Book Description
The "Divine Comedy" was entitled by Dante himself merely "Commedia," meaning a poetic composition in a style intermediate between the sustained nobility of tragedy, and the popular tone of elegy. The word had no dramatic implication at that time, though it did involve a happy ending. The poem is the narrative of a journey down through Hell, up the mountain of Purgatory, and through the revolving heavens into the presence of God. In this aspect it belongs to the two familiar medieval literary types of the Journey and the Vision. It is also an allegory, representing under the symbolism of the stages and experiences of the journey, the history of a human soul, painfully struggling from sin through purification to the Beatific Vision. Contained in this volume is the second part of the "Divine Comedy," the "Purgatorio" or "Purgatory," from the translation of Charles Eliot Norton. ... 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

Book Description
La Vita Nuova marked a turning point in European literature, introducing personal experience into the strict formalism of medieval love poetry. The sequence of poems tells the story of Dante’s passion for Beatrice, the beautiful sister of one of his closest friends, transformed through his writing into a symbol of love that was both spiritual and romantic. From unrequited passion to the profound grief he experiences at the loss of his love, this work intersperses exquisite verse with Dante’s own commentary on the structure and origins of each poem, offering a unique insight into the poet’s art and skill. Barbara Reynolds’s translation, acclaimed for its lucidity and faithfulness to the original, is now enhanced with a new introduction and other material. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Wake me up when it's over
I LOVED The Inferno, so I approached this book with the enthusiasm of a gourmand at an all-you-can-eat buffet.Sadly, the bread turned out to be stale, the steak overdone and the desserts moldy. Okay. Now that I've run that metaphor into the ground, let's talk about Vita Nuova.I found it to be pretty darn tedious and highly melodramatic.The prose is self-indulgent and dry; the poetry, while slightly better, falls into the same camp.You just want to say to the guy--get a life!At several points during the book, Dante's fellow townspeople mock him because of his constant waterworks and woe-is-me-ing. I sympathized with them, found myself laughing at this whiny, timid little man.Dante, as he portrays himself in this book, is a bore, a sniveling, spoiled child.

Brilliant
Dante will remain my favorite author, ever, final, no questions asked, and though I love the Divine Comedy, it was refreshing to read something that told more of his own story: the agony over Beatrice and the trials of his own life.This is a must read for any Dante fan...understand the man behind the art...understand one of the most beautiful poets the world will ever know.

Sweet unrequited first love
This is a beautiful collection of poetry inspired by Beatrice, the great love of Dante's life, even though she barely even knew him and they were never together romantically, not even as childhood sweethearts.It's also mixed in with autobiographical remembrances.Dante and Beatrice first happened to see one another when they were nine and eight years old, respectively, and didn't cross paths again for nine more years, but Dante always remembered how stunningly beautiful this girl was.Every single time he saw this woman from their second meeting on (in church, on the street, by his house, wherever else she was) he was even more and more inflamed by love for this beautiful otherworldly creature, and so began writing the poetry which comprises much of this slim but poignant volume.Dante was so madly in love that he prefaced each poem or sonnet by explaining in detail what every bit of them meant, if it's broken down into sections by theme, everything that would let him gush on and on about his beloved one even more.One of the sonnets tells about a terrifying dream/premonition Dante had about a year before Beatrice died on 8 June 1290, in the prime of her life, a dream which was so strong, real, and terrifying that he was actually brought to tears and asked by one of Beatrice's friends whatever the matter was with him.He said he'd had a horrifying vision that his lady had died, but didn't provide her name and so let Beatrice's friend believe it was some other woman he was madly passionately head over heels in love with.Shortly after Beatrice really did die, one of her brothers visited Dante asking him to write some poetry for a certain death that recently occurred.The man has disguised himself and not told Dante the details about the death in question, but he knows that this is one of Beatrice's five brothers, and that Beatrice is the dead person in question whom he's being asked to immortalise in poetry.Because he doesn't want anyone to get the wrong impression about his feelings for Beatrice, Dante goes through three poems in the quest for creating just the right one.

After the sad untimely death of Beatrice, Dante was visited by another beautiful woman who cheered him up and inspired him to write poetry again, this time for her and not for Beatrice, but very soon after this occurs he feels upset and ashamed of himself because he let another woman be his muse.The last chapter of this book contains the genesis of the idea that would eventually lead to the writing of Dante's longest and most greatest work, the Divine Comedy.Dante wanted to write a much much longer poem celebrating his great love for her and how beautiful Beatrice was, immortalising her for all time even though they were never husband and wife, lovers, or even sweethearts.It's true there's a fine line between love and obsession, but in this case whichever of the two it might have been doesn't matter, since the end result was a beautiful timeless work of art.

What has never been written of any other woman
Genuine romance and passion is missing from most books, either fiction or nonfiction. As a result, it's hard to come across both in such quantity as there is in "La Vita Nuova" ("The New Life"), the unsung masterpiece of poet Dante Alighieri, author of the classic Divina Comedia.

"La Vita Nuova" is a series of poems and anecdotes centering around the life-changing love of Dante for a young woman named Beatrice. The two first met when they were young children, of about eight. Dante instantly fell in love with her, but didn't really interact with her for several years. Over the years, Dante's almost supernatural love only increased in intensity, and he poured out his feelings (grief, adoration, fear) into several poems and sonnets. During an illness, he has a vision about mortality, himself, and his beloved Beatrice ("One day, inevitably, even your most gracious Beatrice must die"). Beatrice died at the age of twenty-four, and Dante committed himself to the memory of his muse.

It would be a hard task to find another book overflowing with such incredible love and passion as "La Vita Nuova"; it's probably the most romantic book I have ever seen. It's brief and only includes one part of Dante's life overall, but it's a truly unique love story. Dante and Beatrice were never romantically involved. In fact, both of them married other people.

But Dante's love for Beatrice shows itself to be more than infatuation or crush, because it never wanes -- in fact, it grows even stronger, including Love manifested as a nobleman in one of Dante's dreams. There is no element of physicality to the passion in "La Vita Nuova"; Dante talks about how beautiful Beatrice is, but that's only a sidenote. (We don't hear of any real details about her) And Dante's grief-stricken state when Beatrice dies (of what, we're never told) leads him to deep changes in his soul, and eventually peace. And though Beatrice died, because of Dante's love for her and her placement in the "Comedia," she has achieved a kind of immortality.

One of the noticeable things about this book is that whenever something significant happens to Dante (good, bad, or neither), he immediately writes a poem about it. Some readers may be tempted to skip over the carefully constructed poems, but they shouldn't. Even if these intrude on the story, they show what Dante was feeling more clearly than his prose.

It's impossible to read this book and come out of it jaded about love or true passion. Not the sort of stuff in pulp romance novels, but love and passion that come straight from the heart and soul, in a unique and unusual love story. A true-life romance of the purest kind.

What has never been written of any other woman
Genuine romance and passion is missing from most books, either fiction or nonfiction, and I don't think I've ever come across both in such quantity as there is in "La Vita Nuova" ("The New Life"), the unsung masterpiece of poet Dante Alighieri, author of the classic Divina Comedia.

