holy Pageant that stuns the Pilgrim in Eden, complete with griffin-drawn chariot; the masque involving violence to said chariot by eagles, foxes, seven-headed monsters and giants) are all so allegorically pre-determined, each feature a religious symbol, that they lack the dramatic force that would have made their images truly poetic.

The plan of Purgatory - the AntePurgatory where those who left repentance to the last moment must wait; the mountain itself, where seven terraces represent the Deadly Sins to be purged; the crowning Earthly Paradise, or Eden, the gateway to Heaven - bears no real comparison, for the reader, to Hell: one's sympathy naturally inclines towards the eternally damned, and one almost resents the complaints of the saved complaining of their discomforture.The stories told the Pilgrim are also of a lesser order - perhaps proving pure evil to be more (aesthetically) attractive than contrition.

There are some moments when genuine terror intrudes - the visions of violation and tempting lust dreamt by the Pilgrim; the baptism of fire he must pass before entering Eden; the show-trial with Beatrice; while tortuous similes and evocations of nature are framed in poetry of intricate beauty (see Borges remarkable essay on the infinite metaphor in Canto 1).

Mark Musa, like most American annotators, has not heeded the lessons of Charles Kinbote, and his commentary to 'Purgatory' is almost loopily overwritten.He is an amiable, enthusiastic and informative guide, and if his translating choices are sometimes questionable, he has the grace to offer other alternatives.His explanation of the purpose of each image or scene makes it easier to follow the poem with greater understanding (if not necessarily enjoyment).But because he concentrates on every line with such minute detail, he frequently misses the wider design, and so, when he is puzzled by lines that don't fit his view of the Comedy, he has a tendency to blame Dante rather than himself.

A Thoroughly Annotated Translation
This is the second volume of Alighieri Dante's classic Divine Comedy.It tells the tale of Dante's journey through Purgatory, led by his guide, Virgil.Having passed through the depths of Hell (the Inferno) in the first volume, Dante and Virgil ascend the mountain of Purgatory, passing its many allegorical characters and observing the penances they must fulfill.The Divine Comedy is a beautiful, epic poem that takes the reader through a wide emotional spectrum and many vivid, picturesque scenes from Dante's fictional afterlife.

This translation was wonderful.Each of the 33 Cantos (Chapters) is set up in this sequence:1) a short summation by the translator, 2) the poem, and 3) notes on names, characters, and items referenced by Dante.The translator, Mark Musa, even explains in his notes when he has a differing interpretation of a word or phrase than other translators' have had.

Dante used so many references to Greek mythology and events that were common knowledge to educated people of the 13th-14th Century that this poem, without notes, is entirely esoteric and fully appreciated only by the most erudite modern-day readers.Mark Musa brings every reader up to par with his thorough, easily-read notes; thereby making this classic poem a very entertaining and profound experience.

Working Our Way Up
Inferno is the most famous of the trio of volumes of Dante's Divine Comedy. But don't stop there. Purgatory is a beautiful work, illustrating the rise of the human soul through Purgatory's nine ledges. I found itbeautiful how the souls were not hurrying. They waited patiently, yeteagerly.

Musa's translation makes all the difference. The language isaccessible, but not irreverent or vulgar. A routine I found helpful was toread the introduction to each canto, read the canto, then read all thenotes, checking back to reinforce meanings or double check a name orplace.

The Pilgrim's journey through this volume is heavily illustrativeof God's grace, and yet the idea of each person's responsibilities to Godare clear.

Don't stop reading after Inferno. These stirring translationsby Musa make it possible to read, understand and love the whole DivineComedy.

UNEARTHLY BEAUTY
Dante's DIVINE COMEDY: JOURNEY TO JOY, by Kathryn Lindskoog, is a delight to read. This is definitely a reader-friendly retelling of Dante's Christian classic. The original DIVINE COMEDY was written in terza rima, aclosely rhymed form of Italian poetry. This version is written in clear andflowing modern English prose, which at times is suggestive of poetry. Thereader is given easy-to-follow footnotes, providing historical backgroundand interpretation that make the book readily understandable andenjoyable.

The story can be understood on more than one level. On theliteral level, this spiritual adventure first describes Dante's journey,led by the Roman poet Virgil, down through the nine circles of INFERNO,then up the mountain of PURGATORY. There, on PURGATORY's nine ledges,penitent souls move eagerly through repentance and penance, purifying themselves in the joyful knowledge that Paradise awaits them. As anallegory of the Christian experience, PURGATORY relates the pilgrimage ofthe human soul, homesick for heaven, struggling to be free of an unworthypast, and longing for fulfillment in God.

Dante envisions PURGATORY as aplace of unearthly beauty, and here Kathryn Lindskoog's pleasing choice oflanguage makes this book a delight for the reader. Her descriptive passagesinclude such lovely phrases as: "a cliff so steep that nimble legswere useless," ... "a mountain mist...through which you could seeonly as moles do..." "...gold and fine silver, crimson cloth, ...freshly cracked emeralds - all these colors would look dull next to thegrass and flowers in that valley, just as less is always overcome bymore." The true glory of Purgatory lies in the sense of eagerness,hope, and anticipation that Dante discovers in the souls he encounters onhis journey of spiritual preparation. The book closes with the words,"now I was pure and prepared to rise to the stars." ... Read more

Book Description
This new translation presents the Italian text of the Inferno, and, on facing pages, Robert Durling's new prose translation, which brings a new power and accuracy to the rendering of Dantes extraordinary vision of Hell, with all its terror, pathos, and sardonic humor, and its penetrating analyses of the psychology of sin and the ills that plague society. Readers will prize the directness and clarity, the rich expressiveness, and the rigorous accuracy of this contemporary prose translation, which preserves to an unparalleled degree the order and emphases of Dante's syntax, unhampered by any constraints of meter or rhyme. The Italian text has been newly edited with a view to the needs of American and English readers.Martinez' and Durling's Introduction and Notes are designed with the first-time reader of the poem in mind, but will be useful to others as well. The concise Introduction presents essential biographical and historical background and a discussion of the form of the poem. The Notes are more extensive than those in most translations currently available, and they contain much new material. In addition, sixteen short essays explore the autobiographical dimension of the poem, the problematic body analogy, the question of Christ's presence in Hell, and individual cantos that have been the subject of controversy, including those on homosexuality. There is an extensive bibliography, and the indexes (to foreign words, passages cited, proper names in the Notes, and proper names in the text) will make the volume particularly useful.Robert Turner's illustrations include detailed maps of Italy, clearly labeled diagrams of the cosmos and of the structure of Hell, and line drawings of objects and places mentioned in the poem. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Dante's Inferno: Reprint Series
I found this edition of Dante's most famous book of the Divine Comedy to be excellent in all respects.The translation seemed excedingly accurate -- as an Italian prof. I was working almost exclusively from the original -- in a modern, clean style.Here the attempt is not to replicate the hendecasyllabic verse or the "third rhyming" ("terza rima").
More successful still are the notes that follow each canto, replete with explications of historical and theological references or simply of difficult lines.Not to be discounted too is the introduction which admits to not being exhaustive but is powerfully pithy and a nice springboard from which to attack the text.
Dr. Joseph A. DiLuzio

Dante's Inferno
I absolutely love this book! The English translations and the notes at the end of each Canto are incredibly helpful.

Best of the Series
Volume 1: Inferno is the best title of Dante's Divine Comedy.He presents a great look into the history of renaissance Italy around the 14th century.Robert M. Durling translates the old Italian in a simplistic yet powerful manner which allows anyone familiar with the language to understand.There are excellent notes at the end of every chapter to help reiterate the points and what they meant in that era.Also, keep a bible handy because several references come directly from the old text.

NOT WHAT IT CLAIMS TO BE !
This translation was a major disappointment.It claims to be highly literal and accurate, regardless of any awkwardness resulting in the English translation.Well it does manage to be awkward but not accurate.Word choice is often capricious and occasionally downright wrong.The notes, however, are excellent.They reflect the latest in Dante scholarship.

But the notes to the Hollander translation are even better and the translation is faithful and a much smoother read.

Stunning clarity of meaning...
This edition of the Inferno is by far the best English translation available for the serious student of Dante.No absurd attempt to emulate the poetic style is made here, it's strictly prose.Moreover, it's clear, easy to read prose.Remember, it was written in the vernacular, and therefore should be read in the simplest vernacular available to the English speaking reader. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Dante in translation, Purgatorio , Hollander
On elegance, Dante is equalled by the Bard, andthe capturing of Dante's evocations of more than the eye can see or the mind understands, still, we are CAPTURED-( remember Love is a "falling') but not imprisioned- ratherenlarged (as we are at St. Peter's in Rome: the enormity of the places does not make us feel small but EMBRACED by a beauty unexpectedand taken up in it)
Dante is the first to make himself the center of the story,(as Christian witness) following the 13 year old women who was his muse right unto heaven, where his love of Beatrice is not diminished but enriched
The Princeton Dante Project will release the Paradiso in August, and go to the website and read Canto 1, you will be hooked
maybe the best translation, it feels the best one to me

Hollander's Dante
This beautifully bound, cleanly translated Dante has the clearest, most teachable set of notes of any English edition. Hollander, who knows this vast territory as well as anyone, has a gift for presenting it in just the right detail. This is to be highly recommended for those teaching Dante as well as for those who are making their way into Dante's overwhelmingly complete, beautiful world.

Excellent New Edition, perfect for the literary scholar
Having just read the Modern Libraries edition of Purgartory and comparing it to this excellent new translation from Princeton's Dante expert Robert Hollander, I must say that Hollander out does himself with this new, insightful edition of Dantes' second part of the Divine Comedy. If you want to be own one of the best editions of Purgatory then this is the edition you must get.FYI Hollander is the Dante Scholar for this generation...it wouldn't be right to do any sort of essay or criticism without consulting at least one book that this husband/wife team have written.

