From Library Journal

If a recent spate of new translations is any evidence, Dante remains as popular as ever with the general reading public. Durling's new verse translation of the Inferno joins recent versions by Robert Pinsky (LJ 1/93) and Mark Musa (LJ 3/1/95). While Durling's translation (with Italian on the facing page) does not use Dante's rhyme or line divisions, it captures the metrical rhythm of the original. Similarly, his rendering of Dante's diction is literal and accurate, conveying the tone and feel while remaining accessible. Supplemented with an introduction, useful notes, and appendixes, this version, soon to be joined by Purgatorio and Paradiso, can be recommended to the general reader. In a new reader's guide to the Divine Comedy, Gallagher, a Catholic priest as well as a poet and scholar, presents the Comedy canto by canto in a series of mini-essays that discuss content, themes, characters, major allusions, and religious doctrines, particularly from the perspective of Dante as a Christian. For a more scholarly commentary on Dante's language and sources, one should still consult Charles Singleton's translation (The Divine Comedy, 6 vols., Princeton Univ., 1970-75); nevertheless, Gallagher's thorough, lucid, and accessible guide is a good starting point for the general reader.?Thomas L. Cooksey, Armstrong State Coll., Savannah, Ga.

Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"This new edition of Inferno is distinctly user-friendly....Serious students--in or out of the classroom--who...examine the original poem alongside a readable and reliable prose translation will find this edition excellently suited to their needs."--The Christian Science Monitor

"A useful volume for students and first-time visitors to Dante's cosmos."--Publishers Weekly

"[Durling's] rendering of Dante's diction is literal and accurate, conveying the tone and feel while remaining accessible."--Library Journal

"The prose translation, carefully arranged on the page to correspond to the format of the Italian verses, follows the original very closely, and is exceptionally successful in conveying the texture of Dante's poem. The introduction is valuable in its own right; the notes, many of them brief essays, promote the reader's active engagement in the quest for meaning, opening up the text with a treasure of "'formation and interpretation."--Sara Sturm-Maddox, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

"'Long study and great love'...have conditioned Durling's and Martinez' new Inferno translation and commentary, with the splendid results that only sustained scholarly work and exceptional dedication can bring. The volume is not only impressive in content--an elegant, accurate, and highly readable prose rendering of Dante's verse, clear and concise notes, useful illustrative maps and figures, rich commentary on central issues, a bibliography thoughtfully put together from the best of Italian and American Dante criticism--it is also a materially beautiful book whose typography and design are a genuine artistic contribution."--Rebecca West, University of Chicago

"A joy to read. The Introduction offers a wealth of information on the poet's life and times, and the way these helped to shape Dante's poetic masterpiece. Durling's prose translation is trenchant, going straight to the heart of the Italian text on the facing page. In their notes, Durling and Martinez provide the reader with a wealth of essential explanations and critical insights, quite unparalleled in English. For generations to come, this will be the Dante student's 'bible'."--John A. Scott, Professor of Italian, School of European Languages, University of Western Australia

"The Durling-Martinez Inferno will prove a worthy successor to the much-loved and long-lived Inferno of J.D. Sinclair. The translation is carefully calculated to keep the reader abreast, step by step, with Dante's Italian; the annotation, distilled from vast reserves of scholarly and commentative knowledge, succeeds simply and splendidly in elucidating the poem. This volume should please all publics, become the Dante of choice for the English-speaking world."--David J. Wallace, Frenzel Chair in Medieval Studies, University of Minnesota