"La Vita Nuova" is a series of poems and anecdotes centering around the life-changing love of Dante for a young woman named Beatrice. The two first met when they were young children, of about eight. Dante instantly fell in love with her, but didn't really interact with her for several years. Over the years, Dante's almost supernatural love only increased in intensity, and he poured out his feelings (grief, adoration, fear) into several poems and sonnets. During an illness, he has a vision about mortality, himself, and his beloved Beatrice ("One day, inevitably, even your most gracious Beatrice must die"). Beatrice died at the age of twenty-four, and Dante committed himself to the memory of his muse.

It would be a hard task to find another book overflowing with such incredible love and passion as "La Vita Nuova"; it's probably the most romantic book I have ever seen. It's brief and only includes one part of Dante's life overall, but it's a truly unique love story. Dante and Beatrice were never romantically involved. In fact, both of them married other people.

But Dante's love for Beatrice shows itself to be more than infatuation or crush, because it never wanes -- in fact, it grows even stronger, including Love manifested as a nobleman in one of Dante's dreams. There is no element of physicality to the passion in "La Vita Nuova"; Dante talks about how beautiful Beatrice is, but that's only a sidenote. (We don't hear of any real details about her) And Dante's grief-stricken state when Beatrice dies (of what, we're never told) leads him to deep changes in his soul, and eventually peace. And though Beatrice died, because of Dante's love for her and her placement in the "Comedia," she has achieved a kind of immortality.

One of the noticeable things about this book is that whenever something significant happens to Dante (good, bad, or neither), he immediately writes a poem about it. Some readers may be tempted to skip over the carefully constructed poems, but they shouldn't. Even if these intrude on the story, they show what Dante was feeling more clearly than his prose.

It's impossible to read this book and come out of it jaded about love or true passion. Not the sort of stuff in pulp romance novels, but love and passion that come straight from the heart and soul, in a unique and unusual love story. Every true romantic should read this book. ... Read more

Book Description
The second volume of Oxford's new Divine Comedy presents the Italian text of the Purgatorio and, on facing pages, a new prose translation. Continuing the story of the poet's journey through the medieval Other World under the guidance of the Roman poet Virgil, the Purgatorio culminates in the regaining of the Garden of Eden and the reunion there with the poet's long-lost love Beatrice. This new edition of the Italian text takes recent critical editions into account, and Durling's prose translation, like that of the Inferno, is unprecedented in its accuracy, eloquence, and closeness to Dante's syntax.Martinez' and Durling's notes are designed for the first-time reader of the poem but include a wealth of new material unavailable elsewhere. The extensive notes on each canto include innovative sections sketching the close relation to passages--often similarly numbered cantos--in the Inferno. Fifteen short essays explore special topics and controversial issues, including Dante's debts to Virgil and Ovid, his radical political views, his original conceptions of homosexuality, of moral growth, and of eschatology. As in the Inferno, there is an extensive bibliography and four useful indexes. Robert Turner's illustrations include maps, diagrams of Purgatory and the cosmos, and line drawings of objects and places mentioned in the poem. ... 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

Book Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Terrific spiritual classic
After seeing Dante referred to by so many Christian authors over the years, I finally decided I'd better read this "timeless spiritual classic."I was expecting a dry, dull slog.
Fortunately, I consulted a friend who is a Classicist.I told him I wanted to read Dante for spiritual value, not just as great literature (I'm no poetry expert, nor do I speak a word of Italian).He recommended Dorothy Sayer's translation.
Wow.Reading Dante during Lent is one long, detailed examination of conscience!It is great, and Sayers' explanations and commentaries are terrific: erudite, informative, drily witty, and full of spiritual insight.

Poetry even for us monoglots
Let's begin with Dante. Called "the divine poet" (hence the adjective attached to his humbly titled Commedia), it is a difficult moniker to argue with, not because Dante is writing of heaven but because his imagery, his imagination, and his humility are true imitations of the creative activity of God. Dante is a sublime "sub-creator" to use the coinage of JRR Tolkien. If you can read theCommedia and not be moved to tears, one is tempted to doubt your humanity for Dante portrays the race in all its beauty and putridness and denies neither. He neither celebrates mankind's faculties and achievements beyond their due nor fears to recognize the vileness of which humans are capable.

And it is Canticle II, the poet's ascent through Purgatory, which stirs so deeply the soul and inspires the very penitence and hope of purgation which Dante describes there. One need not be a Roman Catholic or ascribe to Purgatory as doctrine in order to recognize and appreciate what Dante has done in describing the landscape of repentance and hope. (Being a Christian may help, but even on this point one suspects that the divine poet may well perform the function of evangelist, as well as exegete, and lead the searching soul to beatific vision of its own.) Clearly his purpose is not merely to describe what sinners of the past are doing in the afterlife to purify their souls for Paradise, but also to inspire his contemporary readers (who are, of course, yet living when the poem is published in 1321) to examine themselves just as the joyful penitents do on the cornices of Mount Purgatory. It is refreshing--a sort of glorious wound, the healing of which leaves one stronger and more whole than he had been before the hurt.

But what of the translation? We who do not (yet) enjoy the privilege of reading the Commedia in Italian must read the poem in translation--and there are plenty to choose from! Given its primacy among the works of Western Literature in the Middle Ages, the poem has been translated by everyone from Dryden and Pope to Allen Mandelbaum and John Ciardi. So first of all, without question one MUST insist on a verse translation! Prose translations can hardly suffice to communicate the rhythm and terseness of Dante's terza rima which is so integral to the poem. Nor can the majesty of the subject, the grandeur of the poet's climb toward Paradise with all its anticipation and awe be fully communicated in a prose rendering. How well various attempts at verse have succeeded in doing so is the big debate.

In this reviewer's humble opinion, Dorothy L Sayers has succeeded to a degree which surpasses any extant English translation. Are there occasional awkwardnesses? Yes. Is the literal meaning of some lines lost from time to time? Yes, but always for the sake of a gain in some other important respect and always with explanation. Sayers' is the only translation of note which manages to render in English the full terza rima rhyme scheme employed by Dante--and even that feat is worth a few awkward passages or archaisms, it seems to me. One feels much closer to the Divine Poet reading Sayers' translation aloud than, say, Ciardi's half-attempted rhymes, lucid as he can often be.

Whatever else you do, read the Commedia--all of it! It is rather unfortunate that it has become common practice to publish the poem in three volumes rather than presenting it as an integrated whole. Though the familiarity of many ends with Inferno, those who press on I suspect will love Purgatorio best (but fortunately one is not forced to choose), and I am confident readers will be well rewarded for reading Sayers' brilliant translation. One would be hard pressed to find a translator who was more passionate about her subject and who labored more lovingly and meticulously over her rendering of this beloved work than Dorothy L Sayers.

DOROTHY L. SAYERS' GENIUS GLOWS IN HER TRANSLATION OF THE COMMEDIA
This project was her dying effort after a lifetime of great achievements in scholarship and literature. She again proves her genius here with Dante, as in her translation of the Inferno, making an intelligent translation into her contemporary and scholarly English. Incredible achievement for a woman, the first to graduate from Oxford, who wrote treatises in THeology as well as the wonderful Lord Whimsey detective series.

Pleasant Guide
A warning: this is by now an rather old translation, and theres always more to explore in Dante. That being said, it has many insights newer translations lack, and its a brilliant example of a period - if you want to understand how the understanding of Dante has developed, this is a must.
Oh, and by the way, if one can read of the Earthly Paradise and not be moved, one is cheating oneself (as I found out, fortunately). Purgatory is just as much worth the effort as its two Higher and Lower brothers.