Art Retrouve
The Hollander's translation is akin to the restoration of the Sistine Chapel ceiling and altar for english speaking lovers of Dante not yet able to read his works in italian.A work of tremendous beauty has been made available - this after generations of only being able to experience a forbidding, darker version of the original.

This scholar/poet team has given us a wonderful gift. Thank you Robert and Jean Hollander. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (5)

brilliant work
i recommend this highly for readers familiar with dante as well as those who are interested in him & his work & are looking for a good introduction. if you haven't read the divine comedy, most of this book consists of a canto-by-canto exposition/paraphrase of the entire poem. you could actually read this book before ever trying to read a stand-alone translation of the work & you would probably get a lot more out of the poem that way.

reynolds gave me an enhanced appreciation of dante the man as well as the magnitude of his pioneering artistic achievement. he was an amazing guy--small, delicate & hypersensitive, but also a courageous cavalry warrior who fought fearlessly in battle. this is no academic hit job, she truly knows how great dante was, while also showing his humanity & even his pettiness. her only drawback seems to be that she doesn't know much about the bible, definitely a disadvantage in dealing with a man like this, but at least she doesn't bring the kind of prejudices to the task that most academics would. what is as remarkable as what she does in this book is what she doesn't do: inject her own opinions & judgments in the way academic biographers commonly judge the great by their own political standards (pinsky's "david" is an expecially noxious example).

i am amazed at how some people hate this book for one reason: that reynolds suggests that dante might have smoked pot or even ingested psychedelics. she merely raises the possibility & shows that such substances were known & used by people associated with dante. you can take it or leave it, so i don't get the extreme hostility to the point of ignoring everything else in the book. the divine comedy is revolutionary because it is so visionary, it is a heroic act of imagination charged with spiritual light. it hardly seems likely that dante was not familiar with visionary spiritual experience, however he may have come about such experience.

The unprincipled intellect
We read Dante to feed our souls.Barbara Reynolds biography completely missed this point.

Her conclusions are weird and unsupported.It causes me to wonder at her affiliation with Dorothy Sayers: Sadly, it appears that nothing of Dorothy's passionate intellect rubbed off on her.

Much better works on Dante include the Dante Papers Trilogy: Introductory Papers on Dante (vol. 1), Further Papers on Dante (vol. 2), The Poetry of Search and the Poetry of Statement (vol. 3).Also worthy of mention is The Figure of Beatrice by Charles Williams.

Not Surprising, just sad!
One wonders if Ms. Reynolds was enjoying an afternoon on the grass herself when she came upon her theory. Or was it simply an effort to get some publicity for a book that in no way measures up to the competition. Perhaps there was consideration of calling it "Dante's Trip: What a Comedy" to broaden readership.

In any case, with all the great works about the Divine Comedy, including Joseph Gallagher's "Modern Reader's Guide" and Eric Auerbach's "Dante, Poet of the Secular World," and biographies such as Paget Toynbee's "Dante Aligieri: His Life and Works," I recommend that you avoid Ms. Reynolds attempt at originality.

I understand that Academics live under the rule "Publish or Perish" but one encounters sufficient sensationalism in our modern inferno, must we project our own shallowness into the past?

It is sad that many of us are unable to imagine a time when gifted people could experience a spiritual journey and exercise their imagination without chemical support.

Amazing portrait of an amazing man
I fell in love with Dante when I first read 'The Divine Comedy' and 'La Vita Nuova' when I was 24 years old, and reading this wonderful biography made me love and respect him even more.Ms. Reynolds is dealing with a subject that many people would probably consider rather scholarly and academic, yet the writing is never boring.She manages to make it all interesting and relevant instead of the stuff of a stuffy academic treatise that doesn't engage the reader.And since she's one of the world's most renowned Dante scholars, she really knows her stuff.This book has everything one ever wanted to know, and then some, about Dante, his writings, and his times.

Given the era in which Dante lived, this can't be as detailed and in-depth as the biography of a more modern figure on a subject such as his day-to-day personal life or even some more basic subjects such as his relationship with his wife and children, but the information we do have on Dante's life is fascinating.Ms. Reynolds is able to cover in depth such subjects as the political and religious situation in Italy and the Holy Roman Empire (in an era long before separation and church of state, these two things were deeply intertwined), his bitterness and sadness over his exile from Florence, his relationship with Beatrice, his various benefactors, his early education, and, of course, his writing.Among the works covered are 'Il Convivio' ('The Banquet'), 'La Vita Nuova,' 'Monarchia,' and 'De Vulgari Eloquentia' ('On the Art of Writing in the Vernacular').The major focus of the book, however, is on his masterpiece 'The Divine Comedy,' all three parts of it.As someone who read the work on my own, without a teacher or some sort of commentary, it gave me a whole new understanding of so many things in it.One can't really fully understand the work, even if one likes it, without an in-depth understanding of Dante as a person, the times he lived in, the public figures he knew and knew of, the understanding of theology at the time, the works of literature he was familiar with, and all of the stories from mythology, history, and religion which would have needed no explanations in his era but which often don't ring a bell with the average modern reader.

Overall, this is a thorough tome on the man who arguably is considered the next-greatest writer of all time, after Shakespeare, and his writings.Ms. Reynolds really makes both Dante and his writing come alive and transcend their long-ago era, becoming relevant to all time.

Author fails in proving her point
The author'e premise is that Dante used marijuana ( !!?), and that led him to write his most esteemed works.

Obviously this is wild and unfounded speculation and makes the author look unprofessional and unschooled. She fails miserably in her "proof"of that fallacious and malicious speculation.

Fans of Dante,the world's greatest poet ever , will want to steer clear of this pile of nonsense, and the author , Barbara Renalds, should attend a school where Dante is taught properly!

Have a great day. ... Read more

Book Description
The most famous of the three canticles that comprise The Divine Comedy, Inferno describes Dante’s descent in Hell midway through his life with Virgil as a guide. As he descends through nine concentric circles of increasingly agonizing torture, Dante encounters doomed souls that include the pagan Aeneas, the liar Odysseus, the suicidal Cleopatra, and his own political enemies, damned for their deceit. Led by leering demons, Dante must ultimately journey with Virgil to the deepest level of all—for it is only by encountering Satan himself, in the heart of Hell, that he can truly understand the tragedy of sin. BACKCOVER: “The perfect balance of tightness and colloquialism... likely to be the best modern version of Dante.
—Bernard O’Donoghue

“This version is the first to bring together poetry and scholarship in the very body of the translation—a deeply informed version of Dante that is also a pleasure to read.”
—Professor David Wallace, University of Pennsylvania ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Abandon hope...
"Midway life's journey I was made aware/that I had strayed into a dark forest..." Those eerie words open the first cantica of Dante Alighieri's "Inferno," the most famous part of the legendary Divina Comedia. But the stuff going on here is anything but divine, as Dante explores the metaphorical and supernatural horrors of the inferno.

The date is Good Friday of the year 1300, and Dante is lost in a creepy dark forest, being assaulted by a trio of beasts who symbolize his own sins. But suddenly he is rescued ("Not man; man I once was") by the legendary poet Virgil, who takes the despondent Dante under his wing -- and down into Hell.

But this isn't a straightforward hell of flames and dancing devils. Instead, it's a multi-tiered carnival of horrors, where different sins are punished with different means. Opportunists are forever stung by insects, the lustful are trapped in a storm, the greedy are forced to battle against each other, and the violent lie in a river of boiling blood, are transformed into thorn bushes, and are trapped on a volcanic desert.

If nothing else makes you feel like being good, then "The Inferno" might change your mind. The author loads up his "Inferno" with every kind of disgusting, grotesque punishment that you can imagine -- and it's all wrapped up in an allegorical journey of humankind's redemption, not to mention dissing the politics of Italy and Florence.

Along with Virgil -- author of the "Aeneid" -- Dante peppered his Inferno with Greek myth and symbolism. Like the Greek underworld, different punishments await different sins; what's more, there are also appearances by harpies, centaurs, Cerberus and the god Pluto. But the sinners are mostly Dante's contemporaries, from corrupt popes to soldiers.

And Dante's skill as a writer can't be denied -- the grotesque punishments are enough to make your skin crawl ("Fixed in the slime, groan they, 'We were sullen and wroth...'"), and the grand finale is Satan himself, with legendary traitors Brutus, Cassius and Judas sitting in his mouths. (Yes, I said MOUTHS, not "mouth")

More impressive still is his ability to weave the poetry out of symbolism and allegory, without it ever seeming preachy or annoying. Even pre-hell, we have a lion, a leopard and a wolf, which symbolize different sins, and a dark forest that indicates suicidal thoughts. And the punishments themselves usually reflect the person's flaws, such as false prophets having their heads twisted around so they can only see what's behind them. Wicked sense of humor.

Dante's vivid writing and wildly imaginative "inferno" makes this the most fascinating, compelling volume of the Divine Comedy. Never fun, but always spellbinding and complicated.

Medieval vision of the afterlife
This was required reading for a graduate course in medieval history.
Dante Alighieri's (1265-1321) "Devine Comedy" weaved together aspects of biblical and classical Greek literary traditions to produce one of the most important works of not only medieval literature, but also one of the great literary works of Western civilization.The full impact of this 14,000-line poem divided into 100 cantos and three books is not just literary.Dante's autobiographical poem Commedia, as he titled it, was his look into the individual psyche and human soul.He explored and reflected on such fundamental questions as political institutions and their problems, the nature of humankind's moral actions, and the possibility of spiritual transformation; these were all fundamental social and cultural concerns for people during the fourteenth-century.Dante wrote the Commedia not in Latin but in the Tuscan dialect of Italian so that it would reach a broader readership.The Commedia was a three-part journey undertaken by the pilgrim Dante to the realms of the Christian afterlife: Hell, (Inferno), Purgatory, (Purgatorio), and Paradise, (Paradisio).

