The one quality that all classic works of literature share is their timelessness. Shakespeare still plays in Peoria 400 years after his death because the stories he dramatized resonate in modern readers' hearts and minds; methods of warfare have changed quite a bit since the Trojan War described by Homer in his Iliad, but the passions and conflicts that shaped such warriors as Achilles, Agamemnon, Patroclus, and Odysseus still find their counterparts today on battlefields from Bosnia to Afghanistan. Likewise, a little travel guide to hell written by the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri in the 13th century remains in print at the end of the 20th century, and it continues to speak to new generations of readers. There have been countless translations of the Inferno, but this one by poet Robert Pinsky is both eloquent and tailored to our times.

Yes, this is an epic poem, but don't let that put you off. An excellent introduction provides context for the work, while detailed notes on each canto are a virtual who's who of 13th-century Italian politics, culture, and literature. Best of all, Pinsky's brilliant translation communicates the horror, despair, and terror of hell with such immediacy, you can almost smell the sulfur and feel the heat from the rain of fire as Dante--led by his faithful guide Virgil--descends lower and lower into the pit. Dante's journey through Satan's kingdom must rate as one of the great fictional travel tales of all time, and Pinsky does it great justice.


From Publishers Weekly
Though transforming Dante's terza rima into readable English has bogged down many a distinguished translator, Pinsky (The Want Bone) more than meets the challenge. His rendering has an efficient feel; the lines seem slimmer and less unwieldy than most contemporary verse translations. Each one of the cantos features a good number of stanzas dominated by monosyllables-his answer, along with intriguing patterns of assonance, to approximating the splendor of Dante's profusion of rhymes, which are impossible to replicate in English. The coherent narration of the translation is also welcome, as it keeps a harness on the sometimes meandering diction of the original. Pinsky's voice is nearly irresistible when rounding out the grotesqueries of Dante's Hell: his versions of the ninth and final circle bring the bizarre terror of the fiery pit to life. Plainspoken yet elegant, this Inferno sustains a tactile succession of images over 34 cantos, and lends itself to being read aloud. Illustrations not seen by PW. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
"Abandon hope all you who are about to enter here" are the words that welcome the traveler at the gates of the Inferno. These might also be the words used to warn those who might expect light comedy from this recording, given the packaging's touting of the narrator, English funnyman John Cleese. There is no humor here, as anyone familiar with The Divine Comedy will know. This abridgment of The Inferno is a catalog of the torments and tortures that Dante imagined awaited those who strayed from God's path. The poem is not for the squeamish, as Dante lavishly details his descriptions of the various horrors found in each of the nine circles of hell. Throughout The Inferno Dante mentions various persons whom he meets in his hellish tour. To understand the true meaning of this work, it is necessary to know who these people are (most academic editions of The Divine Comedy are heavily footnoted with this type of information). At times Cleese reads in a monotone, and it is often quite hard to determine whether Dante or his character is speaking. This abridgment does not provide the depth necessary to study The Inferno nor does it provide a pleasant listening experience. Not recommended.?Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ., RussellvilleCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
At first, this recording seems unpromising. The text opens the poet's Divina Commedia, an untranslatable masterpiece of fourteenth- century Florence. No reading, no English version can reproduce its aesthetic virtues or explain the wordplay or the contemporary and classical references. Further--well, come on!--John Cleese? Monty Python and "Fawlty Towers" take a transcendental dream-descent into hell? Gimme a break! Yet, first impressions often deceive. Robert Pinsky does not try to imitate the peculiarly Italian verse form but wisely concentrates on meaning and artistic effects appropriate to our modern language. It possesses its own considerable beauty. And Cleese uses more intuition than technique to interpret the poetry, thus giving the listener a personal, musical and ingenuous reading. He inhabits Dante's persona so well that the full wonder and drama of the narrative shine forth, though he plays against excessiveness. Indeed, he brings a peculiar kind of exciting genius to Pinsky's dynamic text that makes this tape a fascinating art work in its own right. Y.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE's Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