Feel Purgatory
It was always hard for the majority of readers to feel purgatory just like the inferno. That the own Dante knew, he wrote about this in "Purgatory" because here, differently from "Inferno", Dante desired a crescent climax with connected episodes, the specific episodes are not passionate as inferno`s, that is the purpose: those in purgatory do not feel passions as desirable, "isn't it one more irony of Dante?". Think about it for solving more this enigm of the Divine Comedy. ... Read more

Book Description
Saint City has always been Dante Valentine's home. It's where she grew up, it's where her dead are buried, and it's where she learned to hunt. Now, one call from an old friend will bring her back to investigate a murder too close to home for anyone's comfort. But the one person she trusted has just betrayed her. Sometimes revenge is best served demon-hot... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Better, almost back to the original.
This book was better than the previous offering from Ms. Saintcrow.I did hate that some of the characters that we meet in the other books were killed off, but it gave Dante the opportunity to return to her original roots.She still whining, and still hard headed but she has room to grow and reach her potential.Plus, the closing scene had me dying to finish the last installment of this series.Ms. Saintcrow has outdone herself.

This series is not for a MAN
I read the previous books in this series waiting for her to GROW UP!
She never did, it's the sam rehash every time.Maybe this has an something he the women readers like.... I can not for the life of me make myself finish this book.

Great Book
I liked this book very much.This is a great series and can not wait for the next one.Lilith Saintcrow writes a good story and I like Dante Valentine.

Saint City Sinners
Dante was a bit too whiney in this book.It seemed to me everyone was her enemy, even her closely held friends? The transition to the final, which I hope it isn't, book was very weird.

A return to form
I liked this installment of the Dante Valentine story a good deal better than the last one.I felt that in _The Devil's Right_ hand, Dante did little other than whine and obsess about her relationship with Japh.Don't get me wrong, she still does that, which is why this is a 3-star review and not a 4-star one, but in this book she does actual other things too, beyond whining.I'm not entirely satisfied with the B-plot about revenge and drug dealing, it seems to require a level of corruption of _everything_ that makes the continual survival of the Hegemony untenable, even setting aside the casual way ramdom people can throw around nuke equivalents and the fact that all of its constituent groups seem to hate all the other groups, but it does get Dante out and about again, and makes her come to some realizations about her shaky mental state and increasingly tenuous ties to normal humanity.I see that the last book in the series is already out and in stock at Amazon.That idea of a definite conclusion to the series is nice, it makes it more likely that the status-quo can be overturned, and considering that the main character is a necromance who has wished for Death's embrace on a fairly regular basis, we may not be headed to a happy ending.. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

A mythic love
The 'Vita Nuova' is more than anything else a prelude to 'The Divine Comedy'. The Beatrice Dante falls in love with and longs for is on the one hand a figure unattainable, the love- goddess of courtly love. On the other hand she is to become the very essence of the spiritual and to guide Dante later through the Paradiso of the Comedy. The real figure and her life who he falls in love with truly is transformed in myth and mind to a kind of image and essence of Divine Beauty.
As with Petrarch and his Laura the love Dante writes of ' La Vita Nuova' does not somehow strike me and move me in the deepest way, and seems somehow too literary and artificial. Lines of love of Rilke and Kafka sound more authentic to me, but perhaps this is because I am apoor reader and no medievalist.
In any case this is a small classic which is prelude to a far greater one. And the real Beatrice is a small figure beside the mythic one Dante will transform into a literary immortal.

What has never been written of any other woman
Genuine romance and passion is missing from most books, either fiction or nonfiction, and I don't think I've ever come across both in such quantity as there is in "La Vita Nuova" (translation: The New Life), the unsung masterpiece of poet Dante Alighieri (who wrote the classic Divina Comedia).

It is a series of poems centering around the life-changing love of Dante for a young woman named Beatrice. The two first met when they were young children, of about eight. Dante instantly fell in love with her, but didn't really interact with her for several years. Over the years, Dante's almost supernatural love only increased in intensity, and he poured out his feelings (grief, adoration, fear) into several poems and sonnets. During an illness, he has a vision about mortality, himself, and his beloved Beatrice ("One day, inevitably, even your most gracious Beatrice must die"). Beatrice died at the age of twenty-four, and Dante committed himself to the memory of his muse.

I have never in my life read a book overflowing with such incredible love and passion as "La Vita Nuova"; it's probably the most romantic book I have ever seen. It's only a little over a hundred pages long, but it's a truly unique love story. Dante and Beatrice were never romantically involved. In fact, both of them married other people.

But Dante's love for Beatrice shows itself to be more than infatuation or crush, because it never wanes -- in fact, it grows even stronger, including Love manifested as a nobleman in one of Dante's dreams. There is no element of physicality to the passion in "La Vita Nuova"; Dante talks about how beautiful Beatrice is, but that's only a sidenote. (We don't hear of any real details about her) And Dante's grief-stricken state when Beatrice dies (of what, we're never told) leads him to deep changes in his soul, and eventually peace. (And though Beatrice died, because of Dante's love for her and her placement in the "Comedia," she has achieved a kind of immortality)

One of the noticeable things about this book is that whenever something significant happens to Dante (good, bad, or neither), he immediately writes a poem about it. Some readers may be tempted to skip over the carefully constructed poems, but they shouldn't. Even if these intrude on the story, they show what Dante was feeling more clearly than his prose.

It's impossible to read this book and come out of it jaded about love or true passion. Not the sort of stuff in pulp romance novels, but love and passion that come straight from the heart and soul, in a unique and unusual love story. Every true romantic should read this book. ... Read more

Book Description
The second volume of Oxford's new Divine Comedy presents the Italian text of the Purgatorio and, on facing pages, a new prose translation. Continuing the story of the poet's journey through the medieval Other World under the guidance of the Roman poet Virgil, the Purgatorio culminates in the regaining of the Garden of Eden and the reunion there with the poet's long-lost love Beatrice. This new edition of the Italian text takes recent critical editions into account, and Durling's prose translation, like that of the Inferno, is unprecedented in its accuracy, eloquence, and closeness to Dante's syntax.Martinez' and Durling's notes are designed for the first-time reader of the poem but include a wealth of new material unavailable elsewhere. The extensive notes on each canto include innovative sections sketching the close relation to passages--often similarly numbered cantos--in the Inferno. Fifteen short essays explore special topics and controversial issues, including Dante's debts to Virgil and Ovid, his radical political views, his original conceptions of homosexuality, of moral growth, and of eschatology. As in the Inferno, there is an extensive bibliography and four useful indexes. Robert Turner's illustrations include maps, diagrams of Purgatory and the cosmos, and line drawings of objects and places mentioned in the poem. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

WOW!!!
Unbelieveable!!!This book was without a doubt one of the best and most amazing books in Western Literature.This part of the Divine Comedy was incredible, especially when you consider that Dante almost completelyinvented the image of Purgatory!!Some people say that after they read theInferno that this part is not quite so good.I have to disagree.I foundthis part of the Comedy to be just as gripping and amazing as the Inferno. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE TO READ AT ALL!!!!! ... Read more

Book Description
The world has turned its back on the Light Master and is filled with greed, hatred and war. The Trickster, who has started world wars in his many lives on earth, now rules Winterland, the darkest dimension after death. Few Light Lords and Light Ladies can pass through this dark realm to help mankind because Winterland now runs thick with evil spirits. The Trickster, who senses that the Light Master is fed up with mankind's blindness, greed and arrogance, prepares to invade earth with his sturmgeist legions by breaking through the veil barrier that separates the world of the living from Winterland. The First Order of Young Contemptibles-Dante Wilson, Rose Moon and three abandoned street children from Chicago-are called on by Lord Bartleby to create miraculous phenomena: two new species suddenly appear on earth for the first time since the Cambrian Period; miraculous rainfalls occur--but are they to help mankind or make it extinct? ... Read more

Book Description
A new blank verse translation of Dante's epic, complete with an authoritative Introduction, diagrams, maps, and notes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (51)

Understandable
This is a great translation of Dante.I've read a few translations of The Inferno - once in high school and a different one in college.This one was far clearer and had better notes that either of them.Also, I am a fan of hardcovers for books such as this - ones that you intend to keep around.