The poem narrated in first person, began with Dante lost midlife.He was 35 years old in the year 1300 and in a dark wood.Being lost in the dark wood was certainly an allegorical device that Dante used to express the condition of his own life at the time he started writing the poem. Dante had been active in Florentine politics and a member of the White Guelph party who opposed the secular rule of Pope Boniface VIII over Florence.In 1302, The Black Guelphs who were allied with the Pope, were militarily victorious in gaining control of the city and Dante found himself an exile from his beloved city for the rest of his life.Thus, Dante started writing the Commedia in 1308 and used it to comment on his own tribulations of life, and to state his views on politics and religion, and heap scorn on his political enemies.

Dante's first leg of his journey out of the dark wood was through the nine concentric circles of Hell (Inferno), escorted by his favorite classical Roman poet Virgil, author of the Aeneid.Dante borrowed heavily from Virgil's Aeneid.Much of Dante's description of hell had similarities to Virgil's description in his sixth book of the Aeneid.Dante's three major divisions of sin in hell where unrepentant sinners dwelled, had their sources in Aristotle and Augustinian philosophy.They were self-indulgence, violence, and fraud.Fraud was considered the worst of moral failures because it undermined family, trust, and religion; in essence, it tore at the moral fabric of civilized society.These divisions were inversions of the classical virtues of moderation, courage, and wisdom.The fourth classical virtue, justice, is what Dante came to believe after his journey through hell that all its inhabitants received for their unrepentant sins.There were nine concentric circles of hell inside the earth; each smaller than the previous one.For Dante the geography of hell was a moral geography as well as a physical one, reflecting the nature of the sin.Canto IV describes the first circle of hell, Limbo, which is where Dante met the shades, as souls where called, of the virtuous un-baptized such as Homer, Ovid, Caesar, Aristotle, and Plato.

In the four circles for the sin of self-indulgence Dante met shades who where lustful, gluttons, hoarders and wrathful.In the second circle of Hell, lustful souls were blown around in a violent storm.In Canto V, one of the great dramatic moments of the poem, Dante had his first lengthy encounter with an unrepentant sinner Francesca da Rimini, who committed adultery with her brother-in-law.Like all the sinners in hell, Francesca laid the blame for her sin elsewhere.She claimed to be seduced into committing adultery after reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere.At the end of the scene, Dante fainted out of pity for Francesca.

In Canto X, the sixth circle of hell reserved for heretics who are punished by being trapped in flaming tombs, Dante took the opportunity to use the circle to chastise political leaders for participating in political partisanship.A Florentine who was a leader in the rival Ghibbelline political party, Farinata degli Uberti, accosted Dante.Both men aggressively argued with each other, recreating in hell the bitterness of partisan politics in Florence.Farinata predicted Dante's exile.Dante used this Canto to show the dangerous tendencies of petty political partisanship that he harbored.

The seventh circle of hell was subdivided into three areas where sinners were punished for doing violence against themselves, their neighbors, or God.In Canto XIII Dante encountered Pier della Vigne in the wood of the suicides.The shades there were shrubs who had to speak through a broken branch.Pier spoke to Dante about how he had been an important advisor to Emperor Frederick II, and how he blamed his fall, and his suicide, on the envy of other court members.This Canto was especially important because Dante came to grips with his own "future" fall from political power and exile.Pier's behavior served as a strong example to Dante how not to act in exile.Whether he had been tempted to commit suicide is not clear; however, he certainly had been prone to the selfish and despairing attitude that Pier represented.

The last two circles of hell contained the sinners of fraud.In the eighth circle, there were ten ditches for the various types of fraud such as Simony, thievery, hypocrisy, etc.Canto XIX described the third ditch, which contained those guilty of Simony, the sin of church leaders perverting their spiritual office by buying and selling church offices.Simonists were buried upside down in a rock with their feet on fire.Pope Nicholas III mistakenly addressed Dante as Pope Boniface VIII who was the current Pope in 1300, and whose place in hell was thereby predicted.This is not surprising since Boniface was the person most responsible for Dante's exile.In an interesting literary twist, Nicholas "confessed" to Dante, as if he was a priest, his sin of greed and nepotism.He admitted that even after becoming Pope he cared more for his family's interests than the good of the whole Church.Dante responded to Nicholas' "confession" with a stinging condemnation of Simony drawn from the Book of Revelation.After this encounter, Dante came to understand that hell was a place of justice.

Canto XXXIV, the last one in the Inferno, depicted Satan with three heads.Each head was chewing the three worst sinners of humankind.The middle head was chewing on the head of Judas Iscariot, who was a disciple to Jesus and his betrayer.The other two heads were chewing Brutus and Cassius; the murderers of Julius Caesar, and the two men Dante faulted for the destruction of a unified Italy.Dante considered the two ultimate betrayals against God and against the empire as the worst betrayals perpetrated in the history of humankind.

Thus, Dante's intent in his Commedia was to teach fourteenth-century readers that if one wanted to ascend spiritually towards God then one needed to learn the nature of sin from the unrepentant.By doing this, one could learn to overcome the same tendencies found in themselves.He wanted people to realize what he had come to learn that political partisanship would only stand in the way of unifying Italy and keep it from regaining any of its former glory that it enjoyed during the time of the Roman Empire.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in literature and medieval history.

A good new translation
Kirkpatrick's translation of the first book of Dante's 'Divine Comedy' is the latest of a series of Penguin editions of Dante's works.It has a good commentary and introduction to the text.

Dante of course really needs no introduction.He is in my view the Western world's finest poet between Virgil and Shakspeare.His visionary genius, incredible intellect and ability to see and integrate several aspects of the medieval world view as a whole are unmatched by any writer or poet of the medieval era.He is the poetic equivalent of Thomas Aquinas.

The Divine Comedy is a journey within and without, to the deepest parts of hell to the highest realms of heaven to the vision of God himself.You get the sense in reading Dante no word is superfluous, every letter has its place in a beautifully precise and organic scaffolding of art.The unity of his poetic vision and his ability to execute it, place him in the same rank of genius as Homer, Virgil, Shakespeare and Milton.

The poem is at the deepest level an allegory of the journey into the depths of the egoistic self (hell) to the beatific vision, where God is found within through the means of graced vision.While Dante may be read in other ways (he certainly was influenced by political, social and class concerns, so a Marxist and feminist interpretation is possible) his spiritual and psychological journey is just as important.

Dante is timeless, even if his view of the cosmos seems absurd and antiquated in our time when clearly there is no empyrean but only an expanding infinite universe of billions of galaxies.Still, if Dante were alive today, I doubt he would have any trouble incorporating our cosmology into a comprehensive vision, such was this man's genius. ... Read more

Product Description
A complete financial guide for high school and college students with more than 1000 listings of Scholarships, Grants, Fellowships, and Internships for African American students and students of color.50 billion dollars worth of Grants and Scholarships, and fellowships are available from federal, state and institutional sources; and billions more are provided by private donors and corporate sources, you don t have to miss out on pursuing your goal of a college education.The 2007 2009 AFRICAN AMERICAN SCHOLARSHIP GUIDE FOR STUDENTS AND PARENTS: PRESENTED BY DANTE LEE will help you find the best resources for your career path. The benefits of College work-study programs and loans are also addressed in this precise planner.More than just a resource listing The 2007 2009 AFRICAN AMERICAN SCHOLARSHIP GUIDE FOR STUDENTS AND PARENTS: PRESENTED BY DANTE LEE will assist you in finding the money you need by helping you gain the confidence in your ability to qualify. You ll learn the importance of preparation and timing and the most effective ways to enlist the help of your parents, guidance counselor, the Internet and community resources, and get the attention of scholarship judges, with community service, good grades and proven leadership skills. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

There's nothing really wrong with this study guide.
There's nothing really wrong with this study guide but Ethics in America is an easy DSST and can be passed just by studying DSST Success for a week or two. Unlike CLEP this DSST has lots True/False questions and earning a passing score of 46 requires more common sense than anything else.

Ethics in America
This book had nothing to do with the test. It was a complete waist of money

lacks subject review
This book - like all of the other Jack Rudman books I have seen - consists only of multiple choice questions, without any explanations of answers and lacks subject review material.

Ethics in America
Not a study guide at all!It was just a bunch of tests - USELESS

Good DSST study guides are hard to come by!
This "study guide" was not a study guide at all! Rather, it was just a fat, poorly edited spiral of "pretend tests." ... Read more

Book Description
This second edition of The Cambridge Companion to Dante is designed to provide an accessible introduction to Dante for students, teachers and general readers. The volume has been fully updated to take account of the most up-to-date scholarship and includes three new essays on Dante's works. The suggestions for further reading now include the most recent secondary works and translations as well as online resources. The essays cover Dante's early works and their relation to the Commedia, his literary antecedents, both vernacular and classical, biblical and theological influences, the historical and political dimensions of Dante's works, and their reception. In addition there are introductory essays to each of the three canticles of the Commedia that analyse their themes and style. This new edition will ensure that the Companion continues to be the most useful single volume for new generations of students of Dante. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Slightly dated scholarship for the penny-wise
This is an able commentary to Dante, but make sure you are clear on which edition you are purchasing: the most recent (as of this review) is a March 2007 version.Sufficient edits, insights and scholarly arguments (let's not quite call them developments) exist in the 14 years between publications to make it worth being certain what you're buying before you buy.

Then again - the 1993 edition is available used for under three bucks, while the 2007 edition ranges from $25 to $50.So... choose your priority.

The Cambridge Companion to Dante - Inferno
Dante criticism has a life of its own: call it vegetable. Then again, this has been the case almost since Dante first wrote his Commedia. Though not the best text for one intending to leap into the Inferno for the first time, this canto by canto commentary, an able addition to the mountain of Dante scholarship, provides clear, interesting, scholarly help to anyone who has spent time with Dante as scholar or teacher or interested reader.