Review
"Splendid . . . Pinsky's verse translation is fast-paced, idiomatic, and accurate. It moves with the concentrated gait of a lyric poem . . . It maintains the original's episodic and narrative velocity while mirroring its formal shape and character . . . Pinsky succeeds in creating a supple American equivalent for Dante's vernacular music where many others have failed."--Edward Hirsch, The New Yorker

"Pinsky's rare gifts as a poet, a wild imagination disciplined by an informed commitment to technical mastery, are superbly well suited to the Inferno's immense demands. Pinsky has managed to capture the poem's intense individuality, passion, and visionary imagery. This translation is wonderfully alert to Dante's strange blend of fierceness and sympathy, clear-eyed lucidity and heart-stopping wonder. It is now the premier modern text for readers to experience Dante's power."--Stephen Greenblatt

"A new translation of Dante's classic poem uses slant rhyme and near rhyme to preserve the original terza rima form without distorting the English meaning, providing a lively and faithful rendition of the poem. " --Ingram



Review
"Splendid . . . Pinsky's verse translation is fast-paced, idiomatic, and accurate. It moves with the concentrated gait of a lyric poem . . . It maintains the original's episodic and narrative velocity while mirroring its formal shape and character . . . Pinsky succeeds in creating a supple American equivalent for Dante's vernacular music where many others have failed."--Edward Hirsch, The New Yorker

"Pinsky's rare gifts as a poet, a wild imagination disciplined by an informed commitment to technical mastery, are superbly well suited to the Inferno's immense demands. Pinsky has managed to capture the poem's intense individuality, passion, and visionary imagery. This translation is wonderfully alert to Dante's strange blend of fierceness and sympathy, clear-eyed lucidity and heart-stopping wonder. It is now the premier modern text for readers to experience Dante's power."--Stephen Greenblatt

"A new translation of Dante's classic poem uses slant rhyme and near rhyme to preserve the original terza rima form without distorting the English meaning, providing a lively and faithful rendition of the poem. " --Ingram



Book Description
This widely praised version of Dante's masterpiece, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award of the Academy of American Poets, is more idiomatic and approachable than its many predecessors. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Pinsky employs slant rhyme and near rhyme to preserve Dante's terza rima form without distorting the flow of English idiom. The result is a clear and vigorous translation that is also unique, student-friendly, and faithful to the original: "A brilliant success," as Bernard Knox wrote in The New York Review of Books.



Language Notes
Text: English, Italian (translation)
Original Language: Italian


About the Author
A former Poet Laureate of the United States, Robert Pinsky was born and raised in Long Branch, New Jersey. He teaches in the graduate writing program at Boston University and has also taught at the University of California at Berkeley. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Robert Pinsky's acclaimed translation of The Inferno was awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry and the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award given by the Academy of American Poets. As Edward Hirsch wrote in The New Yorker, "Robert Pinsky's translation is fast-paced, idiomatic, and accurate. . . It maintains the original's episodic and narrative velocity. . . . Pinsky succeeds in creating a supple American equivalent for Dante's vernacular music where many others have failed".

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Though transforming Dante's terza rima into readable English has bogged down many a distinguished translator, Pinsky (The Want Bone) more than meets the challenge. His rendering has an efficient feel; the lines seem slimmer and less unwieldy than most contemporary verse translations. Each one of the cantos features a good number of stanzas dominated by monosyllables-his answer, along with intriguing patterns of assonance, to approximating the splendor of Dante's profusion of rhymes, which are impossible to replicate in English. The coherent narration of the translation is also welcome, as it keeps a harness on the sometimes meandering diction of the original. Pinsky's voice is nearly irresistible when rounding out the grotesqueries of Dante's Hell: his versions of the ninth and final circle bring the bizarre terror of the fiery pit to life. Plainspoken yet elegant, this Inferno sustains a tactile succession of images over 34 cantos, and lends itself to being read aloud. Illustrations not seen by PW.

Library Journal