The story itself is fascinating - Dante's view of the afterlife, filled with beautiful literary devices.In the Inferno, for example, he will discuss different circles of hell, with different degrees of punishment, reserved fordifferent sinners.The retribution that the sinners face always reflects their sins on earth.

For example, he visits those who have taken their own life.They are turned into trees and are mute - that is unless a branch is broken.In that case, they are able to speak through their blood while it flows.So, as they used their blood to say their final words to the world, so they can only use that as their means to communicate in hell.

Abysmal Translation, Good Notes
Reading this book gave one the impression that they could well sympathize with Hannibal's troops as they crossed the alps--one sets out with an obstensibly noble mission, but encounters massive casualties along the way.

Sisson's vers libre provides the vacuum within the bog.If the Divine Comedy is poetry, the Divine Comedy this is not.Poetry turned mundane.

However, his 235 pages of endnotes are massively helpful.The Divine Comedy was, in part, an exercise in commentary concerning contemporary politics.This veritable iceberg of symbolism's main bulk remains unseen without a strong dose of explanation for each page.Sisson offers the needed notes.

All things considered, a mixed-bag.An abysmal translation in text of this length is akin to adding the chains of Dickens's Marley onto the reader.Formidable scholarship regarding explanation of symbolism is, for the reader, analogous to Bouchard's discovery of the Rosetta Stone.

Divine Comedy
I found the cd very close to the book but abriged.I recommended even if you can't get thought the book which is difficult

The need for Quality Assurance ???
Dante stands alongside Shakespeare, Milton, & T.S Eliot et al. as one of the most profound minds and thinkers of our shared culture and history. Whilst the recording does not capture the tone and poetic sensibilities of Dante, It is tragic to say the least that anyone can publish a review - in particular those who can not even read (See Annie Feng's review). I think there is a need for some form of Quality Assurance to ensure that those who can appreciate art (regardless of their religious or philosophical stance) can read reviews that are of a genuine critical nature that understand something of the historical and literary context of a particular work rather than just bigoted condemnations !!! A good way of doing this would be to note the number of people who find a particular review helpful -

It is important to note that 0 out of 3 found Annie Fengs review of help !!! (good to see Annie gave the Angel DVD series 5 stars - i think this speaks for itself).

Could Annie and people like her please stick to the Angel series or at least learn to read - are u really over 13 years of age Annie ???

Bad recording of a Great Book
While the actor, Heathecote Williams, clearly can read, either he was a poor choice for this task, or the producers of this audio version had no experience with audio books.The production quality of this recording is terrible.I purchase a lot of audio books, but seldom have I had such a horrible listening experience.
The actor speaks in a droning monitone and then starts to yell in a high-pitched and squeaky voice.
I would suggest that you read this book rather than listen to this badly produced set of discs. ... Read more

Book Description
This is the first new translation for forty years of a fascinating work of political theory, until now only available in academic libraries. Dante's Monarchy addresses the fundamental question of what form of political organization best suits human nature; it embodies a political vision of startling originality and power, and illuminates the intellectual interests and achievements of one of the world's great poets. Prue Shaw's translation is accompanied by a full introduction and notes, which provide a complete guide to the text, and places Monarchy in the context of Dante's life and work.Download Description
This is the first new translation for forty years of a fascinating work of political theory, until now only available in academic libraries. Dante's Monarchy addresses the fundamental question of what form of political organization best suits human nature; it embodies a political vision of startling originality and power, and illuminates the intellectual interests and achievements of one of the world's great poets. Prue Shaw's translation is accompanied by a full introduction and notes, which provide a complete guide to the text, and places Monarchy in the context of Dante's life and work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Church and the Empire: Dante takes sides...
Many people have read Dante's "Divine Comedy", but only some know that besides being a wonderful poet he was also a noteworthy political thinker. If you read "Monarchy", a book that he wrote in 1313, you will realize why...

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) was born in Florence, Italy, and he participated actively in the political life of his city, being one of the officials in charge of the government of Florence. As such, he took some decisions that were considered by many anti-papal, but that he deemed not only adequate but essential in order to limit the influence of the Church in politics. As a result, sometime later (when the balance of power changed, and the Church had the upper hand), he was exiled from Florence and told that if he were to return he would be executed. It is rather unsurprising that this event only made him more sure of what he already thought: that the Church shouldn't be involved in politics.

The mere idea that the Church wasn't more important than the Empire was rather controversial at the time that this book was written, because some said that the Church had a right to oversee the Empire, to watch over it and direct it if necessary. Others, for example Dante, were vehemently opposed to that idea, and took upon themselves the task of increasing the power of the Emperor. In "Monarchy" he tries to explain what form of political organization is the one that allows human beings to reach their objectives more easily. Dante distinguishes two orders and two authorities (Church and Empire), and says that the basis for that distinction is the two main objectives that men have in their lives: eternal happiness and happiness in this life. He defends the importance of the Empire, and says that it doesn't need to obey the Church. Dante also points out that the authority of the secular prince is not derived from the Church, but comes directly to him from God.

On the whole, this book is quite interesting, and it introduces you to a different side of Dante: the political thinker. Moreover, it allows you to know more about the controversy regarding the Church and the Empire, a debate that was very important in the XIVth century. It is also worthwhile pointing out that "Monarchy" is quite short, so you won't lose too much of your time reading it, but you are likely to learn a lot. So, all in all, recommended...