Helpful for scholars and just plain readers
This companion is an excellent guide to Dante's life, work, and thought.It is especially useful for those readers of the Comedy who want more information on specific allusions than most footnoted editions can supply.It is also helpful for an understanding of the complex political and religious turmoils in which Dante was embroiled, and which showed up continuously throughout his work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Seeing, hearing, believing Dante
This audiobook is a remarkably good addition for the individual who enjoys good literature well read.Superb production values, an excellent reader/actor who imbues the material with accurate intonation and enunciation, cadence, and modulation, makes this one a gem.If you are spending your money wisely, you cannot go wrong with this NAXOS production.This one will be listened to many times.I even purchased the translation in hardcopy to pay closer attention to the reading.

Wonderful Performance
This is a wonderful performance of the entire Divine Comedy which one can listen to many times.The reader, Heathecoate Williams, must be some sort of an actor -- full throated furious at times, pale and poignant at others as he wends his way through it all, mimicking all the saints and sinners like a mockingbird. Each of the 100 cantos is prefaced by a short suggestion of period music for a breather and for atmosphere, which does not intrude or ham up the performance, as often happens with similar efforts.

Shameless drama of Williams' variety may be embarrassing to some, out of style to others.But it supplies an important element lacking to the rather dry academic fashion by which most are these days exposed to Dante.Nor is any accuracy of meaning sacrificed thereby.The three parts of the Comedy are all read from a prose translation by a man named Benedict Flynn.I am not aware that this translation is available anywhere in print, but having read several English translations of Dante, the word choice is familiar and sounds properly middle of the road.Truth be told, a dramatic flair does no disservice to this very personal poem at all, which was radical in its day for being written in common vernacular.For the hearer of our language, it places Dante in the ring where he belongs:with the fully engaged Shakespeare of the history plays, not with the closet dramas of a T.S. Eliot or a Robert Lowell.

The set is well worth the price, and the bonus disc lecture on Dante's life not only adds the academic dimension, but makes the price for the whole a steal. ... Read more

Book Description
Special ops agent Dillon Gavin is taking a break from his demanding schedule when his life takes an unexpected-and complicated-turn. Her name is Jordan Kane, a beautiful artist. Legally blind, she paints with her inner eye- which affords her an uncanny, and sometimes breathtaking, clairvoyance. What she sees in Dillon-comfortable in an unpredictable world of intrigue, espionage, and brute violence-is the kind of man that an artistic, gentle soul like Jordan never experienced before. Her sixth sense tells her that Dillon wants her. Her common sense says stay away. But from his first sensuous touch in the dark comes an irresistible urge that dares to take Jordan where's she's never gone before. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good but Clarification needed
I found this book at a bargain book sale and who can pass up a normally $14 book for only 4 bucks. I will admit I am only 3/4 the way through the book and I like it very much. The only problem is that there is no explaination of the magic useage or some of the terms. It's like being in the middle of a series where everything was explained in the first book and the author expects everyone to have read it. It's just a bit disconcerting. But I really do love the idea of military black ops men using magic. MMmmm Yummy!!

Enticed by Kathleen Dante
This is the second book from this author that is great. She has a way of writing that makes you care for the characters.I can't wait for the next book from this author.The paranormal elements only serve to enhance the entire novel.It's like an alternate universe or a contemporary novel with elements of magic that are integrated into life.It makes me wish we had such a universe here.If you can read both novels-Entangled and Enticed.

Romance Junkies review of Enticed
Blind artist Jordan Kane uses her psyprint abilities to create works of art.However, because of her clairvoyance, very few people realize she is blind and she likes it that way.During a showing of her art at a gallery, Jordan meets Dillon Gavin, a man she instantly recognizes as a walking, talking breathing upset to her well-ordered solitary life.While Dillon may be sin personified and sexy as hell, Jordan just doesn't want a man in her life upsetting the balance and normalcy she has created.Using her clairvoyance to see Dillon, Jordan can't deny her attraction.His job, however, causes the most distress.Violence comes off him in waves, so much so that Jordan decides that Dillon is strictly off limits.If only he would listen.

Black ops agent Dillon Gavin has been placed on vacation by his superiors with orders to rest and relax.Since his occupation takes up most of his time, he rarely indulges in simple things like sex and flings.Primed and ready for fast and easy non-committed action, Dillon has no idea that his favorite artist, Jordan Kane, is about to totally change his outlook on romance and love.Desiring Jordan like none before her, Dillon's seduction begins.It's not surprising that it almost comes to a crashing halt when she lets him in on her secret.The thought that Jordan can sense and see what he is doing and what he has done places her in unnecessary risk.Dillon knows that he should let her go - but knowing and doing are two very different things.When Jordan's nightmares are increasingly filled with vile visions of destruction and death, Dillon determines that he will do anything to keep his woman safe.

ENTICED by Kathleen Dante is, for want of a better description, simply enticing.I thought Ms. Dante wove an intriguing tale of suspense that kept me wondering at the identity of the antagonist.I treasured Dillon from the moment he met Jordan.Chivalrous from his first glance at Jordan, I thought him a most patient lover; his seduction and enticement of Jordan was one of the most romantic scenes I have ever read.

Jordan was a strong and independent heroine and I loved how she tried to talk herself out of seeing Dillon many times over but to no avail.The secondary character, Timothy, Jordan's fat feline pet, was written so realistically that most cat lovers will relate to the ball of fur's stubbornness and curiosity.

ENTICED is a must read in my book.Suspenseful, intriguing, and doused with a bit of magic, this story sated my paranormal loving heart.This second book of Kathleen Dante's En series was exactly what I was craving.ENTICED is a keeper and I look forward to future installments.
***Natasha Smith for Romance Junkies***

erotic romantic suspense
Dillon Gavin misses his Black Ops partner John "Lantis" Atlantis who left the field two years ago and is now married to his "heart sister" a pregnant Keira (see ENTANGLED).He is happy for both of them and even played matchmaker between them.Currently Dillon is on an enforced official month of R&R so he goes to the Walson Galleries to see the Jordan Kane exhibit as he is a big collector of her psyprints.

When Dillon and Jordan meet, the attraction is ignitable, but though he wants to pursue it, she refuses as he scares her and her clairvoyance makes her wonder if he is a killer as she envisions a murder when she touches his gloves.He is surprised to learn she is blind as she sees better than most people with 20-20 vision and is jealous of her muse Timothy.Dillon begins his month long courtship with orchids and a mano a mano with Timothy her cat.However, as they see one another, she fears she has fallen in love with a killer while he finds the field no longer appealing, but first someone is trying to kill his beloved Jordan and she thinks it might be Dillon.

Fans of erotic romantic suspense will enjoy this enticing thriller starring likable protagonists though the audience will think of Johnny Cochran's "if the glove don't fit acquit".The story line is fast-paced as the hero wants to become the new muse of his beloved while also keeping her safe from an unknown adversary whose motive surfaces late; his dilemma is that Jordan thinks he is her killer.Kathleen Dante provides a stupendous sequel as it is Dillon's turn to come out of the cold into the heat of love.

... Read more

Amazon.com
Dante's Path: A Practical Approach to Achieving Inner Wisdom is primarily a self-help book. However, it is a self-help book with a difference. Authors Bonney Gulino Schaub and Richard Schaub use their perceptive, though simple reading of Dante's Divine Comedy to guide their readers through a process that allows them to access their internal wisdom, or "wisdom mind," to achieve liberation from their fears and to realize their deeper potential. Psychotherapists for over 30 years, the Schaubs practice psychosynthesis, a holistic method developed by Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli, that recognizes "the importance of integrating spirituality into the paradigm for seeking mental and emotional health." The book provides practical techniques, based on the world's meditative traditions, to assist readers to free themselves from their fear-based patterns and to move closer to their "higher" selves.

Taking the lead from their mentor Assagioli, the authors recognize that the spiritual path traveled by the poet in Dante's masterpiece provides the perfect road map for achieving internal wisdom and peace. Like Dante's poet, the readers are urged to move through their "hellish" impulses (such as envy, addiction, and rage) by "Learning to Witness" and to proceed to self-transformation (Purgatory) by becoming "Lord of Yourself" and ultimately to achieve enlightenment (Paradise) by "developing a relationship with your wisdom mind." In addition to their primary focus on The Divine Comedy as a metaphor for the psychoanalytic process, the authors explore connections to other spiritual world traditions. Thus, they reveal the broader implications of self-healing and discovery. They tell us if we can learn how to deal with our fears and reduce the negative actions that are generated by them, we could increase the amount of peace in our lives and subsequently, the amount of peace in the world.--Silvana TropeaBook Description
Two pioneers in holistic psychology show how to heal mind and spirit, using Dante's Divine Comedy as a metaphor for personal growth.

Bringing a unique Western approach to the quest for enlightenment, Dante's Path addresses such struggles as depression, anxiety, and addiction through a brilliant lens called psychosynthesis. Conceived by Italian psychotherapist Roberto Assagioli, who was a student of Sigmund Freud and colleague of Carl Jung, psycho-synthesis embraces spirituality as a key component of mental health. Dante's Path draws on Dante's epic poem The Divine Comedy (of which Assagioli was a devotee) as a rich metaphor for the challenge of escaping from fear-based instincts (Dante's Hell), into a place of personal transformation (Purgatory), then into the confidence of finding life's higher purpose (his Pilgrim's Paradise).

With specific exercises, such as guided imagery and meditations, Dante's Path leads readers on a unique step-by-step journey for building an ongoing relationship with their guiding inner wisdom. The Schaubs have used this holistic method to successfully treat hundreds of patients for over thirty years. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Dante's Path
Using Dant's description of hell as the backdrop for exploring our fears, limitations, and weaknesses is outstanding. and a path is given to the reader to follow to confront and resolve our worst enemy, ourself.

Another nice walk through the Divine Comedy
The authors blend their personal stories related to transpersonal psychology with an allegorical walk through Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise, and modern perspective to look at the cantos.Their modernism includes 22 quieting and meditative exercises for the reader and a storylike narrative on exploring Dante Algheri's legacy. Their modern perspective is based on work from the 20th century Jungian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli from Florence, Italy.

a practical approach to the metaphor of the Commedia
This book is part an interpretation of Dante's Commedia and part a set of related practical meditation and visualization exercises for following Dante's path as interpreted by the authors.