Belén Alcat

A great work, from the greatest writer in history
Quite simply one of the greatest political treatises from the greatest mind of the Middle Ages/Renaissance.Dante displays his views on the need for strong Monarch in a sophisticated, yet easy to follow way.His political views also hint at future revolutions in political thought, e.g. government by consent of the governed.This would be a fascinating read for anyone who is interested in political history, or the Renaissance. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a retelling of Dante's Divine Comedy written especially for young people by poet, novelist and translator Joseph Tusiani. The author combines summary, paraphrase and Dante's own lines translated into English verse to tell a timelss story of sin and salvation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Useful book for reading group
I was thrilled to find this re-telling of The Divine Comedy for young people.I plan to use this book in a junior high reading group that will be travelling to Florence later in the year.It is a quirky book, I found a few typos, but the re-telling of the story is perfect for my purpose.I highly recommend it, particularly for assigned, guided reading where there will be opportunity for clarification of confusing religious concepts. ... Read more

Book Description
The second part and the radiant climax to Dante’s awe-inspiring epic, in a definitive new translation

Having plunged to the utmost depths of Hell and climbed Mount Purgatory in the first two parts of The Divine Comedy, Dante now ascends to Heaven, guided by his beloved Beatrice, to continue his search for God. As he progresses through the spheres of Paradise, he grows ever closer to experiencing divine love in the overwhelming presence of the deity. Examining eternal questions of faith, desire, and enlightenment, Dante exercised all of his learning and wit, wrath and tenderness in his creation of one of the greatest of all Christian allegories. ... Read more

Amazon.com
No figure speaks for the Christian High Middle Ages more emphatically than Dante Alighieri, and according to Harriet Rubin, author of Dante in Love, no writer reveals the path to creative genius more emphatically either. Combining history and literary criticism, Rubin contends that "there is another way to read Dante"--not as a scholar, but as a fellow journeyman. Rubin's admiration and grasp of Dante's masterpiece is clear. She writes as one with an intimate knowledge not only of the period that shaped the poet, but also of the subsequent artists, thinkers, scientists, and statesmen that the poet helped to shape. But this strength, paradoxically, turns out to be the book's biggest weakness: Rubin's obsessive contextualizing. The bulk of Dante in Love consists of historical references that are meant to define Dante's age and to illustrate the poet's development and far-reaching influence. However, with each historical digression, we get farther and farther away from Dante and the Commedia itself. The result is a meandering narrative that in the end lacks focus, despite Rubin's references to the poem (from multiple translations) and her stated intention of tracing Dante's progress as an exile and artist through Italy and his creative process. Many of Rubin's historical asides, such as her discussion of the rise of devotion to the Virgin Mary, truly help illuminate the poem. But others read like sweeping pronouncements that lack sufficient explanation: "Keats had the right instinct but the wrong method for exploiting Dante." Rubin marvels how Dante "kept his vision alive over nineteen years of trials to make the Comedy seem as if it were all one line, the work of one awful moment of birth which time stopped for genius." Unfortunately, Rubin's own work lacks a similar cohesiveness. -- Silvana TropeaBook Description

Dante in Love is the story of the most famous journey in literature. Dante Alighieri, exiled from his home in Florence, a fugitive from justice, followed a road in 1302 that took him first to the labyrinths of hell then up the healing mountain of purgatory, and finally to paradise. He found a vision and a language that made him immortal.

Author Harriet Rubin follows Dante's path along the old Jubilee routes that linked monasteries and all roads to Rome. It is a path followed by generations of seekers -- from T. S. Eliot, Sigmund Freud, Primo Levi, to Bruce Springsteen. After the poet fled Rome for Siena he walked along the upper Arno, past La Verna, to Bibiena, to Cesena, and to the Po plain.

During his nineteen-year journey Dante wrote his "unfathomable heart song," as Thomas Carlyle called The Divine Comedy, a poem that explores the three states of the psyche. Eliot, a lifelong student of the Comedy, said, "Dante and Shakespeare divide the modern world between them, there is no third."

Dante in Love tells the story of the High Middle Ages, a time during which the artist Giotto was the first to paint the sky blue, Francis of Assisi discovered knowledge in humility and the great doctors of the church mapped the soul and stood back to admire their cathedrals. Dante's medieval world gave birth to the foundation of modern art, faith and commerce.

Dante and his fellow artists were trying to decode God's art and in so doing unravel the double helix of creativity. We meet the painters, church builders and pilgrims from Florence to Rome to Venice and Verona who made the roads the center of the medieval world. Following Dante's route, we are inspired to undertake journeys of discovering ourselves.

In the vein of Brunelleschi's Dome, Galileo's Daughter and Wittgenstein's Poker, Dante in Love is a worldly and spiritual travelogue of the poet's travels and the journey of creativity that produced the greatest poem ever written.Download Description
"In the vein of Brunelleschi's Dome, Galileo's Daughter, and Wittgenstein's Poker, Dante in Love is a geographic and spiritual re-creation of the poet's travels and the burst of creativity that produced the greatest poem ever written. Dante in Love is the story of the most famous journey in literature. Rubin follows Dante's path as the poet, exiled from Florence, walked the old Jubilee routes that linked monasteries and all roads to Rome and Tuscany -- a path followed by generations of seekers from T. S. Eliot, Sigmund Freud, and Primo Levi to Bruce Springsteen. Following Dante's route, we, too, are inspired to undertake the journey of discovering ourselves." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Cultural Imperialism
As Amazon reviewer Michael Corrado notes, *Dante in Love* contains so much confusion and outright error, it is hardly worth reading.Nevertheless I did read the whole thing and I want to offer a response because Harriet Rubin is someone who both shapes and illustrates popular culture.She is a best selling author and is on the board of USA Today.Her attempt to shoehorn Dante into contemporary prejudices illustrates our society's inability to engage great literature on its own terms.

A major example of this shoehorning is the way Ms. Rubin bends Dante's words to fit current views on the nature of love.In her chapter on *Purgatorio* she opens with this statement:"Dante is about to discover that good and evil, genius and stupidity, have one and the same source which is love."That is hardly an adequate summary of Dante's doctrine.He in fact held the solid Thomistic notion that evil is the absence of good. If we are going to understand Dante, we must fix that concept in our mind.

It is easy for us to fall into the modern notion that good and evil are subjective:"You have your truth and I have my truth, you have your good and I have my good, but there is nothing which we can call `good' or `evil' in itself."This subjective view of good and evil fits with Ms. Rubin's assertion that Dante was a secret Cathar!They were a medieval Gnostic sect which considered good and evil to be equal and competing powers.This stands against the Christian belief that evil is parasitic; its existence comes from what it can leach off the good.

At one point Ms. Rubin states:"Eros - desire, possession leads toward God, not away."She has half of the truth, but I would suggest she read Pope Benedict's encyclical on *Eros and Agape* to get the complete picture.It would help her understand Dante, who by the way, is one of the pope's favorite authors.Dante explicitly rejects Rubin's interpretation:

"It should be clear to you by no how blind
to truth those people are who make the claims
that every love is, in itself, laudable." (Purgatorio XVIII, 34-36)

Regarding how Eros can lead us away from God, I encourage Amazon patrons to read Dorothy L. Sayers' magisterial work on the Divine Comedy.Commenting on the verse "all love is laudable," she remarks:"It is interesting to see that the prevalent sentimental heresy was not unknown even in Dante's day."

Now, I am not saying Ms. Rubin is a heretic.You have to be a believer before you can fall into heresy.I see her, rather, as a cultural imperialist.Instead of appreciating works like the *Comedy* which represent a culture foreign to our own, she tries conquer it, make it conform to our cultural biases. Consciously or unconsciously, she "Americanizes" the Divine Comedy.I will, however, grant Ms. Rubin this:she does not carry cultural imperialism to extreme of others such as Dan Brown in a novel some people call the Duh Vinci Code.

In spite of my criticisms, I give the book two stars because Ms. Rubin does cite significant portions of the *Comedy* in both Italian and English translation - and she does make a few thought-provoking observations, for example, her comments on the "architecture" of the poem. If her book spurs someone to read Dante's masterpiece, that will be a laudable result.

Poor
This book should be avoided for anyone looking for a good primer or companion book to Dante. The poem may have inspired the author to publish her own experiences and revelations of Dante's Comedy, but this book will not inspire you to step into Dante's world. I suggest as a good primer the short biography put out by Penguin, and to read the translator's introduction and notes before opening up to Canto 1.

Not a good buy
I am so sorry I spent the money for this book.It is badly written, but the more important point is that it is full of factual errors.For example, she says that the Guelfs and the Ghibellines can trace their roots to two brothers name Guelf and Ghibel (page 9 and footnote)! She calls Limbo the circle of the heretics, and places it either in Circle Six or just before it (page 81).She says that Guido Cavalcanti was dead already when Dante encounters his father in hell, and therefore Dante lied in telling the father that Guido was alive (page 83).Guido was in fact alive; he died later in 1300.She says that Charles Singleton taught T.S. Eliot the Comedy at Harvard (page 33); when Eliot was at Harvard Singleton was an infant.These are some of themost glaring errors, and they bespeak such sloppiness that even if the book were well written you could not trust it.There are countless little errors as well.Many readers apparently think they got something out of it; I think they have been misled.

Confused and confusing
This book was highly recommended by a friend.I was, therefore, especially disappointed to discover an unfocused, unbalanced series of digressions presented as an analysis of one of literature's great works. At times, the book reads like some sort of touchy-feely self-help work. Also, there are glaring contradictions in the book which are a good indication of the level of care that seems to have been exercised in writing this clinker. If you are interested in Dante, look elsewhere.

Rich and Insightful
On a recent trip to Italy, I took along Dante in Love and got an amazing course in art and history that helped me see deep into the Tuscan artistic soul. I got a grounding in the ideas and visions that inspired Michelangelo to create his sculptures.Michelangelo considered Dante his master and the greatest artist who ever lived. Walking through the Uffizi Gallery, I could see through the paintings and into the painters' heads, because Dante gave them their subject matter and symbolism.I recommend this book highly. Once you read it, you'll see how Italy has barely changed in the last 700 years. Your trips to the "mother country" will be enriched. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Doesn't Get Much Hotter!
This book was so hot I had to keep iced tea beside the bed. My husband said thank you. All three stories will make you sweat.

Hot, Hot, Hot...
Very steamy and great stories. I bought the book because I liked Sharon Page and Kate Douglas but Kathleen Dante also wrote a greay story.

I really liked this book
I just have to say that I really enjoy reading a well written vampire story and boy did this one deliver.

Wild Nights-Joyfully Recommended!
Camille's Dawn by Kate Douglas

Twenty years ago Camille Mason was killed, shot by a rookie cop who assumed that she was a wolf running wild through the city.Camille was one of the Chanku, shapeshifters who could transform into wolves.Ever since that night, her husband, Ulrich Mason has slowly withdrawn from the world, his anger at his wife still warring with his love for her.

But now, the Chanku think they might be able to contact her spirit, on the night of Samhain when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest.Gathering in Montana, the Chanku must find a way to reach Camille now.It will be up to Ulrich to find out what it is that is keeping her from finding her peace.But not before he gets one more night with his wife.

Camille's Dawn is a poignant addition to the Wolf Tales series.Bringing together her beloved characters, Kate Douglas has penned an excellent tale of love and forgiveness blended together with incredible heat.

Midnight Man by Sharon Page

Michael Rourke is a Varkyre, one of the most damned of vampires.Erin Kennedy is a mortal.In the last three months they have been trading emails, steamy emails sharing their desires.Erin wants adventure and mind-blowing sex and Michael is more than happy to give it to her.But, she doesn't believe in love.As his soul mate, Erin is the only one who can save him, and Michael is determined to change her mind.

Meeting in public for the first time, Michael quickly sets out to earn her trust.He needs Erin to believe in him before he can reveal his true nature.But when he reveals himself too soon and she reacts badly, they both must overcome their demons to determine if they can be together.

Midnight Man is a fantastic tale, erotically charged and full of lush characters.I thoroughly appreciated the role reversal of the big bad vampire believing in love and trying to convince his intended soul mate of the fact.Midnight Man is a fabulous taste of the skill of Sharon Page, one I thoroughly enjoyed.

Night Pleasures by Kathleen Dante

Alana MacArdry is desperate to get to the Pleasure Quarter despite the risks inherent in running through the woods on Samhain Night.She is running for her life, running from a necromancer who will stop at nothing to get her back.Colin Sheridan is determined to enjoy the Pleasure Quarter this Samhain, a time when inhibitions are ignored and pleasure is sought.A perfect time to be a fire mage to soak in the energies that result from a night of sexual debauchery.

Colin doesn't expect to see his beautiful neighbor Alana, and he doesn't expect her to perform an erotic little strip tease for him, despite his attraction to her for all these months.When the creatures after Alana find her again, it is up to Colin to protect her.But not before he recharges his power with a little help from her in the most carnal way possible.

Night Pleasures is an exceptional tale that was able to draw me in with beautiful writing and wonderful characters.Alana and Colin fit each other perfectly, and their erotic journey - as they work to save Alana from the necromancer - is breathtaking to read.Night Pleasures is a fitting addition to Kathleen Dante's resume, and I can't wait to get lost in this world again.

Separately, the three stories within Wild Nights are stunning.Together, they form an anthology that should not be missed, a mind-blowing feast to whet the appetite of any lover of the paranormal.

Shannon
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

ultra heated paranormal romances
"Camille's Dawn" by Kate Douglas.Camille seeks escape from the earthly plane while werewolves Tia and Luc reunite on Halloween Eve for a night of carnal sex.However, Camille believes the male shapeshifter may be her avenue to freedom while her beloved Ullrich willingly would do anything for her, his cherished soulmate.

"Midnight Man" by Sharon Page.Varkyrian vampiric hunk Michael Rourke like most of his kind can have any female he wants as no mere mortal or bloodsucker can resist their lure.However, he has met his soulmate, Erin Kennedy, who he plans to share an eternity of pleasure with though he fears how she will react when he takes a nip from her neck.

"Night Pleasures" by Kathleen Dante.On Samheim Night, master mage Alana MacArdry is on the run from Bryce, an evil earth magician necromancer, who plans to use and discard her, but not before he steals her powerful brooch.She hides in the Pleasure Quarter from his simulacra hoping that fire can contain earth.There she meets fire magician Colin Sheridan.This time she run towards love and passion even as Colin and Alana team up to battle her dangerous enemy.

These are three ultra heated paranormal romances starring interesting lead characters though the jump on one another's bones at first sight will disturb some readers.

Harriet Klausner
... Read more

Book Description
Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as "a work of profound satiric fury" and by Bookpage as "funny and deeply affecting," Birk and Sanders' masterwork is now available for the first time in a substantial and sumptuous slipcased set. The pair's innovative and authentic adaptation of Dante's epic, coupled with Birk's striking play on Gustave Dor 's classic illustrations, make this a Divine Comedy for the 21st century. Acclaimed by both the literary and art worlds; rife with contemporary turns of phrase and slang (just as the original poem was written in the vernacular of its day) and pointed visions of the afterlife as contemporary cities; and rich with bold allusion, cultural critique, and wit this is the must-have collection of modern classics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent modern day translation of a great literary classic.
I read the originals a long time ago and although I liked them, it was a very tough read. With this version, the modernistic settings, the captivating artwork, and the use of modern English language all help to make this a much more enjoyable story without losing any of the meaning from the original. ... Read more

Book Description
The Divine Comedy is a complete scale of the depths and heights of human emotion," wrote T.S. Eliot.  "The last canto of the Paradiso is to my thinking the highest point that poetry has ever reached or ever can reach."