The fact that the Commedia is a metaphor for a psychological-spritual journey towards wholeness is certainly not original to the authors. They could have written volumes on the symbolism in the Commedia from a depth psychological perspective, but in doing so, they would have lost the popular appeal of this book as a guide for a psychological-spiritual practice. They manage the balance between interpretation and practice nicely. ... Read more

Book Description
"Remember that we're in the U.S.," Dante Celestino is toldwhen his daughter runs away. Friends and neighbors warn him that in theU.S. it's not considered so unusual for a fifteen-year-old girl to runaway. Dante had counseled his daughter Emmita to date only Spanish-speakingHispanics. He told her she should never date someone who joins gangs ormakes drug deals. But she ignores her father's advice and--right in themiddle of her quinceanera--runs away with a Latino dressed in black who hastattoos and a shaved head, doesn't speak Spanish, and rides a lowridermotorcycle. But Dante is illegal, making it impossible to report the girl'sdisappearance to the police.

And so begins Dante's odyssey. Accompanied by a lame donkey named Virgilioand the voice of his dead wife, he sets out for Las Vegas, where Emmita'sboyfriend--or abductor, as Dante considers him--supposedly lives.In a journey filled with the pain of nostalgic flashbacks of small-townlife and married bliss in Mexico and the joy of music and song, Danteencounters a series of eccentric characters: Josefino and Mariana, known toradio listeners as the Noble Couple, who change their listeners' luck in aninstant; Juan Pablo, a young man who uses his computer genius to rob a LasVegas casino so he can pay for his college education; and the Pilgrim, afamous balladeer who has crossed the border via underground tunnels so manytimes that even years later he smells faintly of dirt and death.

In this bittersweet tour de force, the First and Third Worlds join hands,and Mexican pueblo life and Internet post-modernity dance together in oneof the most memorable fables to shed light on issues such as immigration,cultural assimilation, and the future of the United States with itsever-increasing Latino population. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Entertaining read, thoughtful author!
I was fortunate enough to have taken a course with Eduardo this last term and it was an amazing experience. He's an outgoing man who believes in building bridges between different cultures. "El Corride de Dante" is a great novel we read in his class.

El Corrido de Dante
This is a truly amazing book! It should be mandatory reading for both native and non-native spanish speakers alike. This book spoke to my soul! Without a doubt, a defintite must-read!

A classic in Spanish!
This is a story of the heart told by a writer with soul.

A Mexican immigrant, living in Oregon, travels throughout the United States in search of his daughter. His only companions are a donkey and an accordion.

Mexicans, Cubans, Colombians, Puerto Ricans, Guatemalans, Bolivians, Peruvians, everyone speaks with their own heart in this novel.

This book is a gift to mankind. As Goldemberg said, "Finally in the American literature, there is a classic in Spanish"

Must read!
... Read more

Book Description
This startling new translation of Dante's Inferno is by Ciaran Carson, one of contemporary Ireland's most dazzlingly gifted poets. Written in a vigorous and inventive contemporary idiom, while also reproducing the intricate rhyme-scheme that is so essential to the beauty and power of Dante's epic, Carson's virtuosic rendering of the Inferno is that rare thing—a translation with the heft and force of a true English poem. Like Seamus Heaney's Beowulf and Ted Hughes's Tales from Ovid, Ciaran Carson's Inferno is an extraordinary modern response to one of the great works of world literature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Terrific translation of a classic
When I finally decided to try to plug some of the holes that my 'classical education' had somehow left unfilled, "The Inferno" was high on my list. Since I don't know any Italian, choosing a decent translation was one of the first questions to be addressed. I spent an hour in Cody's comparing various options (there are a gazillion translations out there) - this was one of two that I ended up buying.

Surprisingly (to me at any rate), roughly half of the available translations chose the low road of not even bothering to preserve Dante's famous terza rima metric scheme, with the excuse that only a 'literal translation' can convey the meaning adequately. Fie on your laziness, say I - it obviously can be done, even if you are too lamebrained to try. So I rejected the 'literal translations' out of hand, for the same reason that I would not choose a translation of 'Eugene onegin' that didn't at least try to preserve Pushkin's meter, when it is obviously such an intrinsic aspect of the work.

I can't vouch for the fidelity of Carson's translation, but I liked it a lot. He does well by the terza rima, while managing to achieve an overall natural flow of the language. At times it is highly colloquial, which might disturb the purists:

"Ratbreath, when he heard this, rolled his eyes,
and hissed 'Don't listen, it's a dirty trick,
so he can jump. He must think we're not wise.'

And he, whose AKA was Señor Slick,
replied: 'It's dirt indeed, to get my comrades
in the s**t; in fact, it's rather sick.'

Now Harley Quinn, unlike the other blades,
was eager for some sport. "

Canto XXII, lines 107-114.

As for the work itself, I think everyone knows the story. I haven't read "Purgatorio" or "Paradiso" yet - it seems highly likely to me that the "Inferno" is the most fun of the three, if only because it's entertaining to see how he uses it as a vehicle for getting even with his enemies. But, if you've been putting it off for years because you're intimidated by its status as a "classic", don't be put off any longer. It's actually a lot of fun, and easy to read.

Comparing translations is an auxiliary source of entertainment, for those (like myself) who enjoy that kind of thing

Medieval vision of the afterlife
This was required reading for a graduate course in medieval history.
Dante Alighieri's (1265-1321) "Devine Comedy" weaved together aspects of biblical and classical Greek literary traditions to produce one of the most important works of not only medieval literature, but also one of the great literary works of Western civilization.The full impact of this 14,000-line poem divided into 100 cantos and three books is not just literary.Dante's autobiographical poem Commedia, as he titled it, was his look into the individual psyche and human soul.He explored and reflected on such fundamental questions as political institutions and their problems, the nature of humankind's moral actions, and the possibility of spiritual transformation; these were all fundamental social and cultural concerns for people during the fourteenth-century.Dante wrote the Commedia not in Latin but in the Tuscan dialect of Italian so that it would reach a broader readership.The Commedia was a three-part journey undertaken by the pilgrim Dante to the realms of the Christian afterlife: Hell, (Inferno), Purgatory, (Purgatorio), and Paradise, (Paradisio).

The poem narrated in first person, began with Dante lost midlife.He was 35 years old in the year 1300 and in a dark wood.Being lost in the dark wood was certainly an allegorical device that Dante used to express the condition of his own life at the time he started writing the poem. Dante had been active in Florentine politics and a member of the White Guelph party who opposed the secular rule of Pope Boniface VIII over Florence.In 1302, The Black Guelphs who were allied with the Pope, were militarily victorious in gaining control of the city and Dante found himself an exile from his beloved city for the rest of his life.Thus, Dante started writing the Commedia in 1308 and used it to comment on his own tribulations of life, and to state his views on politics and religion, and heap scorn on his political enemies.

Dante's first leg of his journey out of the dark wood was through the nine concentric circles of Hell (Inferno), escorted by his favorite classical Roman poet Virgil, author of the Aeneid.Dante borrowed heavily from Virgil's Aeneid.Much of Dante's description of hell had similarities to Virgil's description in his sixth book of the Aeneid.Dante's three major divisions of sin in hell where unrepentant sinners dwelled, had their sources in Aristotle and Augustinian philosophy.They were self-indulgence, violence, and fraud.Fraud was considered the worst of moral failures because it undermined family, trust, and religion; in essence, it tore at the moral fabric of civilized society.These divisions were inversions of the classical virtues of moderation, courage, and wisdom.The fourth classical virtue, justice, is what Dante came to believe after his journey through hell that all its inhabitants received for their unrepentant sins.There were nine concentric circles of hell inside the earth; each smaller than the previous one.For Dante the geography of hell was a moral geography as well as a physical one, reflecting the nature of the sin.Canto IV describes the first circle of hell, Limbo, which is where Dante met the shades, as souls where called, of the virtuous un-baptized such as Homer, Ovid, Caesar, Aristotle, and Plato.

In the four circles for the sin of self-indulgence Dante met shades who where lustful, gluttons, hoarders and wrathful.In the second circle of Hell, lustful souls were blown around in a violent storm.In Canto V, one of the great dramatic moments of the poem, Dante had his first lengthy encounter with an unrepentant sinner Francesca da Rimini, who committed adultery with her brother-in-law.Like all the sinners in hell, Francesca laid the blame for her sin elsewhere.She claimed to be seduced into committing adultery after reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere.At the end of the scene, Dante fainted out of pity for Francesca.

In Canto X, the sixth circle of hell reserved for heretics who are punished by being trapped in flaming tombs, Dante took the opportunity to use the circle to chastise political leaders for participating in political partisanship.A Florentine who was a leader in the rival Ghibbelline political party, Farinata degli Uberti, accosted Dante.Both men aggressively argued with each other, recreating in hell the bitterness of partisan politics in Florence.Farinata predicted Dante's exile.Dante used this Canto to show the dangerous tendencies of petty political partisanship that he harbored.

The seventh circle of hell was subdivided into three areas where sinners were punished for doing violence against themselves, their neighbors, or God.In Canto XIII Dante encountered Pier della Vigne in the wood of the suicides.The shades there were shrubs who had to speak through a broken branch.Pier spoke to Dante about how he had been an important advisor to Emperor Frederick II, and how he blamed his fall, and his suicide, on the envy of other court members.This Canto was especially important because Dante came to grips with his own "future" fall from political power and exile.Pier's behavior served as a strong example to Dante how not to act in exile.Whether he had been tempted to commit suicide is not clear; however, he certainly had been prone to the selfish and despairing attitude that Pier represented.