The Divine Comedy stands as one of the towering creations of world literature, and its climactic section, the Paradiso, is perhaps the most ambitious poetic attempt ever made to represent the merging of individual destiny with universal order.  Having passed through Hell and Purgatory, Dante is led by his beloved Beatrice to the upper sphere of Paradise, wherein lie the sublime truths of Divine will and eternal salvation, to at last experience a rapturous vision of God.

"A spectacular achievement," said poet and critic Archibald MacLeish of John Ciardi's version of Dante's masterpiece.  "A text with the clarity and sobriety of a first-rate prose translation which at the same time suggests in powerful and unmistakable ways the run and rhythm of the great original." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

John Ciardi has the best Dante translation to date.
I truly enjoy reading the classics. However some classics must be translated. Some translations loose meaning since you can not translate word for word. Only the meanings can be translated and with the evolving English language sometimes words can have skewed definitions. John Ciardi is the best Dante translator I have read. Signet has done a good job at this price point. The Devine comedy is a book set that will expand your understanding on many uncannonized ideas. The Inferno (Signet Classics)The Paradiso (Signet Classics)The Purgatorio (Signet Classics)

The Best Intro to Heaven
Translators, according to the Italian proverb are traitors.
There is no way around it, something is always lost in the
leap from one language to another. You can consult a modern
'adaptation' of Shakespeare to get the feel of what has to
be surrendered.

John Ciardi decided to keep the original rhyme scheme: 'aba'
in which the poem is divided into groups of three lines of
which the first and third rhyme. In Italian, this is fairly
easy, in English a great deal more difficult.
So in order to keep the feel of the tercets (as they're called)
Ciardi sometimes had to stray a bit from the literal
meaning. Nothing vital is lost, but the specialist will
surely find some points to dispute.
For the rest of us, this is a first-rate view into a world
we can barely otherwise imagine. Ciardi's notes and glosses
on the cantos are breezy, illuminating and approachable.

There are other, more correct translations- Mandelbaum's
is first among them -that might be better for the specialist
or the student of the Italian Language. I notice, however,
that when I want to spend a pleasant few moments in the
Poet's company that this is the translation I usually reach
for.

--Lynn Hoffman, author of New Short Course in Wine,Theand
bang BANG: A Novel ISBN 9781601640005

Union with the Divine
Dante travels through the heavens growing ever closer to the source of all things, God. He learns a host of things from the spirits there who want to give nothing but love to Dante, to God, and to adore God. It is their pleasure to help Dante. For example, towards the end of the poem he learns about Adam and how long he abided in the Garden (the one from the end of Purgatorio and from which they begin their last journey in the Paradiso).

In order to experience some of the things in the heavens Dante needs to go way beyond normal human perception. The experience of heaven is so great that apparently all that he relates to us about it is but a shadow of how he saw it. It's experience is stamped forever on his heart, but Dante says its detail dissipates. I think of it like when you have a dream that you remember always, but the details do not necessarily stick in your mind though it is imprinted there nevertheless.

To me Dante seems to have guided his audience on a mystic journey. Whether he was a mystic or not I'm not clear on, but like other poets he reveals to us the truth of things.

[STANDING OVATION]
Travel to the most light-forbidden spot on Earth.

Wait for night to fall. . .

Look up at the sky. . .

and count the stars.

That's how many stars I'd give John Ciardi's wonderful translation of Dante's Paradiso (indeed, the whole trilogy, but especially this)!

When reading this book it's almost impossible I'd say to not feel the same sense of awe as Dante does as he beholds the splendors of Heaven. This book makes you feel uplifted, upbeat, almost as if you're being catapulted through the Heavens right alongside Dante himself.

Of course, to get the full effect from reading this book you have to understand most of what goes on. And that is where the John Ciardi translation really shines. Just as Beatrice is Dante's guide, so is John Ciardi your guide through Heaven.

The Divine Comedy was written in the 1300's and how many people can honestly say that they understand Italian politics and history from that time period? Maybe Umberto Eco does (of "The Name of the Rose" fame), but that's a huge minority. But fear not, for every Canto opens with a short summary of what is about to be revealed next to Dante. One need not worry about this summary spoiling the story, either, as there really are no plot twists in The Paradiso. Although I have to admit that the last scene involving Dante and Beatrice was a bit shocking (to Dante, too) and even managed to form a few tears in my eyes.

After the summary there is the Canto itself and what I like most about this is how everything rhymes (ABA ABA, etc.) and still is rather easy to read. This text is uninterrupted, which is great if you happen to be an advanced reader of Dante and don't want to stumble into little numbers next to words referring you to footnotes all the time.

Again though, not many of us can say we're "Advanced readers of Dante", so for those of us in that crowd each Canto is finished with a healthy amount of footnotes that do an excellent job of explaining the politics and history in simple terms. You very well might still finish the Canto not understanding everything 100%, but you'll be much better off than if you tried to understand everything on your own. Think of it as Cliff's Notes already built into the book itself. Wonderful idea!

If you're still wondering if you should read this book, don't.

Trust me.

Everything is better in Paradise.

An Incredible Journey Through the Heavens
+++++

(Note: this review is for the book "The Paradiso" translated by John Ciardi and published by Signet Classics in 2001.)

In book one containing part one (or "canticle" one) of Dante Alighieri's (1265 to 1321) three part "The Divine Comedy" entitled "The Inferno," a journey of spiritual enlightenment is begun by Dante by descending into Hell and discovering the reasons for eternal suffering of souls.In book two containing part two entitled "The Purgatorio,"Dante ascends the mountain of Purgatory where there is purification of sin.In this book (book three), Dante ascends to Heaven to experience "the Love that moves the Sun and the other stars."

Dante begins this part of his journey by stating the following:

"Whatever portion time
still leaves me of the treasure of that kingdom
shall now become the subject of my rhyme."

Dante is saying that in the time left to him, the subject of this part of his "rhyme" or poem will be "that kingdom" ofheavenly Paradise.

There is an introduction by Professor John Freccero.(We are not told what university he's associated with.)He does a good job of highlighting key aspects of this poem.

The late John Ciardi, former poet and professor at Rutgers and Harvard universities, translated this poem from its original 1300's Italian into English.He states that he has translated this poem for one major reason: for "the pleasure of a beginning student reading in translation."The poem's translation, he admits, is not over-scholarly.Scholars and purists may thus not appreciate Ciardi's translation.I, however, enjoyed his rhyming translation.

Dante's heavenly Paradise is based on an Earth-centered model of nine spheres (individually called "heavens").Going outward from the Earth, they are as follows:

(1) the Moon
(2) Mercury
(3) Venus
(4) the Sun
(5) Mars
(6) Jupiter
(7) Saturn
(8) the Fixed Stars
(9) Primum Mobile (Prime Mover)

The Prime Mover is the sphere that contains the divine power to move these heavenly bodies.Beyond the Prime Mover is the Empyrean (pronounced "Em-pi-reen").The Empyrean is God's realm of pure light and is Dante's final destination.

Thus, this heavenly paradise that Dante travels through consists of ten parts that comprise thirty-three episodes (or "cantos").