The last two circles of hell contained the sinners of fraud.In the eighth circle, there were ten ditches for the various types of fraud such as Simony, thievery, hypocrisy, etc.Canto XIX described the third ditch, which contained those guilty of Simony, the sin of church leaders perverting their spiritual office by buying and selling church offices.Simonists were buried upside down in a rock with their feet on fire.Pope Nicholas III mistakenly addressed Dante as Pope Boniface VIII who was the current Pope in 1300, and whose place in hell was thereby predicted.This is not surprising since Boniface was the person most responsible for Dante's exile.In an interesting literary twist, Nicholas "confessed" to Dante, as if he was a priest, his sin of greed and nepotism.He admitted that even after becoming Pope he cared more for his family's interests than the good of the whole Church.Dante responded to Nicholas' "confession" with a stinging condemnation of Simony drawn from the Book of Revelation.After this encounter, Dante came to understand that hell was a place of justice.

Canto XXXIV, the last one in the Inferno, depicted Satan with three heads.Each head was chewing the three worst sinners of humankind.The middle head was chewing on the head of Judas Iscariot, who was a disciple to Jesus and his betrayer.The other two heads were chewing Brutus and Cassius; the murderers of Julius Caesar, and the two men Dante faulted for the destruction of a unified Italy.Dante considered the two ultimate betrayals against God and against the empire as the worst betrayals perpetrated in the history of humankind.

Thus, Dante's intent in his Commedia was to teach fourteenth-century readers that if one wanted to ascend spiritually towards God then one needed to learn the nature of sin from the unrepentant.By doing this, one could learn to overcome the same tendencies found in themselves.He wanted people to realize what he had come to learn that political partisanship would only stand in the way of unifying Italy and keep it from regaining any of its former glory that it enjoyed during the time of the Roman Empire.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in literature and medieval history.

Medieval vision of the afterlife
This was required reading for a graduate course in medieval history.
Dante Alighieri's (1265-1321) "Devine Comedy" weaved together aspects of biblical and classical Greek literary traditions to produce one of the most important works of not only medieval literature, but also one of the great literary works of Western civilization.The full impact of this 14,000-line poem divided into 100 cantos and three books is not just literary.Dante's autobiographical poem Commedia, as he titled it, was his look into the individual psyche and human soul.He explored and reflected on such fundamental questions as political institutions and their problems, the nature of humankind's moral actions, and the possibility of spiritual transformation; these were all fundamental social and cultural concerns for people during the fourteenth-century.Dante wrote the Commedia not in Latin but in the Tuscan dialect of Italian so that it would reach a broader readership.The Commedia was a three-part journey undertaken by the pilgrim Dante to the realms of the Christian afterlife: Hell, (Inferno), Purgatory, (Purgatorio), and Paradise, (Paradisio).

The poem narrated in first person, began with Dante lost midlife.He was 35 years old in the year 1300 and in a dark wood.Being lost in the dark wood was certainly an allegorical device that Dante used to express the condition of his own life at the time he started writing the poem. Dante had been active in Florentine politics and a member of the White Guelph party who opposed the secular rule of Pope Boniface VIII over Florence.In 1302, The Black Guelphs who were allied with the Pope, were militarily victorious in gaining control of the city and Dante found himself an exile from his beloved city for the rest of his life.Thus, Dante started writing the Commedia in 1308 and used it to comment on his own tribulations of life, and to state his views on politics and religion, and heap scorn on his political enemies.

Dante's first leg of his journey out of the dark wood was through the nine concentric circles of Hell (Inferno), escorted by his favorite classical Roman poet Virgil, author of the Aeneid.Dante borrowed heavily from Virgil's Aeneid.Much of Dante's description of hell had similarities to Virgil's description in his sixth book of the Aeneid.Dante's three major divisions of sin in hell where unrepentant sinners dwelled, had their sources in Aristotle and Augustinian philosophy.They were self-indulgence, violence, and fraud.Fraud was considered the worst of moral failures because it undermined family, trust, and religion; in essence, it tore at the moral fabric of civilized society.These divisions were inversions of the classical virtues of moderation, courage, and wisdom.The fourth classical virtue, justice, is what Dante came to believe after his journey through hell that all its inhabitants received for their unrepentant sins.There were nine concentric circles of hell inside the earth; each smaller than the previous one.For Dante the geography of hell was a moral geography as well as a physical one, reflecting the nature of the sin.Canto IV describes the first circle of hell, Limbo, which is where Dante met the shades, as souls where called, of the virtuous un-baptized such as Homer, Ovid, Caesar, Aristotle, and Plato.

In the four circles for the sin of self-indulgence Dante met shades who where lustful, gluttons, hoarders and wrathful.In the second circle of Hell, lustful souls were blown around in a violent storm.In Canto V, one of the great dramatic moments of the poem, Dante had his first lengthy encounter with an unrepentant sinner Francesca da Rimini, who committed adultery with her brother-in-law.Like all the sinners in hell, Francesca laid the blame for her sin elsewhere.She claimed to be seduced into committing adultery after reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere.At the end of the scene, Dante fainted out of pity for Francesca.

In Canto X, the sixth circle of hell reserved for heretics who are punished by being trapped in flaming tombs, Dante took the opportunity to use the circle to chastise political leaders for participating in political partisanship.A Florentine who was a leader in the rival Ghibbelline political party, Farinata degli Uberti, accosted Dante.Both men aggressively argued with each other, recreating in hell the bitterness of partisan politics in Florence.Farinata predicted Dante's exile.Dante used this Canto to show the dangerous tendencies of petty political partisanship that he harbored.

The seventh circle of hell was subdivided into three areas where sinners were punished for doing violence against themselves, their neighbors, or God.In Canto XIII Dante encountered Pier della Vigne in the wood of the suicides.The shades there were shrubs who had to speak through a broken branch.Pier spoke to Dante about how he had been an important advisor to Emperor Frederick II, and how he blamed his fall, and his suicide, on the envy of other court members.This Canto was especially important because Dante came to grips with his own "future" fall from political power and exile.Pier's behavior served as a strong example to Dante how not to act in exile.Whether he had been tempted to commit suicide is not clear; however, he certainly had been prone to the selfish and despairing attitude that Pier represented.

The last two circles of hell contained the sinners of fraud.In the eighth circle, there were ten ditches for the various types of fraud such as Simony, thievery, hypocrisy, etc.Canto XIX described the third ditch, which contained those guilty of Simony, the sin of church leaders perverting their spiritual office by buying and selling church offices.Simonists were buried upside down in a rock with their feet on fire.Pope Nicholas III mistakenly addressed Dante as Pope Boniface VIII who was the current Pope in 1300, and whose place in hell was thereby predicted.This is not surprising since Boniface was the person most responsible for Dante's exile.In an interesting literary twist, Nicholas "confessed" to Dante, as if he was a priest, his sin of greed and nepotism.He admitted that even after becoming Pope he cared more for his family's interests than the good of the whole Church.Dante responded to Nicholas' "confession" with a stinging condemnation of Simony drawn from the Book of Revelation.After this encounter, Dante came to understand that hell was a place of justice.

Canto XXXIV, the last one in the Inferno, depicted Satan with three heads.Each head was chewing the three worst sinners of humankind.The middle head was chewing on the head of Judas Iscariot, who was a disciple to Jesus and his betrayer.The other two heads were chewing Brutus and Cassius; the murderers of Julius Caesar, and the two men Dante faulted for the destruction of a unified Italy.Dante considered the two ultimate betrayals against God and against the empire as the worst betrayals perpetrated in the history of humankind.

Thus, Dante's intent in his Commedia was to teach fourteenth-century readers that if one wanted to ascend spiritually towards God then one needed to learn the nature of sin from the unrepentant.By doing this, one could learn to overcome the same tendencies found in themselves.He wanted people to realize what he had come to learn that political partisanship would only stand in the way of unifying Italy and keep it from regaining any of its former glory that it enjoyed during the time of the Roman Empire.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in literature and medieval history.

Hell of a good book
Anyone at all familiar with Carson's previous work would have expected his version of the Inferno to be a brilliant accomplishment and a not-to-be-missed event.They will not be disappointed.The translation is simply stunning, capturing the fire and guts of Dante in a series of vivid, visceral phrases and images.Carson's version is both literary and cinematic; it also maintains a strong narrative line -- something very few translations manage (particularly those which, like this one, stick to the original rhyme scheme.)

It is, of course, a translation, Carson's work (and spiritual autobiography) as much as Dante's.Literal translations of greater and lesser fidelity are available (as is the original Italian text, for those who can enjoy it), but to my mind it's more interesting to see what one creative spirit can do with the work of another.So if Carson says 'my life' where Dante said 'our life', it's a choice, not an error; Dante may have felt himself to represent the human community, but Carson, caught in the predicament of modern man, must go it alone.(This is not to deny, of course, that the reader goes with him; hw could it be otherwise?)Indeed, his journey is all the more perilous: for Carson, unlike Dante, lives in a world where heaven is doubtful, but where hell, in various forms, is dismayingly real.

Highly recommended.

Wrong Wrong Wrong
The first line in the Inferno is "Nel mezzo del camin del nostra vita." This translates roughly as "In the middle of the journey of our life." The first line in this translation is "In the middle of the journey my life." Translational freedom aside, "nostra" is the Italian possessive pronoun for "our" not "my." Part of the point of the Inferno is that the reader goes with Dante and Virgil. Changing "our" to "my" cahnges the entire point and tenor of the poem. When a translation has this glaring an error in the first line, it does not bode well for the rest of the text. On a less academic note, this version does not have the original Italian on the opposite page. Even to non-speakers, the original language is still beautiful to read in comparison to the English. My opinion in the world of Dante scholars may not carry much weight, but for what little weight it has, this translation is bad bad bad. ... Read more

Book Description
Catherine, nineteen years old and suffering from severe schizophrenia, sat in a mental hospital—mute, catatonic, and hearing voices. Her psychiatrist, Dr. Daniel Dorman, was convinced that his patient's psychotic behavior was not merely rooted in chemical imbalances but rather in the dramatic circumstances of her family history. He was therefore determined to avoid the mind-numbing medications that had been so detrimental to Catherine's well being. Dorman fought adamant opposition and criticism from his peers and superiors for a chance to guide Catherine out of madness. Dante's Cure is the riveting true story of a woman's triumph over her schizophrenia without medication, written by the psychiatrist who helped her. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Insightful though vague
Dorman's book illuminates the inner world of a young girl with schizophrenia. Although there are no cut and dry explanations given for how she ended up the way she did, the book illustrates how life experiences can detour someone from the norm when they have never been exposed to a different social dynamic.
The final chapter alone is worth the purchase. Dorman grapples with the knowledge that modern medicine defies its own conviction in scientific methodology by putting the scraps of information about neurobiology into effect through the use of psychiartic medication, while completely ignoring the recovery of all schizophrenics who haven't used medication.
Dante's cure is a good read over all. It doesn't contain all of the answers one may be looking for but what it does contain will hopefully be common knowledge in the near future.

absolutely preposterous!
I wonder if schizophrenia is a correct diagnosis for this woman, it sounds more like a personality disorder. Schizophrenia is a REAL brain dysfunction that up to now, doesn't have a "cure" and medications help some symptoms but the illness doesn't go away. It is irresponsible of a physician to attribute his sessions "curative" powers without any clear methodology. Pharmacotherapy is not about drug companies, is about quality of life, I wonder who can wait 20 years and see someone 6 days a week to "improve". Again I doubt this person had schizophrenia.

Valued contribution to psychiatric medicine
Dante's Cure: A Journey Out Of Madness by Daniel Dorman (Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine University of California at Los Angeles) traces the history of Catherine, a woman suffering from severe schizophrenia in the 1970s and was admitting at a UCLA hospital as an adolescent anorexic who was suicidal and heard murderous voices in her head. Dr. Dorman describe's Catherine's condition, her background, and moments of interpretative breakthroughs, and his work with her in resistance to collegial pressures to medicate Catherine. Dr. Dorman set up in private practice and continued his sessions with Catherine. Gradually she was able to begin a recovery, live in an apartment, attend college, and eventually qualified as a psychiatric nurse. Of special interest is Dr. Dorman's epilogue setting out his rationale in opposition to the dominant psychiatric view of schizophrenia as a "brain disorder" requiring medication. He persuasively advocates a humanist, patient-doctor collaborationist approach as illustrated by his years of work with Catherine. Dante's Cure is a welcome and valued contribution to psychiatric medicine and a recommended addition to personal, professional, and Mental Health Studies library collections.

Dangerous and self-deluded bunk
This book is dangerous and self-deluded bunk.

Dr. Dorman tells the story of a young woman patient he began treating when he was a psychiatric resident at UCLA in the 1970's.He was under thirty and she was nineteen.Apparently, after seven years, the patient, Catherine Penney, was cured by Dr. Dorman.

Dr. Dorman is still so in the thrall of his "curing" of this woman, that now some twenty-five years later he has written what amounts to a romance novel about this treatment. He has supposedly practiced psychiatry for 30 years.What has happened since? Has he "cured" anyone else?Perhaps he's had some failures?The rest of his practice is a blank slate.

It may be admirable to attempt to treat schizophrenia without "drugs," but perhaps it is only Dr. Dorman who can do this.Is this really a viable treatment paradigm? And based on this one case, Dr. Dorman seems to extrapolate that "chemical imbalances" relating to schizophrenia don't exist.Dr. Dorman comes across as downright dangerous in his rigidity and self-inflation, and seems to have skipped all his classes in medical school relating to scientific methodology.

In a recent publicity interview found online, Dr. Dorman claims that Catherine Penney is permanently cured, although, short of having God-like foresight, how he can make such a statement is mind-boggling.But Dr. Dorman does say that "he can't cure everyone."Really? Now there's humility for you.

Real non-drug cure
This book is an awe-inspiring account of a psychiatrist's refusal to do anything less than cure his patient.He did this without the use of drugs, in itself an amazing thing.It was not an easy road to a drugged recovery but a thorough, life-affirming process which allows his patient to live life as it is meant to be lived. ... Read more

Book Description
A new translation by Anthony Esolen
Illustrations by Gustave Doré

Includes an appendix of key sources and extensive endnotes 
 
Arguably the greatest single poem ever written, The Divine Comedy presents Dante Alighieri's all-encompassing vision of the three realms of Christian afterlife.  In this groundbreaking new translation of Dante's most brilliant, imaginative creation, Purgatory, Dante struggles up the terraces of Mount Purgatory, still guided by Virgil, in continuation of his difficult ascent to purity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Medieval vision of the afterlife
This was required reading for a graduate course in medieval history.
"The Divine Comedy" describes Dante's journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso), guided first by the Roman epic poet Virgil and then by Beatrice, the subject of his love and another of his works, "La Vita Nuova." While the vision of Hell, the Inferno, is vivid for modern readers, the theological niceties presented in the other books require a certain amount of patience and scholarship to understand.Purgatorio, the most lyrical and human of the three, also has the most poets in it; Paradiso, the most heavily theological, has the most beautiful and ecstatic mystic passages in which Dante tries to describe what he confesses he is unable to convey (e.g., when Dante looks into the face of God: "all'alta fantasia qui mancò possa" - "at this high moment, ability failed my capacity to describe," Paradiso, XXXIII, 142).

Dante wrote the Comedy in his regional dialect.By creating a poem of epic structure and philosophic purpose, he established that the Italian language was suitable for the highest sort of expression, and simultaneously established the Tuscan dialect as the standard for Italian. In French, Italian is nicknamed la langue de Dante.Publishing in the vernacular language marked Dante as one of the first (among others such as Geoffrey Chaucer and Giovanni Boccaccio) to break from standards of publishing in only Latin or Greek (the languages of Church and antiquity).This break allowed more literature to be published for a wider audience - setting the stage for greater levels of literacy in the future.

Readers often cannot understand how such a serious work may be called a "comedy".In Dante's time, all serious scholarly works were written in Latin (a tradition that would persist for several hundred years more, until the waning years of the Enlightenment) and works written in any other language were assumed to be comedic in nature.Furthermore, the word "comedy," in the classical sense, refers to works which reflect belief in an ordered universe, in which events not only tended towards a happy or "amusing" ending, but an ending influenced by a Providential will that orders all things to an ultimate good.By this meaning of the word, the progression of Dante's pilgrim from Hell to Paradise is the paradigmatic expression of comedy, since the work begins with the pilgrim's moral confusion and ends with the vision of God.

The Divine Comedy can be described simply as an allegory: Each canto, and the episodes therein, can contain many alternate meanings.Dante's allegory, however, is more complex, and, in explaining how to read the poem (see the "Letter to Can Grande della Scala"), he outlines other levels of meaning besides the allegory (the historical, the moral, the literal, and the anagogical).The structure of the poem, likewise, is quite complex, with mathematical and numerological patterns arching throughout the work, particularly threes and nines.The poem is often lauded for its particularly human qualities: Dante's skillful delineation of the characters he encounters in Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise; his bitter denunciations of Florentine and Italian politics; and his powerful poetic imagination.Dante's use of real characters, according to Dorothy Sayers in her introduction to her translation of "L'Inferno", allows Dante the freedom of not having to involve the reader in description, and allows him to "[make] room in his poem for the discussion of a great many subjects of the utmost importance, thus widening its range and increasing its variety."

Dante called the poem "Comedy" (the adjective "Divine" added later in the 16th century) because poems in the ancient world were classified as High ("Tragedy") or Low ("Comedy"). Low poems had happy endings and were of everyday or vulgar subjects, while High poems were for more serious matters.Dante was one of the first in the Middle Ages to write of a serious subject, the Redemption of man, in the low and vulgar Italian language and not the Latin language as one might expect for such a serious topic.

Purgatorio
Having survived the depths of Hell, Dante and Virgil ascend out of the undergloom, to the Mountain of Purgatory on the far side of the world (in Dante's time, it was believed that Hell existed underneath Jerusalem).The Mountain is on an island, the only land in the Southern Hemisphere.At the shores of Purgatory, Dante and Virgil are attracted by a musical performance by Casella, but are reprimanded by Cato, a pagan who has been placed by God as the general guardian of the approach to the mountain.The text gives no indication whether or not Cato's soul is destined for heaven: his symbolic significance has been much debated.(Cantos I and II).

Dante starts the ascent on Mount Purgatory.On the lower slopes (designated as "ante-Purgatory" by commentators) Dante meets first a group of excommunicates, detained for a period thirty times as long as their period of contumacy.Ascending higher, he encounters those too lazy to repent until shortly before death, and those who suffered violent deaths (often due to leading extremely sinful lives).These souls will be admitted to Purgatory thanks to their genuine repentance, but must wait outside for an amount of time equal to their lives on earth (Cantos III through VI).Finally, Dante is shown a beautiful valley where he sees the lately-deceased monarchs of the great nations of Europe, and a number of other persons whose devotion to public and private duties hampered their faith (Cantos VII and VIII). From this valley Dante is carried (while asleep) up to the gates of Purgatory proper (Canto IX).

The gate of Purgatory is guarded by an angel who uses the point of his sword to draw the letter "P" (signifying peccatum, sin) seven times on Dante's forehead, abjuring him to "wash you those wounds within".The angel uses two keys, gold and silver, to open the gate and warns Dante not to look back, lest he should find himself outside the gate again, symbolizing Dante having to overcome and rise above the hell that he has just left and thusly leaving his sinning ways behind him.From there, Virgil guides the pilgrim Dante through the seven terraces of Purgatory.These correspond to the seven deadly sins, each terrace purging a particular sin in an appropriate manner.Those in purgatory can leave their circle whenever they like, but essentially there is an honors system where no one leaves until they have corrected the nature within themselves that caused them to commit that sin. Souls can only move upwards and never backwards, since the intent of Purgatory is for souls to ascend towards God in Heaven, and can ascend only during daylight hours, since the light of God is the only true guidance.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in literature and medieval history.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Good, but not the best
The greatest strength of Dorothy Sayers's translation of The Divine Comedy is its notes. Sayers considered this translation her finest work and spent years of her life on it, though she died before she could complete Paradise. Having read The Comedy dozens of times myself, along with many books on Dante and his work, I liked Sayers for her dedication, but her translation--and even her notes--has some problems.