Unlike parts one and two, Dante takes the majority of this final journey with his guide and former love Beatrice.Along the way, the travelers and the reader encounter such things as biblical figures and references, philosophers, people of Dante's time, legends, saints, and angels.

As with parts one and two, this part is a narrative poem whose greatest strength lies in the fact it does not so much narrate as dramatize its episodes.It is a visual work that sparks your imagination.

Ciardi's mini-summary in italics before each episode gives the reader a glimpse of what to expect in a particular episode.His (foot)notes at the end of each episode highlight our understanding of key passages within each.For me, Ciardi's mini-summaries and notes that accompany each episode are the cornerstone to understanding what Dante was attempting to convey.As well, Dante can be challenging and tedious to read at times.These mini-summaries and notes help the reader meet the challenge and overcome the tedium.

There are three illustrations in this book.They increase the understanding of and add another visual dimension to the poem.

I should mention the impressive art on the cover of this book.It has a reproduction of the 1825 painting by William Blake showing Dante in the Empyrean.It has a river called the River of Light.Dante is shown drinking from this river.

It is possible to read this part without reading the first two parts.However, to experience the full impact of this part, I would recommend reading the first two parts first before reading this part.

The only noticeable problem I had with this book is that it did not have a diagram of the heavenly Paradise to help the reader know beforehand where this journey was going.The first two parts have these helpful diagrams.

Finally, as I mentioned, this is a very imaginative poem.Thus, I recommend "The Dore Illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy" (1976) by Gustave Dore.This book will add another vivid visual dimension to the poem.

In conclusion, don't miss this final phase of Dante's amazing journey.This brilliant translation allows the reader to experience what Dante was attempting to convey when he wrote this poem almost seven centuries ago!!

(published 2001;acknowledgements of translator;introduction;33 cantos; poem, canto mini-summaries, and canto (foot)notes comprise 345 pages; 3 illustrations)

+++++

... Read more

Book Description
Throughout his life, the famed 14th-century poet Dante was politically active, often choosing the wrong side in internecine battles of the ruling families, forcing him constantly to abandon his family and even his country while seeking refuge. Finally his poetry won him peace and patronage in Ravenna. His one daughter, Beatrice, attended him during the last few years of his life and eventually became a Dominican nun. Kimberley Heuston, a historian by training and winner of The Washington Post's 2002 Top 10 Kids Books Award, has meticulously researched Dante's life and times in order to create this fictional account of the great poet's daughter in the decades preceding the Italian Renaissance. In lush detail, she traces the life of an intelligent and talented young woman in a time when a woman's role required neither intelligence nor talent. In spite of that, Beatrice traveled extensively, learned an art, and devoted her full life to her work and her god. Dante's Daughter brings a human scale to famous figures of history, and breathes life into the events of those turbulent times. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Remarkable window on dante's world
What a great novel for young adults and on up.Effortless writing of beautiful clarity.Richly evocative and historically accurate details of life in pre-renaissance Florence, Siena and Paris.Vivid characterizations of stubborn, likeable Antonia and her family, including her famous father Dante.All these combine to give us a great window on the milieu surrounding the writing of one of the world's great masterpeices (Dante's Divine Comedy).But it is the human interactions, especially between Antonia's parents, and Antonia's own timeless struggle to know herself and her place in the world (though it is at the same time a struggle beautifully representative of her time) that make this book glow with the pure color and clarity of a painting by Duccio or Giotto, artists Antonia lived among.I can't wait to pass this book around.If only I'd had it years ago to introduce middle school students to Dante's world--the depiction of the Guelphs' and Ghibellines' ferociously intertwined enmity would have been priceless in itself.

What a historical novel should be.
This is a beautiful book - a lot of fun and good food for thought.The prose is excellent. Since little is known about Dante's daughter Antonia, the author is free to tell her own story and she uses this freedom well.At the same time, she captures the flavor of a far-off time and place, where owning three dresses is amazing luxury for a small girl and it takes months to travel from Italy to Paris.We also get a feel for such places as war-torn Florence where houses are fortresses, a decadent Provencal court where lords play ball with oranges, and the peace and loveliness of a community of beguines outside Paris. I'm sure this is all meticulously researched, but it adds to the story rather than detracting from it.

Incidentally, you may not know what a beguine is - I didn't either before reading this book.It's just one of the many things I learned quite painlessly.They were women who took reversible vows of chastity but not poverty and lived in a walled village where they engaged in small businesses - a shocking idea in an age where choices for unmarried women were few and stark.

Women's lives are a major theme of this book, yet without any anachronistic imposition of modern feminism as so many historical novels have.What Antonia and her female relatives think is very probably what women of that age did think, but could not write about, since they were usually illiterate or too busy to write.

We also learn a great deal about Antonia's famous father Dante Alighieri, his writings and his political career.It makes me want to read his Divine Comedy.I also realized for the first time what a bold idea he had in that book, writing about a number of people he had known and who had died quite recently, and assigning them to Hell, Purgatory, or Paradise.Nowadays I suppose their families would sue him.It's amazing he didn't have any more enemies than he did.

Antonia is an artist, too, but with paint rather than words, and gives us a window on some of the great painters of the end of the Middle Ages in Italy, who would soon give birth to the Renaissance.

This book also has a lot to say about broken families, and relationships that break down because people of good will fail to understand each other.

All in all, I recommend this book highly both for teenagers and adults. ... Read more

Book Description
In 1867, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow completed the first American translation of Inferno and thus introduced Dante’s literary genius to the New World. In the Inferno, the spirit of the classical poet Virgil leads Dante through the nine circles of Hell on the initial stage of his journey toward Heaven. Along the way Dante encounters and describes in vivid detail the various types of sinners in the throes of their eternal torment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Hell of a book
This a a great companion for Pearl's Dante Club. Keep it close by.

Good translation by a master poet
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is the man most responsible for bringing Dante to the new world, where The Divine Comedy had long been held as superstitious Catholic hogwash by the largely Protestant population that settled here. In translating the Comedy and bringing into respectable circles in the United States, Longfellow not only reintroduced a great poet to a lost audience but created a great translation himself.

Longfellow's is not the best translation of Dante's work, but it is one of the finest as a poem in its own right. The language is stilted and difficult at times to the modern ear, but its tone and grandeur are perfect for capturing the vision of the world's greatest poet. This is a good introduction to Dante for the student and the casual reader alike. Longfellow's notes are good, but not great. Look to another edition, like Mark Musa's or Charles Singleton's, for more extensive notes.

Highly recommended.

Longfellow's and other translations
I'd just like to point out that notwithstanding the reviewer below, Longefellow was not the first to do an English translation of Dante.That was Rev. Henry Cary's black verse version, published 1810 (?).Readers who are looking for accuracy should check out John Singleton's prose translation with extensive commentary, but in my opinion Longfellow's version is the most satisfying overall.In only makes sense: Longfellow had the most innate talent of all Dante's English translators (at least that I've read).

The Longfellow Translation of Inferno
I have read and taught several different translations of Dante's Inferno, but I was not aware that Longfellow had been the first to translate it into English. Although it is not written in Terza Rima, it is a beautiful, flowing and elegant rendition of Dante the Pilgrim's descent through the nine levels of hell. I teach Inferno in college, and although my books are ordered for this semester, I intend use the Longfellow translation for the next course. ... Read more