The biggest flaw of the translation is that it's just not literal enough, due mainly to Sayers's attempt at rhyming. Dante invented terza rima ("threefold rhyme") for his Comedy, and trying to use the same rhyme in English is a noble effort but ultimately hopeless. She frequently strays from the original or, worse, obscures something very clear in the original so that she can fit the lines into her rhyme scheme. Her English is also littered all over with strange syntax and archaic words, some of which worked while others left me scratching my head and, in at least one case, laughing out loud.

But for all that, her translation is entertaining and still allows Dante to speak, if through an imperfect medium. There were some sections in which the wording and rhyme worked so well I was thrilled as I read it--most of the work, however, is not up to that standard.

As I said at the beginning, though, this translation's greatest strength is its notes. Sayers shows years of dedicated study in the introduction, notes, and appendices she prepared for this work. One of the most helpful parts of her work are the breakdowns of difficult sections, which she analyzes in the four levels of interpretation at which Dante wrote. These sections are very good and offered even a seasoned reader of Dante like me something to sink my teeth into.

Some of her notes are misguided or flawed, but the book is still worthwhile to the new student of Dante for the wealth of good information they contain. I give one star for the translation and three for the notes.

If the notes are not what you're after and you want to read something more literal the first time around, check out the Mark Musa translation, also available from Penguin Classics, or that of Anthony Esolen from the Modern Library.

Recommended.

Golden Oldies
First of all, a warning: the "Comedy" is a complex work, and we are constantly updating our understanding of it. However, once one has finished whatever annotated and/or translated version is currently at the apex of knowledge, it is well worth going back to Sayers. I would dare to say that this is one of the classic translations, one of the best from that phase of Dante studies (for example, though she is obviously tempted towards a Freudian reading, she actually tries to resist its more absurd results). Its funny how many Danteans still do not get beyond the Inferno...

Sayers Meets Dante:Interpreting the Poet's Voice...
This review relates to the volume 1 of Dante Alighieri's
-The Divine Comedy-, Hell; Translated by Dorothy L. Sayers,
Penguin Classics, 1949.346 pp.
Other reviewers have spoken to the perceived weaknesses
and problems with this particular translation and
volume, with Ms. Sayers' "Introduction" and "Notes."
Perhaps one should be warned before entering its portals,
as constructed by Ms. Sayers, that this is not an "easy"
Hell to assimilate.
Yet, at the beginning of her "Introduction," she presents
the offering in an inviting fashion: "The ideal way of
reading -The Divine Comedy- would be to start at the first
line and go straight through to the end, surrendering to
the vigour of the story-telling and the swift movement
of the verse, and not bothering about any historical
allusions or theological explanatios which do not occur
in the text itself. That is how Dante himself tackles
his subject."
Some readers may not find Ms. Sayers' translation to be
one that lends itself to "swift movement of the verse."
The value here, however, is the wealth of information
provided in both the "Introduction", the Notes, and
in the map drawings which clearly help the mind's eye
understand the "lay-out" of Hell as depicted by Dante.
The value of Ms. Sayer's "Introduction" is its clear
presentation of HER view of Dante, his work, his value,
his meaning, and his emphases.
She concentrates on the Images of Hell and on the Christian
doctrine implicit in the work.This translation is in
keeping with that emphasis, for it is structured,
somewhat restricted, and presents "Dante's" voice
as more attuned to the didactic and lecturing.Even the
voices of the denizens of Hell have the tones of
stern lesson-learning rather than evoking pity for
their failed virtue and blind human proclivities.
The problem with some readers, and some viewers of
Christianity, is trying to reconcile the idea of
stern, unrelenting, eternal Judgment and damnation
for sins with the idea of God's eternal Love, or as
Ms. Sayers translates the second tercet of Dante's
*terza rima* on the lintel of the entrance to Hell:
Justice Moved My Great Maker; God Eternal
Wrought Me: The Power, And The Unsearchably
High Wisdom, And The Primal Love Supernal.
Ms. Sayers will have no human shilly-shallying with
Dante's intent or the purpose of Hell.And that,
though it may appall some readers, is to the good;
for it forces the reader to confront whether or not
he or she accepts or does not the Christian doctrinal
views -- and helps the reader to understand the
serious nature of choosing one's faith and one's
religion, or not.
After each Canto, Ms. Sayers uses the same very
helpful devices for explaining the preceding Canto:
first, she discusses the main Images to be found in
that particular Canto in a very clear, full, doctrinal
way -- and then, she has the numbered notes which
explain allusions and phrases which Dante uses in
the work.
For instance, after Canto I, we find: "The Images.
-The Dark Wood- is the image of Sin or Error -- not so
much of any specific act of sin or intellectual perversion
as of that spiritual condition called "hardness of heart",
in which sinfulness has so taken possession of the soul as
to render it incapable of turning to God, or even knowing
which way to turn."Similarly, after Canto III, we find
this note concerning the phrase "the good of intellect":
"In the -Convivio- Dante quotes Aristotle as saying:
'truth is the good of the intellect'.What the lost souls
have lost is not the intellect itself, which still functions
mechanically, but the -good- of the intellect: i.e., the
knowledge of God, who is Truth."
This is an excellent edition for the scope of Ms. Sayers'
medieval scholarship and doctrinal insights.Though it
may be hard sledding for the tender-hearted.There
have always been several ways of seeing the road to
Hell -- in this version, once one strays from the
straight and narrow, there is only the crooked and
pit-full, not pitiful.
-- Robert Kilgore.

A readable translation with helpful notes and introduction
Having wanted to read Inferno for a long time, I was glad to find Dorothy Sayers' translation since I value her own writing.I'm no scholar, so I can't compare this critically to the numerous other translations available.I just come looking to enjoy reading and understanding great classic literature on occasion.It takes a great deal of background information to appreciate this work.The Divine Comedy can be examined from many different angles: Poetry, allegory, theology, a spiritual journey, a love story.Sayers' introduction and notes, and the diagrams and drawings in this book were a great help to me.Some may argue that the scholarship is a bit dated, but Sayers clearly loved The Divine Comedy and wanted her readers to appreciate it also.The result of her work was a very interesting reading experience for me, better than I expected.I particularly enjoyed the insights she incorporated into the notes from Charles Williams' book, The Figure of Beatrice.(Sayers dedicated her translation of The Divine Comedyto Williams.)The verse might make it a little more difficult to get the meaning until you get used to it, but I think it's worth the effort.Once I found a good reading pace, I didn't find the rhyming forced as some readers have.(It might seem that way if you look for it.)It must be a difficult thing to try to give readers of English the same experience that Dante's Italian readers had and I think that was Dorothy Sayers' goal.She got me interested enough to take seriously her claim that readers of Dante are cheating themselves if they stop after Inferno.On through Purgatory to Paradise ... It must only get better from here.

A very outdatedtranslation
Dorothy Sayers was a fine mystery author and a knowledgable scholar of medieval literature.And once upon a time, this *was* one of the best available translations in English.Times change, however, and new English translations have come along that do a far better job than Sayers' does.

The biggest problem with Sayers translation, in my humble opinion, is her attempt to preserve Dante's rhyme scheme. In her introduction,The fact of that matter is that Italian is a language in which rhymes are frequent, easy,and melodious.In English, having every other line rhyme just sounds cloying and contrived.It also makes the reading more difficult, because of the inverted syntax, archaic vocabulary, and awkward rhythmsand that Sayers has to use in order force the rhymes in there. Oh sure, the fact that she was able to it at all is impressive.But it still doesn't make for a palatable rendition Dante's supple language (which, even to modern Italians reads smoothly and vernacularly, and not at all awkward.)Those who really wantsome retention of Dante's rhymes would do far better with Robert Pinsky's translation (which uses 'soft rhymes' and doesn't force them when they won't fit).Alan Mandelbaum's and John Ciardi's translations are good too.

Another problem with Sayers edition are the notes.While, on the one hand, they can very helpful to a first-time reader, they are also outdated.If you want to know what Oxford scholars thought about Dante a half-century ago, Sayers notes are great for that. And I don't say that to be dismissive, those 1940's Oxford medievalists had a lot of very good things to say.However, the fact of the matter is that Dante studies-- and medieval scholarship have changed a lot in the past half-century-- and reading her notes is something like reading a half-century old textbook of American history.They leave out a lot of things that probably ought to be discussed.

An even bigger problem with the notes here, I think, is thatthe author too readily presents her notes as "The Truth" (with a capital "T") about the poem-- as if there were only one correct way to interpret it andits details. Her interpretations are often insightful, suggestive, and they will greatly help the first-time reader-- but they are so didactic in their style that they may overlyy contrain the reader'sfreedom of interpretation. It's more like she's trying to use her notes to tell you, "The poem means this", rather than using them to background information and context so that you can figure out what *you* think it means on your own.

And, at the risk of sounding like I'm "politically correct", the fact of the matter is that there also are some biases in her notes that, to me, seem rather glaring today.This is particularly evident where she explains why Dante places Mohammed in the part of Hell with the schismatics.Rather than simply pointing out that medieval Christians erroneously believed that Islam began from a schism within Christianity, Sayers uses the occasion to make a few denigrating comments about Islam (which she insists upon referring to as "Mohammedism").Again, I don't hold this against Sayers per se... She wrote this book among and for a coz y community of Oxford Christians over a half-century ago.... and it's naturally going to be show its colors in that regard.But, for us folks who are reading it today, in the 21st century, well...maybe the notes just need to be updated a bit.

Anyway, when all's said and done, Dante's work is masterful, and even Sayers' awkward translation and outdated notes can't completely conceal that.However, I really think readers would be better off sticking to the Ciardi, Mandelbaum, or Pinsky translations of the _Inferno_.(My preference is for the Pinksy, but to each his own...) ... Read more